Two days ago, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a statement, saying that the access of wireless devices to an unregulated spectrum, or white spaces, will be permitted as long as it will not interfere with broadcasters. The decision, based on a report issued by FCC’s Office of Engineering Technology (OET), was announced by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and it seems to have been received not all that well, with many groups such as cable operators and networks, sports leagues, Broadway theatre groups and wireless microphone manufacturers criticizing the news.

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) was the first to address the matter, explaining that the FCC did not properly consider certain findings in one of its own reports on the use of television white spaces. According to NAB’s Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton, the use of white spaces by these unlicensed wireless devices will surely harm the reception of the television signal.

"It would appear that the FCC is misinterpreting the actual data collected by their own engineers," Wharton said in a statement. "Any reasonable analysis of the OET report would conclude that unlicensed devices that rely solely on spectrum sensing threaten the viability of clear television reception. Basing public policy on an imprecise Cliffs Notes version of a 149-page report raises troubling questions."

The discontent and objections might not have been as big if the report issued by the FCC didn’t include some observations about the degradation of the detection capabilities of devices recoded when the channel signals interfered. "Overall, the optimistic tone of the Executive Summary of the FCC's OET evaluation does not match the actual test results documented in the report, which clearly show that spectrum sensing is not a reliable technique," The NAB statement said.

The spectrum will become available in February 2009 when the broadcast stations are scheduled to switch from analog to digital TV signals. These white spaces represent a great interest for many companies such as Microsoft and Google, which will use them for wireless broadband services.

The tests conducted by the FCC, involving lab and field work, were completed with the support of Adaptrum, the Institute for Infocomm Research, Microsoft, Motorola, and Philips Electronics North America.

Still, there are many groups delighted with the decision. Jake Ward, a spokesman for the Wireless Innovation Alliance (WIA), stated that OET’s tests, conducted over four years, reached the conclusion that white space technology is feasible and safe and that FCC’s decision paves the way for "the next generation of wireless technologies, broadband deployment, and information sharing that will benefit every American in the coming years."

Motorola, a member of the WIA, also received the news with great enthusiasm, and its senior director of regulatory and spectrum policy, Mr. Steve Sharkey, stated that the entire company awaits FCC final adoption of the rules enabling the use of these white spaces which will surely provide enormous benefits to the public.

Google also released a statement saying that the news should be greatly encouraging for the American consumers.