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.
