White Spaces Vote Draws Support, Opposition From All Sides
Letters from senators and states, large companies and sports leagues sent to FCC supporting or opposing the commission's November 4 vote on white spaces.
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/24/2008 7:55:00 AM
There are now hardly any spaces between the white spaces e-mails--comments, forum announcement, letters from Capitol Hill, and even state legislatures--that are bouncing around the Internet and into the in-boxes of media reporters.
That is because at press time the FCC was still planning to vote Nov. 4 on a pathway to digital citizenship for unlicensed mobile devices in the so-called white spaces between DTV channels.
Ever since FCC Chairman Kevin Martin announced he had scheduled the item for a vote, both sides have been ramping up their efforts.
On Friday, for example, came word that former presidential candidate John Kerry (D-MA) had sent a letter to Martin saying the vote should go forward.
"I strongly urge you to move ahead with a vote scheduled for the Commission’s November 4th meeting on the authorization of these new devices in a mobile, unlicensed manner," wrote Kerry. "In addition, I strongly urge the Commission to adopt technical parameters that would maximize the potentials of white space devices in bringing about the next generation of broadband services while protecting incumbent services from harmful interference."
Kerry was preaching to the choir, since Martin supports the item--he circulated it--and also says it needs to protect from interference.
On the other side, broadcasters were circulating a letter from another senator, Mel Martinez (R-FL), who also had written Martin asking him not to proceed with the vote. ""I know that companies and the FCC have been experimenting for some time now on devices that work under controlled conditions," he wrote. “but to date, none have succeeded on a consistent basis," Sen. Martinez wrote. "The Commission's usual practice of seeking public comment prior to adopting a major rule should not be disregarded on an issue of this magnitude."
Scores of lawmakers have weighed in, while competing alliances--broadcasters, sports and theater producers, churches and other wireless microphone users and manufacturers on one side, computer companies, other manufacturers and some public interest groups on the other--have been pitching their positions to media reporters in earnest.
For example, The Wireless Innovation Alliance (WIA), which comprises Google, Dell, Microsoft Free Press, and others, is scheduled to hold a roundtable discussion on white spaces Monday, Oct. 27, headlined by Microsoft Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie. They will be pushing for a vote.
The White Spaces Coalition, which backs the WIA's position on white spaces, filed an emergency petition with the FCC to deny the emergency petition from the other side for a comment period on the FCC white spaces report.
Then there was the news from the broadcasters/producer side Friday that the major sports leagues have all asked the FCC to slow down, or alternately adopt a hybrid mobile/fixed approach to the devices.
-
OK. I wrote the below after reading a "Dead Tree" version of B&C this morning, but the topic applies to White Space issues as well. The notion that you can predict that someone is in or not in a "contour" is balderdash. You may as well predict the future price of a barrel of oil.
If one wanted to protect licensed users from co and adjacent channel unlicensed radio transmitters, the unlicensed devices must poll the receiver, such as a TV set. Each set knows if it is receiving a given program. Each set could have a transponder telling users what it is seeing. Without two way communication, co-operative use is not guaranteed. There is no way to KNOW how a radio wave will fly from one particular place to another. Below is my further comment...
I have just read your article, "Hill Hot Over DTV Education Gap", in which stuff like, "...even if they do everything right they could lose a signal due to change in contour", one of a very long list of such comments that infuriate me.
As a kid I used to say, "I throw a signal into the air, it lands to earth I know not where". Only lawyers, FCC Commissioners, and engineers that have not been in the field, think you can predict that an individual will or will not get a signal.
As it happens, I read this article right after testing my DTV signal by switching the channel 5 transmitter to DTV for a few seconds. At my home, I got good digital results on rabbit ears in my living room, and no DTV reception via my rooftop all band antenna mounted to a properly oriented antenna rotator.
I''m not surprised. So, while reading about millions of dollars the FCC has spent on hot rods and such, I''m
not pleased about the education gap on the hill, our lack of funds to do this right, and lack of FCC cooperation in getting signals to viewers.
Many rural people will lose reliable reception. Many will gain.
Jeremy Lansman - 10/24/2008 7:43:00 PM EDT -
Just wait 'til these politicians hear from antenna-dependent constituents who aren't ready for the analog shut-off, or can't get decent DTV signals due to poor antennas and/or interference that's already out there, let alone the static that would be created if mobile devices are allowed to encroach on broadcast frequencies. What's the rush here?
Adam Smith - 10/24/2008 3:50:00 PM EDT
Media Chiefs Seek Delay on White Spaces Vote
10/23/2008The Unending 'White Spaces’ Debate
10/28/2007FCC Taking White Spaces Training Abroad
01/09/2009White Spaces: Hot Issue
11/02/2008
