Open Spectrum

In 2004, the FCC initiated a proceeding to determine rules to allow the unlicensed operation of wireless communication devices in unused television band spectrum between channels 2 and 51. These vacant and unassigned television channels, known as the TV “white spaces,” would help make affordable wireless broadband in rural America a reality.

EX PARTE COMMENTS OF THE PUBLIC INTEREST SPECTRUM COALITION

COMMENTS OF THE

PUBLIC INTEREST SPECTRUM COALITION

The Media Access Project, on behalf of the Public Interest Spectrum Coalition (PISC), hereby submits these comments with regard to the above captioned proceeding. The failure of the D Block license to attract a bidder presents the Commission with a unique opportunity to restructure this band of spectrum in a way that will both serve the needs of public safety and the broader goals of the Communications Act. To that end,

...[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 co-founder Larry Page made a rare trip to Washington this week. No, he wasn't lobbying for net neutrality or being grilled about Internet censorship in China. It was all about the white spaces -- and Google's growing fixation with wireless communications.

With opposition mounting, Page came to bolster Google's push to gain public access to these white spaces, slivers of wireless spectrum between the broadcast channels used by TV stations. . .

During his May 22 speech to the… more

Google co-founder Larry Page was in Washington Thursday trying to strum up support to open unused broadcast TV spectrum to wireless devices. Page came to D.C. to meet with Congressional leaders and the Federal Communications Commission to talk about allowing device manufacturers to design products that use spectrum known as "white space." This spectrum, which is in the 700MHz band of frequency, sits between analog TV channels and is not being used for anything more than a buffer between broadcast TV… more