October 14th, 2008
Unleashing the Moore’s Law of radios at last
The FCC’s acceptance of tests showing broadband in white spaces need not interfere with licensed frequency holders is a milestone.
But it is not the endgame. Far from it.
What we need in the broadband market is more choice.
A porn-free mobile broadband channel is fine so long as other options are also available. Just as it should be possible to buy filtered Internet access for your home as one of several choices.
Open frequency, whether in white spaces between existing channels, white spaces between former TV channels, or elsewhere is not the goal.
Choices are the goal.
Choices among providers and technologies is what we had a decade ago, and what we have lost in this decade, as phone and cable monopolists were allowed to become the sole broadband providers on their own lines and buy up wireless spectrum.
It is natural that incumbents will argue anywhere and everywhere against such choices. A free, open Internet market will mean higher costs and thinner margins.
But in the end it will also mean faster speeds, lower prices, and a bigger market for everyone. We have been regulating on behalf of industry incumbents so long this important point has been lost.
The 2000s became the “gadget decade” because the broadband monopoly pushed equipment makers to simply make stuff smaller rather than more capable. The iPhone and the netbook have the same root cause.
A competitive market will bring Moore’s Law back into play. It might even bring back the PC market. As I wrote six years ago the exponential improvements we’re so used to with computer chips also exist in other areas for the same reason.
- Moore’s Law of Storage means it’s manifested on hard drives.
- Moore’s Law of Fiber means it’s manifested in the Internet’s core.
- Moore’s Law of Radios means it’s manifested in wireless technology.
All these “laws” have the same root cause, namely continuous and exponential improvements in digital chip technology. They have been obscured by regulation that maintained a closely-held, shared monopoly in Internet broadband.
The real significance of the FCC’s latest action is that the agency is starting to understand that and move, slowly, to make some changes.
If we can accelerate that and regulate for the benefit of customers and the market rather than a few players in the market, we can unleash Moore’s Law in all its forms and, through the power of the marketplace, change the world.
Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for 30 years, a tech freelancer since 1983. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
