The National Association of Broadcasters wants you to believe that unlicensed broadband devices in the TV white spaces will break up granny's Washington Redskins game, and wireless microphone firms want you to believe that church services and Grand Ole Opry shows alike will be disrupted. But at the National Conference for Media Reform here in Minneapolis, opinion was unanimous in the other direction. As Maura Corbett of the Wireless Innovation Alliance put it, those hoping for more unlicensed spectrum "don't have that many chances left" should the white spaces not be thrown open to innovation.
White spaces, big hopes
White spaces are blank spots in the TV lineup where no stations transmit; they vary in number and location around the country, but even major markets have open slots. Tech companies and digital rights groups have been pushing hard at the FCC to make these white spaces available for broadband access. While the FCC has already approved the idea of fixed transmitters, the more contentious issue is whether millions of consumers should be allowed to install mobile, unlicensed transmitters in homes and businesses.
The WIA represents companies like Google, Philips, and Microsoft that are trying to build the devices in question, so it's no surprise that Corbett is bullish on the possibilities, dismissive of interference complaints, and given to talking of white spaces as a crucial battleground. But she's not the only one.
Tim Wu of Columbia Law School agreed that white spaces are "almost the last hope" for unlicensed public spectrum. Christopher Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance said that "WiFi isn't going to get the job done" and that "we need better spectrum." And Wally Bowen of the Mountain Area Information Network in rural North Carolina claimed that white spaces devices could "solve the rural broadband problem" by being mounted on Forest Service towers to deliver Internet access to rural residents who can currently get none.
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