White Spaces

INFORMAL COMPLAINT AND PETITION FOR RULEMAKING

Media Access Project, on behalf of the Public Interest Spectrum Coalition (PISC), submits the attached Informal Complaint and Petition for Rulemaking pursuant to Rules 1.41 and 1.401, 47 CFR §§1.41, 1.401. PISC requests that the Commission:

...[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

I wouldn't be surprised if you've never heard of a “White Space Device.” And yet, white space devices have the potential to be one of the most revolutionary new technologies to come along in the past twenty years. White space devices will have a greater positive impact than Wi-Fi and spur far more innovation than mobile phones. And yet, the trade press and inside-the-beltway media have been inundated by a massive PR campaign, and congressional offices have been swarmed by hundreds of

...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