FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said today that he will support allowing conditional unlicensed use of the so-called “white spaces” television spectrum. During a press conference, Martin said that he was proposing to let carriers and other vendors deploy devices in white space spectrum which operates unlicensed at powers of 100 milliwatts.
His proposal would also permit use of white space on channels adjacent to existing television stations at powers of up to 40 milliwatts. The FCC is planning to officially vote on whether to allow unlicensed white space use during its Nov. 4 meeting pdf.
The FCC released their report (pdf summary and full report) today.
The Federal Communications Commission’s Laboratory Division has completed a second phase of its measurement studies of the spectrum sensing and transmitting capabilities of prototype “TV white space” devices.At this juncture, we believe that the burden of “proof of concept” has been met.
We are satisfied that spectrum sensing in combination with geo-location and database access techniques can be used to authorize equipment today under appropriate technical standards and that issues regarding future development and approval of any additional devices, including devices relying on sensing alone, can be addressed.
Martin said portable devices must have sensing technologies as well as a geo-location database. This would make sure the devices would be able to detect nearby broadcasts in order to avoid those frequencies.
It’s good news for “white space” advocates that include Google, Microsoft, Motorola and others. It’s bad news for the National Association of Broadcasters who believe they should control all unused broadcast spectrum — and not pay one dime for their broadcasting “rights”.
Companies such as Google that are part of the Wireless Innovation Alliance are asking for the white spaces to be unlicensed and open to all.
In the analog television era, adjoining stations interfered with each other.
In the digital era, DTV stations with million watt DTV transmitters can be right next to each other (Channel 41, 42, 43, etc). Digital transmission cleanly separates signals on adjacent channels and allows interference-free reception.
But 100 milliwatt “white space” access points (using unused channels), can’t be designed to prevent interference to televisions, claims the NAB.
The top part of the dial — from UHF Channel 52-69 was just auctioned off by the FCC for nearly $20 billion dollars. But the bottom part of the television dial is now a largely unused resource.
The Wireless Innovation Alliance says the NAB “has consistently opposed every bit of new technology offering new media options to consumers.
Related White Space articles on Dailywireless include; Google Launches White Space Offensive, Motorola on Whites Spaces: We’re Good, White Space Field Testing, Google Pitches White Spaces, White Spaces: Now It’s GE, CTIA: Unlicensed White Spaces Bad, 700 MHz Resurrected in White Space, White Space War Continues, White Spaces Prototype: Dead Again, Sprint and T-Mobile Support “White Space” Use and White Space Gets Hot
