TV 'white spaces' open for wireless broadband
WASHINGTON - Federal regulators approved a plan yesterday to open up unused, unlicensed portions of the television airwaves known as "white spaces" to deliver wireless broadband service.
WASHINGTON - Federal regulators approved a plan yesterday to open up unused, unlicensed portions of the television airwaves known as "white spaces" to deliver wireless broadband service.
The unanimous vote by the Federal Communications Commission is a victory for public interest groups and big technology companies, including Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. They say white spaces have the potential to bring broadband - high-speed Internet service - to rural America and other underserved parts of the country.
The vote is a major setback for the nation's big TV broadcasters. They argue that the use of the fallow spectrum to deliver wireless Internet access could disrupt their over-the-air signals. Wireless microphone manufacturers and users have also raised interference concerns.
The plan will let unlicensed devices use the vacant channels if they come equipped with anti-interference technology. Mobile-phone-makers such as Motorola Inc. would have to obtain FCC certification for each white-spaces product before putting it on the market.
The plan will promote wireless innovation, while requiring safeguards to protect broadcasters from interference, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said at the meeting. "We've been very cautious in our approach," he said.
Google and Microsoft say the plan will provide a wider range of broadband coverage than today's Wi-Fi technology. Google co-founder Larry Page has likened the white spaces to "Wi-Fi on steroids." Broadband provides voice, data and video service.
Microsoft chief strategy officer Craig Mundie said last week that if the FCC approved the plan, white-spaces devices might be available in 12 to 18 months. Microsoft would make software for the products, he said in an interview.
Prototype anti-interference technology submitted by Motorola, Royal Philips Electronics NV and Adaptrum Inc. worked as intended during months of laboratory and field tests, the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology said in an Oct. 15 report. The technology, if built into white-spaces devices, could prevent harm to TV signals, according to the report.
Broadcasters, including CBS Corp. and Walt Disney Co.'s ABC Inc., said the report contradicted data collected during the FCC tests. They had urged the commission to delay the vote at least 70 days so people could comment on the engineers' findings. The white-spaces plan could disrupt TV signals for millions of viewers, broadcasters say.
"The commission," said David Donovan, president of the Association for Maximum Service Television, a broadcasters' trade group, "chose a path that imperils America's television reception in order to satisfy the 'free' spectrum demands of Google and Microsoft."
