FCC votes yes on unlicensed white space use

You win some, you lose some -- so says FCC chairman Kevin Martin (pictured), in a roundabout way, at least. The hard-fought campaign for using the freed "white spaces" from the upcoming DTV transition in America has at long last led to victory for proponents such as Google, Microsoft and Intel, but suffice it to say, not everyone is thrilled about the decision. Essentially, the approval will allow unlicensed use of the soon-to-be-liberated spectrum, which could pave the way for mobile broadband access in rural locations (for example). Fuming TV broadcasters will theoretically be protected from any unwanted interference, as any device "offered by a technology company for use on the white spaces will have to go through a rigorous certification process." More wireless in '08 -- now isn't that something we can all agree on?

[Via TechCrunch, image courtesy of CESWeb]

[Corey O @ Nov 5th 2008 4:54AM]

I work at a hospital in the telemetry unit and patient can turn critical in an instant. Interference from other devices could be life threatening. As controlling as the FCC likes to be, I'm surprised they didn't set aside a channel. It's nice that Google took the initiative and set aside channel 37.
However, it is nice that rural America will see more mobile services.

http://www.worldgonemobile.com

[Jorge @ Nov 10th 2008 6:42AM]

You were doing so well, then you had to drop the link.

[Corey O @ Nov 6th 2008 1:49PM]

Don't hate my call sign
http://www.worldgonemobile.com - drops like a log in the river.

[Tyson @ Nov 5th 2008 5:12AM]

FCC this does not make up for that Crap with verizon or the rest you pulled

[chezzo @ Nov 5th 2008 6:15AM]

I'm interested to know what impact this will have on the rest of the world-
The UK making the digital switchover in 2012, will Google be pursuing similar plans here?

[Magallanes @ Nov 5th 2008 7:11AM]

AFAIK :the white spaces was unused, hence free for all but now this white space is not free anymore.
So, this white space (currently used why anybody that want to use it, is property of Google and other companies.

[TVGenius @ Nov 5th 2008 8:10AM]

As proposed thus far, the devices are supposed to 'detect' empty channels and use them, but in practice, this usually doesn't happen. If you've tried tuning in DTV and had problems, you know how hard it can be, and how weak the signals are. These devices, with even less capable antennas, often fail to detect the existing signals. This means if you already have DTV issues, you'll likely also have problems with these devices broadcasting on used channels and interfering with them.

[lettcco @ Nov 5th 2008 7:52AM]

don't you mean '09?

[jonbruck @ Nov 5th 2008 8:59AM]

As much as I love the idea of whitespace internet, wasn't the whole point of eliminating over-the-air TV to free up the bandwith for emergency responders?

[rcappo @ Nov 5th 2008 10:17AM]

That spectrum is still being used for that. They get the UHF (or is it VHF), and the digital TV signal gets the other one. The whitespace is the signal in between the channels that the digital TV signal currently uses.

[BananaBoat @ Nov 5th 2008 7:48PM]

I'm so confused...I keep hearing people say that we can get extremely fast internet over the air or....something....but all I hear is that certain "devices" will take advantage of the spectrum. I know that there is a lot of bandwidth at play here, and probably enough to completely obliterate the current speeds offered by the Phone/Cable companies, but I never hear about any actual uses for the spectrum beyond the "we COULD do this" realm.

[thedesolate1 @ Nov 5th 2008 9:16AM]

Well....I was thinking something more along the lines of alternate mobile broadband for cities and rural areas. What about my dreams of unshackling myself from the cell phone companies with skype?

[James @ Nov 5th 2008 12:26PM]

In addition, wireless microphones and safety communications will become unusable. This means that you will never experience a TV music award show, broadway musical, Disney World theme park or church on Sunday the same ever again. All American culture will be negatively impacted by this technology. I have been working in this field since 1989 and know this to be a fact. All America will know that the FCC made a grace error in this decision.

There are even a number of military command posts using equipment in this band. Ground control of over seas troops will be affected, Nuclear power plants use equipment in this band and medical telemetry is in tyhis band. The FCC made this decision on policitcs. There is no engineering logic at all. Chairman Martin wanted to pass this through before Obama got elected because he will be out of a job soon. At least now, he may get a job at one of the white space coalition giants like Google. That's great for him and terrible for the rest of the country.

JS RF Guy

[Madcat @ Nov 5th 2008 1:09PM]

Aaaah, the apocalypse, now in all new RF flavour!