The US Government is unloading some of its beachfront largesse, vacating 90 megahertz of the wireless spectrum. The move could expand the content distribution capabilities of 3G wireless carriers such as Cingular Wireless, AT&T, Bellsouth, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel and 3G-enabled phones made by phone makers Nokia, Motorola, Kyocera and LG.
As Wired reported last November, carriers can spend anywhere from 15 to 60 cents to transmit a song wirelessly, hence the relatively exhorbitant amount that Sprint charges ($2.50) for downloads on its mobile music service. As more spectrum becomes available, look for that cost to wane and thus open the gates for more reasonably priced OTA downloads.
