Motorola Joins Wireless Innovation Alliance
Group of Computer, Technology Companies Pushing FCC to Open Up DTV-Spectrum Band to Mobile Unlicensed Wireless Devices
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/29/2008 7:05:00 AM
Motorola joined the Wireless Innovation Alliance, a group of computer and technology companies trying to get the Federal Communications Commission to open up the digital-TV-spectrum band to mobile unlicensed wireless devices.
Motorola has been working on a device that combines a database of existing channels with a sensing beacon to ensure that the devices do not interfere with DTV channels. The FCC has been testing that and other devices and has run into problems.
Motorola and the alliance have argued that those problems are simply part of the testing process of prototype devices meant to provide information for the FCC as it crafts rules and procedures for ultimately "unleashing the benefits of this currently fallow spectrum."
Motorola also argued that it "successfully demonstrated the ability to protect digital-TV viewing in a wide variety of conditions, including in the presence of strong adjacent channel signals."
Broadcasters took issue with that assertion and countered that ongoing testing problems mean that the devices aren't working and will cause interference that can impede the DTV transition. They argued that the FCC should not allow mobile unlicensed devices to share the band unless it can be sure that they will not interfere with DTV signals.
