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I share your general optimism on sky-based broadband, but I have to admit that I do not follow your argument about rent-seekers. All physical space, even space
by malchow 11y ago
I share your general optimism on sky-based broadband, but I have to admit that I do not follow your argument about rent-seekers.
All physical space, even space in the sky, is in limited supply. So why does the rent-seeking nature of cell towers make sky-based broadband inevitable?
I can see why sky-based broadband affords a huge competitive advantage, allowing Google to beam 1gbps for $5/mo to the 15 million people who live in Northern California.
But why does that make it more likely to come to pass? Are balloon/drone flight plans inevitably easier to file than zoning permits for cell towers? Won't altitude eventually be auctioned off by the FCC? I fear that part of what makes sky-based broadband attractive is the perhaps naïve notion that government will always control the skies in the relatively light-handed way in which it currently controls the skies.
- jonstokes 11y agoI hadn't really thought about how rent-seeking might apply to sky-based broadband via FAA licenses and the like. I'll have to think about that one some more.
- jegutman 11y agoI think the reason rent-seeking is less of an issue in the sky (although I don't have any opinion about viability) compared to the ground is that the earth is not flat / smooth (also has buildings on it), but if you go even 1000 feet in the air there are no objects ruining line of sight. There's a lot of sky. Even sky 1000 feet above a cliff side is sky, you probably don't want to put a land-based cell tower there though.