The FCC voted 5-0 on what at least three out of the five commissioners called a "paradigm shift" in spectrum policy.
That was on a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to free up 150 MHz of spectrum for Wi-Fi and other uses. Cable operators are looking for all the new Wi-Fi spectrum they can get, since that is their major broadband mobility play.
Now, according to the new three-tiered system plan, spectrum will be available for commercial and noncommercial unlicensed use subject to "exclusion zones" to protect incumbent Department of Defense and satellite users. Heretofore that spectrum had been foreclosed because some of it was used by federal agencies— notably DOD radar systems.
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