Newswire FCC Gives White Space Green Light to White Space

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FCC Gives White Space Green Light and Launches Revolution

Virtually free ubiquitous wireless broadband access to all Americans

On (November 4, 2008) The Federal Communications Commission voted 5 to 0 to approve the new use for the unlicensed frequencies, known as white spaces. Broadcasters and telecommunications companies were opposed and tried to stop it claiming possible interference with their own transmission. The truth may be that the real interference would be with their business models and competition. However the vote has been heralded by technology companies, like Google, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft, which will benefit from the spread of Internet access. In a blog post, Larry Page, Google’s co-founder and president of products, said he believed engineers and entrepreneurs would be quick to build devices to take advantage of the white spaces. “We think that this spectrum will help put better and faster Internet connections in the hands of the public,” he wrote.

February of next year, the mandated move of over-the-air broadcasters from analog to digital will free up some valuable radio frequencies known collectively as the “white space” — the unused, unlicensed airspace between broadcast channels 2 and 51. It is a valuable range of spectrum because it can propagate long distances and through obstacles.

Google said. “The unique qualities of the TV white space — unused spectrum, large amounts of bandwidth, and excellent propagation characteristics — offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to provide ubiquitous wireless broadband access to all Americans,” said the letter. “In particular, this spectrum can provide robust infrastructure to serve the needs of under-deployed rural areas, as well as first responders and others in the public safety community. Moreover, use of this spectrum will enable much-needed competition to the incumbent broadband service providers.” The company outlined several technical suggestions for resolving any interference issues, and said it would be more than happy to provide free technical support to third parties to make this all happen.

Richard Gerber CEO of Intelegen Inc. said " This helps close the digital divide and would lead to an almost virtually free Internet Access and communications with continuous global connectivity to the "Global Mind" and Universal Information System for both humans and devices. An individual would in effect no matter where we were standing have instant access to a vast store house of information and gestalt intelligence. Communications would become almost free as proposed in the White-Space project.

White-space frequencies are unlicensed, which means any company can use the spectrum. By contrast, wireless carriers have exclusive, licensed access to the frequencies that their phones use. "White spaces could be a friend or foe of existing carriers," says Paul Gallant, an analyst with research wealth management firm The Stanford Group. "It might end up enabling carriers to enhance their retail offerings, or it could be used in completely new ways to undercut the existing business models."

Allowing for unlicensed use of white spaces means consumers will see a new generation of wireless broadband devices, said Craig Mundie, chief strategy officer for Microsoft, in a letter to members of the House of Representatives. It will enable low wireless broadband service in rural areas, self-forming mesh networks capable of routing traffic at speeds of 20 megabits per second and above within the mesh; and wireless distribution of content throughout the home and among devices, said Mundie. That's exactly what consumers need today, agrees Meinrath. "All those problems of diversity on the airwaves and access to internet broadband connectivity are predicated on the artificial scarcity of airwaves," he says. "They will be alleviated."

Links: White-Space - WhiteSpaces - White Spaces Mobile - Universal Information System

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