Free Wi-Fi Plan Stalls

The Wireless Internet Nationwide for Families Act is similar to a proposal last year from M2Z Networks. Under that proposal, M2Z would have provided free nationwide broadband on a 20-MHz portion of unused spectrum in the 2-GHz band. M2Z was angling to get the spectrum for free, and then fork over five percent of the company's revenue.

Kevin Martin, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission said he would delay an expected vote on his proposal, according to Reuters. Martin said Thursday that he removed the proposal from the meeting agenda to give the commission more time to look into concerns raised by some wireless carriers, Reuters said.

However, the FCC was underwhelmed by the proposal's speeds and feeds: The free access would be 384-kbps and content filtered (read: no porn). The company did plan to offer a $20 to $30 3-Mbps tier to 95 percent of the country within 10 years.

The latest proposal does not hand the spectrum directly to M2Z. Instead, the spectrum would be auctioned off with the condition that the winner build the network to cover 95 percent of the country. At the same time, the FCC crafted its own similar proposal for national wireless broadband (at speeds of at least 768 kbps).

Proponents say this will provide Internet access to all U.S. citizens. Opponents note that the proposed restrictions on this spectrum will prohibit anyone but M2Z from purchasing it, and that M2Z's plan would result in less revenue for the Treasury than through an auction without conditions.