700 Mhz Spectrum Auction

[Wolfgang S. Rupprecht]

Ian Stirling <OpenMoko at mauve.plus.com>
writes:
> Umm.
> The 700MHz spectrum would about cope with one 802.11g equivalent
> data-rate channel.

The whole analog TV allocation that they are reallocating is a bit
more than one 22Mhz WIFI channel.  Each 4 adjacent TV channels could
support 1 WIFI channel.

> And exactly what do you think would happen if this was free access,
> and the signals go for longer distances?

Well for one we'd start seeing city-wide wifi that actually worked
through current obstructions.  You could then support quite a bit if
VOIP traffic (or SMS) over that network.

Pervasive WIFI (or something similar) has the potential to give the
cellular companies a real kick in the head.

-wolfgang