Television White Spaces

...[Eric] Schmidt's involvement with New America is personal rather than corporate and predates his move to Google. Still, Google recently collaborated with New America on a topic of mutual interest--wireless policy. Since 2001, New America has run a Wireless Future Program, which describes its mission as promoting "fair and efficient use of the airwaves" to help allow more Americans, especially low-income individuals, to connect to the Internet. Greater Internet access is a goal that Google has also championed, and in May, New America hosted an event at which… more

...Addressing the New America Foundation, Page painted a picture of slippage in broadband penetration in the United States, framing his comments in Google's mission to “organize the world's information.” In his talk, Page noted that years of successful usage of wireless microphones in the UHF band suggests that unlicensed devices could similarly operate without causing interference. Page believes that tapping the unused TV white spaces for broadband access would be a tremendous opportunity to bring the Internet to more Americans,… more

Google co-founder Larry Page visited Washington last week to lobby for the free, unlicensed use of white space spectrum. In a speech to the New America Foundation, Page used a wireless microphone to downplay interference concerns... LINK

Doing this "makes a lot of sense," and would put the nation on "a path where we are using 99 percent of our spectrum, rather than three percent," Page said at the event, titled "Google Unwired” and hosted by the New America Foundation, which has strong ties to Google... LINK

...Google proposes setting aside three channels for their exclusive use plus incorporating beacons into the microphones that would send a clear, definitive signal warning all other devices to stay out of its spectrum.

But some high-tech companies fear that Google’s proposal might prompt the FCC to drop its investigation into spectrum sensing technology and therefore eliminate a large part of the potential market for white space devices. “The problem is that requiring geo-location and Internet access makes devices more expensive, and it effectively prohibits a number of applications… more

Marlene H. Dortch Secretary Federal Communications Commission 445 Twelfth Street, SW Washington, DC 20554

Re: Notice of Oral Ex Parte Presentation in OET Docket No. 04-186

Dear Ms. Dortch: On March 14, 2008, Harold Feld of the Media Access Project, Shawn Chang of Free Press, Alex Curtis of Public Knowledge, and Michael Calabrese and Sascha Meinrath of New America Foundation, met with Renee Crittendon, wireless advisor to Commissioner Adelstein on behalf of the Public Interest Spectrum Coalition with regard to the above… more