This is a big deal, and somewhat disgusting. Subsidies, carrier lock-in, and spectrum ownership have turned a would-be competitive space into an n-player oligopoly -- and this is the most recent, sad result.

Lets hope that at the federal level, bandwidth is regulated much like building zoning is today, rather than selling an entire spectrum to one-or-two companies that can afford it, place restrictions on *how* the bandwidth is used. If the system were WiFi-like -- free or licensed spectrum by area -- with a restriction on the number of towers you could install in a particular area, it would be very, very good for competition, radio innovation, and open systems.

I'm not sure of how they're doing it in the US, but in Canada major telcos auction for spectrum at rates that only major telcos can afford (billions). The smaller competitors are thus locked out, and forced to 'buy' time from said telcos. Thus you have 3 or so players in the arena, and a whole industry is dependent upon them -- they have incredible amounts of control.