Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) devices today operate in 555 megahertz of spectrum in the 5 GHz band, and are used for short range, high speed wireless connections including Wi-Fi enabled local area networks and fixed outdoor broadband transceivers used by wireless Internet service providers to connect smart phones, tablets and laptops to the broadband network.

ENGADGET: FCC proposal hopes to grow WiFi spectrum by 35 percent, reduce hotspot congestion

Most such businesses can't afford the staff and hassle required to navigate a sea of local, long-distance and wireless carriers, Internet and application service providers and Web site and e-mail hosts.

FORBES: Land Grab

Those on the front lines of networking, such as the telcos, Internet service providers, competitive local exchange companies and wireless operators, still prefer time-tested Unix as the operating system for networks. (Prediction: Cisco and Lucent may become the biggest threats to Microsoft over the next five years.) n Thanks to the Internet, small niche companies can reach mass markets in a heartbeat.

FORBES: Digital Rules: How Microsoft could blow it