In an important move this week, the FCC has opened up certain broadcast frequencies for auction that would allow more options for broadband wireless providers. Bands like the 700mhz channel, currently used by analog television broadcasts, would be up for auction to bidders, allowing cellular phone companies or independent broadband providers to stream data on these frequencies, essentially creating wireless broadband access anywhere you get TV reception currently.
At SXSW this year, Bruce Sterling remarked on the same idea, saying that since nobody watches terrestrial network television anyway (iTunes and Netflix are making sure of that) that the most progressive use of those channels would be universally accessible Internet for the country. This isn’t quite the Utopian ideal Sterling’s concept promises, but it’s one step closer to putting the resources of the Web in the hands of anyone with a computer and a good set of rabbit ears.