The last white spaces prototype device submitted by Microsoft to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for testing has broken. This is the second time that the company's contraptions are malfunctioning, preventing the proper completion of the agency's tests.

Microsoft and Philips have both previously pushed for the use of white space frequencies (those unused chunks in the television spectrum). TV broadcast uses fixed frequencies in the U.S., also known as channels. Between these there are "spaces" which were originally designed to prevent interference between adjacent television channels.

The Federal Communications Commission last year has alleged that the first prototypes sent in by Microsoft did not work properly. Its Office of Engineering and Technology, or OET, said that the devices failed to swiftly track and avoid interference with licensed broadcasts.

This time around, it appears that the latest prototype "unexpectedly shut down" on Wednesday.

"Although this is disappointing to us, we have every confidence that the FCC has many avenues available to finish gathering the information it needs to develop final 'white spaces rules' and allow a variety of services and devices to effectively use the white spaces," Microsoft Corp. said in a statement on Friday.

The White Spaces Coalition is made up of Microsoft, Google, Dell, HP, Intel, Philips, Earthlink, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics. They want to deliver high speed (broadband) internet access to consumers via existing 'white space' in unused analog television frequencies.

Their archenemies are TV companies, which complained to the FCC that there is a "potential for countless instances of interference to reception of digital-television signals." More precisely, Walt Disney Co.'s ABC television network filed comments to the white space project with the FCC pushing for the rejection of the White Spaces Coalition's proposals.

Just days ago, Google started to push the FCC to allow white spaces use. In a letter sent to the Federal Communications Commission on Monday, Google said consumers would benefit from faster and better Wi-Fi services by the end of 2009.