<nettime> Re: Cellpohones and the cancer of cellspace

[robert adrian <rax@thing.at>]

Roberto Verzola wrote:
>Access to the ether should therefore be a matter of right, but
>access to cellphone and telephone services are constrained by
>private property considerations.

While not wanting to get into a pissing match about media history, the
"ether" has been controlled by international regulations for at least 75
years. Most of the radio spectrum is reserved for "official" uses and
commercial or public broadcasting while (with the exception of the babble
of CB) private use of the "ether" for 2-way communication is restricted to
licensed (ham) operators - and the license limits communication to little
more than the exchange of technical data.

In a different ideological climate the cellphone could have been developed
as a public service. Instead, national governments have sold or leased
(often for staggering amounts of money) radio frequencies to commercial
cellphone operators.

But it's still radio.


______________robert adrian_____________




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