I exchanged some correspondence last week with John Lange, president of CAVP – the Canadian Association of VoIP Providers. As an aside, I always find it interesting to discover an acronym that embeds another acronym within it. It is an extra bonus for these to be the same length: VoIP (4 letters) within CAVP (also 4).
John has a posting about the spectrum auction on the CAVP website that speaks about open access and other wishes for the winners of the spectrum.
He writes:
While another player in wireless (foreign or domestic) certainly isn’t a bad thing; in the end it is just one more wireless company charging high rates for use of the airwaves that we (the Canadian public) used to own.
Clearly it’s time for something radically different.
Open Access Wireless is concept that (mostly) won over the FCC in the US. When the 700Mhz spectrum became available, the FCC put restrictions on the bidder. For example, the user of these public air waves should be required to give access to (gasp!) the PUBLIC! What a concept, the public should be able to use the public airwaves!
Although I disagree, his thoughts are worth some time to consider. They are representative of a sizable community.
I recall that when some countries first licensed alternate long distance companies, the RFP process sought bids for pricing to a target list of countries. The licenses were awarded to the lowest bidders.
How would we keep such rates competitive? What benchmark should be used to measure low prices? Comparing voice prices and bids would be relatively easy. But the new spectrum needs to drive increased adoption of advanced services.
How would we compare bids for services that have not yet been invented?