White Open Spaces

While all eyes are on the presidential election today, the five-member Federal Communications Commission will cast its own momentous vote on whether to open up “white spaces” for general use. White spaces are unused sections of the analog television broadcast spectrum–the space between channels. Once the transition to digital TV is completed in February, the FCC will keep about 49 TV channels of the spectrum active.

Opening these airwaves could lead to the possibility of building a nationwide wireless network and spur innovation in Internet technologies. If the FCC votes in favor of the proposal—as it is expected to do unanimously—huge portions of wireless spectrum will be available all over the country, including 40 percent of the spectrum in the Dallas-Ft. Worth and 74 percent in Juneau, Alaska.

This could be the easiest way to bring high-speed broadband access to all Americans. The available spectrum can penetrate walls, relay large amounts of data, and travel longer distances than signals on other frequencies, which would allow it to reach almost everyone in the United States. And a wireless system operating on these spectrum bands would definitely be less costly, time intensive, and disruptive than laying wire across the entire country.

But major TV broadcasters, including ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC, strongly oppose such a project, along with some sports groups such as Major League Baseball and NASCAR, who argue that an increase in signals could disrupt their own broadcasts and communication.

Even former FCC Chief Economist Thomas Hazlett and Nobel Prize winner Vernon Smith—despite opposing the proposal—pointed out in the Wall Street Journal last month that, “today’s digital transmissions can be tightly packed. It is now easily possible to deliver 50 digital signals using just eight TV channels of bandwidth.” The FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology confirmed this conclusion on October 15th, saying that its laboratory and field tests show that opening up the airwaves will not disrupt signals. The FCC’s report further recommended that requiring portable devices to have sensing technologies and a geo-location database would ensure protection for broadcasters.

Opening the airwaves is supported by groups ranging from Google—who launched a “Free the Airwaves” campaign in response—to the New America Foundation, the Wireless Innovation Alliance, and Free Press. This support is for good reason. Access to the powerful, new broadcast spectrum will expand possibilities for wireless innovators of all stripes and potentially give more Americans better access to the Internet and new technologies that we can’t even imagine yet.

UPDATE: As projected, the FCC voted 5-0 to open the white spaces.

Tags: Internet, Telecommunications

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