...In a Sept. 10 letter, the National Association of Broadcasters endorsed FCC efforts to permit white spaces to be used for offering wireless broadband to stationary gadgets in rural areas. But it reiterated that mobile devices operating in the band would wreak havoc with DTV signals and make it impossible for affected parties to pinpoint the causes or locations of the interference. Following the briefing, broadcasters headed for the FCC and Capitol Hill to appeal directly to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, the other four agency commissioners and lawmakers.

"They're simply wrong on all accounts," responded Scott Blake Harris, counsel to the White Spaces Coalition [a corporate consortium advocating for unlicensed white spaced devices.] The group's members also include Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Intel and Philips Electronics. "These devices can be used successfully and will be used successfully," he said, adding, "The spectrum does not belong to the broadcasters and they are not licensed to use it." Harris downplayed the FCC's findings, insisting that the agency demonstrated that at least one prototype works effectively and that sensors can be calibrated to avoid interference. His claims were backed by a report issued Monday by the New America Foundation...

New America Foundation's Wireless Future Program's most recent policy report on the "myths and facts" of white space devices (pdf)

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