The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has been asked by Several U.S. lawmakers and organizations to slow down plans to allow wireless broadband devices to have access to unused television spectrum. That part of the spectrum, know as white spaces, sits between broadcast TV channels, and will become available when broadcast TV stations switch from analog to digital in 2009.

This proposal by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is very important for public interest groups and many of the nation's biggest technology companies, including Google Inc., Dell Inc., Motorola Inc. and Microsoft Corp., which hope it will bring universal, affordable broadband service to rural America and other underserved parts of the country.

National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and NASCAR are among the ones who made this demand. Broadcasters are fuming over plans to hold a vote on the issue November 4. They want the agency to wait until engineers can study a recent FCC report that found there would be no significant interference issues with opening up empty airwaves, or "white spaces," to a new generation of wireless devices. In other words television broadcasters and wireless microphone manufacturers oppose the proposal, saying the new devices would interfere with their signals.

"Since this technology is a part of the conduct of many sporting events themselves," the Sports Alliance said in its FCC filing, "this decision also threatens to disrupt the actual performance of these events as well."

The broadcasters also want to see mandatory use of geo location databases, special "safe harbor" channels for use by wireless microphones, and protections against interference on cable systems.