M2Z Networks CEO John Muleta, former FCC wireless bureau chief, said his firm will take the FCC to court over the commission's move to reject the company's petition to obtain a free 15-year license to build and operate a free wireless Internet network.
"The commission's decision was legally incorrect, and we will ask the courts to review it," Muleta told The Register. "There has to be new entries into the market. There has to be competition. There has to be a way of addressing the fact that the Silicon Valley innovators are being blocked out of the process. And we think that the courts are the most likely to be objective about this."
In exchange for a the free license in the 2155 MHz to 2175 MHz band, M2Z proposes to give a portion of the revenues to the U.S. Treasury. The company wants to offer both free broadband service and a higher speed service for a fee. The FCC said it wasn't convinced that one company should control the spectrum band without first soliciting broader comment on how the spectrum should be used.Â
Muleta said th FCC is in effect curbing broadband competition and pandering to bigger companies like AT&T and Verizon Wireless. He also claims that the commission broke the law because it waited more than 12 months to review M2Z's application. The FCC made its decision 15 months after M2Z's filing, which violates Section 7 of the Telecommunications Act, the company claims.Â
To read more about M2Z's plan to take legal action:
- take a look at this article from The Register
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