MSTV Pushes Back on White Spaces
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/22/2006 5:26:00 PM
The Association for Maximum Service Television has released a study it says documents interference problems associated with unlicensed devices operating in the so-called "white spaces" in the TV band.
The Senate communications reform bill would give the OK to using some of the TV band for unlicensed wireless devices within 270 days of passage and would require broadcasters to identify the source of the interference before complaining about it, which troubles MSTV, the broadcasting industry's spectrum watchdog.
But the prospects for that bill's passage are problematic, despite pep talks from House and Senate communications committee leadership, thanks to the issue of net neutrality.
Separately, the FCC has asked for information as it prepares technical specs and test interference potentials for the new service, which Chairman Kevin Martin supports as a way to boost broadband roll-out and more efficient use of spectrum, both administration priorities.
The MSTV study (INSERT HERE) asserts that unlicensed devices pose a serious interference risk to DTV reception.
