In Switch, U.S. Military Offers to Share Airwaves with Industry.....

[MMC]

The U.S. Defense Department is proposing to share some of its radio airwaves with the private sector, a nod to growing pressure from the wireless industry and the Obama administration that federal agencies ease their control of valuable spectrum.

In a letter released by the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday, the Department of Defense offers to share the airwaves it now dominates in the slice of frequencies from 1755 megahertz (MHz) to 1780 MHz with spectrum-hungry wireless and Internet companies.

The military would rearrange its systems within that slice of spectrum as well as the 2025-2110 MHz band and compress programs into the 1780-1850 MHz band that it would retain.

The Defense Department uses the airwaves for programs such as pilot training and drone systems and has faced criticism from some in the industry and in Congress for resisting efforts to open those airwaves for commercial use to satisfy growing demands posed by data-hungry gadgets and services.

The Pentagon had pointed to its own need for airwaves as its use of drones and other reliance on wireless technology grows. It also had estimated the process of moving its programs to new frequencies would cost more than $12 billion.

Under the new plan, the Defense Department drops the cost estimate to $3.5 billion by compromising on sharing slices of airwaves without completely clearing any of the spectrum bands.....snip~

In switch, U.S. military offers to share airwaves with industry

Anyone see a problem with this? Should we Open those Mhz? How long would it last? Thoughts?

 

[Oozlefinch]

Personally, I think it is a pretty stupid idea.

Industry is always hungry for things like bandwidth, and always will be. And if they want part of the bandwidth of the military, then they should pay them for it. To hades with the $12 billion or $3.5 billion dollar price tag, if they want it they should be paying for all of the expenses of the military, and then some.

Maybe telling them "Yea, you can have this, but it is going to cost you $5 billion, and $XXX per year" might motivate them to find other ways to use what they already have. And if not, it does not cost the taxpayers money to make the change, but the companies that want this in the first place.

 

[MMC]

Personally, I think it is a pretty stupid idea.

Industry is always hungry for things like bandwidth, and always will be. And if they want part of the bandwidth of the military, then they should pay them for it. To hades with the $12 billion or $3.5 billion dollar price tag, if they want it they should be paying for all of the expenses of the military, and then some.

Maybe telling them "Yea, you can have this, but it is going to cost you $5 billion, and $XXX per year" might motivate them to find other ways to use what they already have. And if not, it does not cost the taxpayers money to make the change, but the companies that want this in the first place.

Excellent idea OF.....let them support the Military that way, and let others for some different industries do the same. Reduce the taxpayers burden of paying for the best Military in the World. Then even the Democrats cannot cry about that type of funding.

 

[Oozlefinch]

Excellent idea OF.....let them support the Military that way, and let others for some different industries do the same. Reduce the taxpayers burden of paying for the best Military in the World. Then even the Democrats cannot cry about that type of funding.

You have to realize, I am a very pragmatic individual. And I see bandwidth as just another commodity to be used.

The Military and government have already given up huge amounts of such for civilian use. Heck, huge chunks of the VHF and most of the UFH television bands have already been taken over by the personal broadcast industry. Heck, we lost Channel 1 over 70 years ago, and it was given to the 6 meter HAM radio users.

If industry wants more bandwidth, then let them pay for it. And since it is currently owned by the military, let them pay the military for it. Charge them for all conversion costs, then an annual fee to continue it's use. And also put in a clause that the military can terminate the agreement with say a 5 year notice.

Making industry pay for something I am sure would encourage them to instead find alternate ways to take care of things. And if they can't, then let them pay for this use. This is capitalism at it's finest in my mind.

 

[MMC]

You have to realize, I am a very pragmatic individual. And I see bandwidth as just another commodity to be used.

The Military and government have already given up huge amounts of such for civilian use. Heck, huge chunks of the VHF and most of the UFH television bands have already been taken over by the personal broadcast industry. Heck, we lost Channel 1 over 70 years ago, and it was given to the 6 meter HAM radio users.

If industry wants more bandwidth, then let them pay for it. And since it is currently owned by the military, let them pay the military for it. Charge them for all conversion costs, then an annual fee to continue it's use. And also put in a clause that the military can terminate the agreement with say a 5 year notice.

Making industry pay for something I am sure would encourage them to instead find alternate ways to take care of things. And if they can't, then let them pay for this use. This is capitalism at it's finest in my mind.

Thanks for hitting it up.....If anything When it comes down to it being a realist. It is being pragmatic.

As I stated I think it is an excellent idea. So I would be in agreement with all of it.