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by patient_zero 2492 days ago
The most important information in this piece is the FCC making rules favoring the very telecoms they are supposed to be regulating. Not that anyone familiar with this administration (or that scumbag Pai) is surprised.
2 comments

Yeah, specifically the sub-6GHz C-band that it is basically ripping out of the hands of traditional radio media companies (ie, npr, etc) that use it for satellite distribution of radio shows. There's been a lot of complaints from radio people about this but the telcos have more money so they'll get it.
Which also makes total sense to me: I use radio maybe once a year, mobile data once an hour.
I don't use a wheelchair at all, but I see value in having laws that mandate accessibility. Public policy needs to be set on the basis of societal goals, not individual impulses.
I fail to see how that should make a passive low-bandwidth data source prevail over active high- under any circumstances.
Radio is used more frequently in poorer and more rural communities.
In the US? Do you have data for this? Do those communities even have cell coverage?
> 90 percent of Americans over age 12 listen to AM/FM radio at least once a week — down 2 percent since 2009. (This does not include public media, which Pew covered in a separate fact sheet.)

Source: https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/07/am-fm-radio-holds-strong-f...

Once a week vs once an hour gives us clear winner.

https://nypost.com/2017/11/08/americans-check-their-phones-8...

No the FCC made rules favoring the public's access to telecom services over NIMBYs. This has happened years ago for ham service.
I agree with you 100%, nice to see a sane response.