{"id":3366,"date":"2020-12-08T15:28:44","date_gmt":"2020-12-08T23:28:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/erikdolson.com\/?p=3366"},"modified":"2020-12-08T21:08:51","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T05:08:51","slug":"spectrum-sale-sparks-capitalist-complaints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erikdolson.com\/?p=3366","title":{"rendered":"Selling Priceless Spectrum"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Erik Dolson<\/em><\/p>\n

The auction of my airwaves started today. I\u2019m upset.<\/p>\n

Actually, the auction was of \u201cspectrum,\u201d that is, the radio frequencies needed mostly for new 5G cell phone networks. And it\u2019s actually a sale of the right to \u201cuse\u201d bits of this spectrum, also known as the \u201cC\u201d band.<\/p>\n

It will surprise no one that the main bidders will be AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and with Comcast and Charter Communications teaming up. There are others, but those are the main players and are expected to bid between $30 billion and $51 billion.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s my problem, anyway, with such a lucrative deal?<\/p>\n

Well, to begin with, it\u2019s been heavily pushed by FCC chair Ajit Pai, once a lawyer for Verizon and who has announced his retirement in January when Biden takes office (to go back to work for Verizon?).\u00a0 This is the same man who opposed \u201cnet neutrality\u201d laws guaranteeing everyone equal access to all information. He’s led other, anti-consumer efforts that favor big business.<\/p>\n

Secondly, I\u2019m not getting enough for my share of the spectrum being sold. I figure that if the spectrum goes for, say, $40 billion, I\u2019m entitled to about $108. That\u2019s about two months of cell phone bills. And yet, the companies buying that spectrum get to keep it forever!<\/p>\n

That’s the problem with selling pieces of “the commons.” It’s a little like selling the right to have clean air, or not charging those who pollute our drinking water, or denying us the right to know what they put in our food, or flooding the oceans with Koch Companies ferilizer, which of course no one would think were good \u2026 ideas \u2026 Okay, wait. Those weren’t good examples.<\/p>\n

If the sale brings $40 billion, that\u2019s about 1% of the last Trump\u00a0annual<\/em>\u00a0budget. We all know how fast federal budget dollars disappear. I hate to think that AT&T will be able to reach into my pocket forever because my spectrum was sold to them for money I\u2019ll never see.<\/p>\n

Because I\u2019m a capitalist, and believe in competition, I think the federal government should have licensed my spectrum, instead of selling it, preserving my capital investment. Maybe a ten year license if it\u2019s exclusive to one company, or even better, let any company pay to use my spectrum but set standards so they don\u2019t interfere with each other. Sort of like how Mobile Virtual Network Operators (like US Cellular) pay AT&T now to set up a network.<\/p>\n

Cell phone service has gone from a luxury to a neccessity, and with 5G it may become our primary means of communication, of receiving information. Like electricity or public water or sewer, and like phone lines used to be, cell phones are now a \u201cutility,\u201d and should be regulated as such and not subject to monopolistic manipulation or collusion between a few large players.<\/p>\n

My spectrum should be regarded as a \u201cpipe,\u201d just like the pipes that bring water to our homes. Companies that manage the pipe should not have a special advantage, should not decide what water goes where, nor be able to charge whatever they want because they have the only pipe to my door. Those were\u00a0my<\/em>\u00a0pipes, dammit, at least before they were sold.<\/p>\n

But despite my objections, the auction that started today will go forward. Why? Because I forgot to pay off my favorite Republican senator this year, and my Republican Rep. Greg Walden is retiring from the House of Representatives to get a job with AT&T. Or maybe he’ll form a lobbying firm with Ajit Pai.<\/p>\n

It’s far too late, so don’t bother to call. I have no voice, anyway, and neither do you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Erik Dolson<\/em><\/p>\n

The auction of my airwaves started today. I\u2019m upset.<\/p>\n

Actually, the auction was of \u201cspectrum,\u201d that is, the radio frequencies needed mostly for new 5G cell phone networks. And it\u2019s actually a sale of the right to \u201cuse\u201d bits of this spectrum, also known as the \u201cC\u201d band.<\/p>\n

It will surprise no one that the main bidders will be AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and with Comcast and Charter Communications teaming up. There are others, but those are the main players and are expected to bid between $30 billion and $51 billion.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s my problem, anyway, with such \u2026 Read more\u2026 → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[99,705,704,706,159,100],"class_list":["post-3366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-att","tag-auction","tag-eftshpectrum","tag-t","tag-t-mobile","tag-verizon"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3mcOb-Si","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erikdolson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erikdolson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erikdolson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erikdolson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erikdolson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3366"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/erikdolson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3371,"href":"https:\/\/erikdolson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3366\/revisions\/3371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erikdolson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erikdolson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erikdolson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}