A broad-based mix of high-tech, consumer, civil rights, educational and Hispanic interests urged Congress to ensure that vacant TV airwaves are freed up for unlicensed wireless broadband as soon as possible.

“Allocating the TV white spaces for unlicensed use will stimulate the development of innovative devices, enable more economical broadband deployment in rural and other underserved areas, and ensure the efficient utilization of unused ‘beach front’ spectrum below 1 GHz,” stated the coalition in a congressional letter released by the New America Foundation, one of the 29 signatories. The coalition noted that injecting prime unlicensed spectrum into the wireless space could help the United States regain lost ground in global broadband penetration rankings.

The Federal Communications Commission is considering a proposal to make unoccupied television channels—which historically have served as TV guard bands—available for wireless broadband. The agency is awaiting testing results from its lab on prototype portable spectrum sensing devices made by Microsoft Corp. and Philips Electronics of North America...

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