Open Spectrum

Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION WASHINGTON, DC 20554

In the Matter of Sprint Nextel Corporation and Clearwire Corporation Application for Consent to Transfer Control of Licenses and Authorizations

WT Docket No. 08-4

To: The Commission

PETITION FOR RECONSIDERATION OF THE PUBLIC INTEREST SPECTRUM COALITION

In an unprecedented display of consensus, a broad and diverse array of groups concerned about America's broadband future released a Call to Action that provides President-elect Obama and the incoming Congress a policy framework for a comprehensive national broadband strategy.

A Unique Opportunity for Ireland

The Internet is dramatically changing how we communicate, how we engage in commerce, and how we participate in the broader society. It is breaking down barriers to education, healthcare, and economic opportunity. It is also transforming democracy, creating the impetus for more inclusive democratic processes, and allowing for widespread participation by individual citizens on a level unseen previously. But the benefits of this communications medium accrue only to those with access. Thus, Ireland

"We are very encouraged to hear that CTIA will join us in calling attention to the many bands of prime spectrum that are unused or grossly underutilized," said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at the New America Foundation. "Actual measurements of spectrum use show that less than 10 percent of the 'beachfront' frequencies below 3 GHz are in use even at peak times in the largest cities. Unlocking this wasted public resource is what motivated our successful… more

"It was a tremendous waste of the very best airwaves," said Michael Calabrese, director of the New America Foundation's Wireless Future Program. LINK

Yesterday will go down in history as a bellwether moment. Few among us will soon forget the excitement of Obama's election. But there was an equally historic vote yesterday that for geeks, policy analysts, and technologists represents an entirely new trajectory in telecommunications. In essence, the FCC has begun the transition from command-and-control, single-user spectrum licensure to a more distributed system that holds the potential to eliminate the artificial scarcity that prevented widespread access to the public airwaves since 1927.

Yesterday, the FCC ruled that unlicensed white… more

Over the past week, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has bombarded Congress with a flurry of doomsday pronouncements, claiming broadcast television is under attack by the FCC and advocates seeking to open unused TV channels (TV white spaces) for wireless broadband and mobile Wi-Fi devices.    If all of this sounds a bit familiar, that's because broadcasters always scream "interference!" when faced… more

In an October 2007 letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), executives from the four largest TV networks told the Commission that proposals to allow low-power Wi-Fi type devices to operate on vacant TV channels, “could cause permanent damage to over-the-air digital television reception." Such a dire warning would ring alarm bells for policymakers, if not for the fact that similar nightmare scenarios have been predicted before.

Proponents of making fallow TV frequencies available for Wi-Fi include Google Inc., Motorola Inc., Microsoft Corp., Phillips Electronics and other high-tech companies large and small. The New America Foundation, a think tank, also has been an influential voice in pushing for unlicensed wireless operations in TV white spaces. LINK

Via ElectronicMail

Marlene H. Dortch Office of the Secretary Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, SW Washington, DC 20554

Re: Unlicensed Operation in the TV Broadcast Bands (ET Docket No. 04-186) Response to NAB, et al. Ex Parte Filing of October 22, 2008

Dear Ms. Dortch: