Some public activists says that state lawmakers could be almost “giving away” South Carolina’s broadband spectrum.A subcommittee held a hearing at the statehouse Wednesday concerning the leasing of that spectrum, meaning the different electronic frequencies that broadband suppliers can use.
The FCC controls licenses to transmit using electronic communications signals, whether it’s broadband, television or radio. When the FCC mandated the switch to digital broadcasting, it allowed South Carolina to own, or lease to private companies, the nation’s only public, statewide wireless Internet system.
The Joint Bond Review Board Subcommittee will make a decision on a contract to lease all of the state’s educational broadband capacity to two private companies, Clearwire and Digital Bridge. [Read more...]
