Most people on Tuesday will likely have their eyes glued to their favorite Internet site or TV station looking for information about the historic presidential race. But another very important vote will be taking place at the Federal Communications Commission--a vote that some say could set a course of massive innovation in wireless broadband services.
On Tuesday, the FCC is set to vote on a proposal that will open up between 300MHz and 400MHz of unused spectrum throughout the country for unlicensed use. This spectrum, known as "white spaces," sits between broadcast TV channels. Today, this spectrum, which is sometimes used for wireless microphones, is mostly left vacant as a buffer to make sure there isn't interference between TV broadcasters.
Technology companies have been lobbying for more than two years to open this valuable spectrum for unlicensed use. They believe this spectrum, which is ideal for sending data wirelessly over long distances and penetrating through walls, can be used to enhance or create new wireless broadband services. And they say they can develop products and services that use this spectrum without interfering with services running on licensed spectrum in adjacent bands.
But incumbent spectrum license holders, such as TV broadcasters, say wireless devices that access this unlicensed spectrum will cause interference. And performers, church organizations, and sports leagues, which use wireless microphones, say that these new devices will be unable to adequately detect when this spectrum is already in use, causing interference.
The issue, which will come to a head on Election Day, has stirred up deep divisions pitting technology companies like Google and Microsoft against old guard TV broadcasters and even performers, such as Dolly Parton.
Despite efforts led by the National Broadcasters Association and others, it looks like the FCC, which had tested several proof-of-concept devices this summer, will likely support overwhelmingly the proposal to open up the "white spaces." While no one other than the five FCC commissioners has seen the proposal that was put together by Chairman Kevin Martin, insiders say that the commissioners feel it adequately addresses interference concerns that broadcasters and wireless microphone users have.
The lessons of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Companies like Google and Microsoft believe this spectrum could spur a major era of innovation around wireless products and services, essentially doing for wireless broadband what other unlicensed spectrum has done for short-range wireless technologies like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
Similar interference issues were a concern when the FCC was considering the use of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices. And "white space" supporters, such as Google co-founder Larry Page, pointed out earlier this year on a lobbying mission in Washington, D.C. that radio frequency engineers were been able to work through those issues.
The result has been an explosion in the use of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology. Millions of people throughout the world have used Wi-Fi routers to extend their broadband connections to create home networks. Almost every laptop shipped today has Wi-Fi embedded as a standard feature, and a growing number of portable devices like cell phones are also coming with Wi-Fi.
What's more, millions of people have also used Bluetooth-enabled devices like wireless headsets and other cell phone accessories.
Because the spectrum used to create these products is free, it's easier and cheaper for companies of any size to develop hardware or software applications that use the wireless spectrum. It also means that consumers can use the services for free.
Wireless operators are already starting to position themselves for the next generation of wireless. Sprint is building its 4G WiMax network. AT&T and Verizon Wireless have committed to using a 4G technology called LTE.
Both of these technologies use licensed spectrum. Verizon will be using spectrum it won in the FCC's 700MHz spectrum to build the service. And even though wireless carriers have talked in broad terms about new business models emerging for this next generation of wireless, it's unlikely the service will ever be free. And it's quite likely it could be at least as expensive as today's wireless service.
Technology companies hope that opening up "white spaces" will allow new players to enter the market to create services with different business models. For example, free access to spectrum could allow providers to offer service for free or at least at a much reduced price. This could potentially put competitive pricing pressure on traditional wireless carriers and force prices lower. And as more video is distributed via broadband, it could create entirely new services for viewing movies and TV shows.
Also on the agenda
Aside from "white spaces", the FCC is also considering other issues during Tuesday's meeting, including two announced mergers in the wireless market.
Verizon Wireless is seeking approval to buy Alltel for $5.9 billion plus the assumption of $22.2 billion in debt. Verizon won approval for the deal from the U.S. Department of Justice last week.
The FCC is also expected to approve the merger, which will make Verizon Wireless the largest wireless operator in the U.S. But like the U.S. Justice Department, which is requiring Verizon to sell off assets in 22 states, the FCC is also expected to put conditions on the merger.
The FCC is also expected to approve a deal to merge wireless spectrum from Sprint Nextel with spectrum allocated to a company called Clearwire. The companies plan to use the spectrum to build a nationwide broadband wireless network using a technology called WiMax. Google, Intel, Comcast, and Time Warner Cable have joined forces to invest billions into the $14.6 billion venture, which will be called Clearwire.
Meanwhile, another controversial issue on the FCC's agenda has been put on hold. Late Monday, Chairman Martin pulled an item that would have overhauled how phone companies pay each other for carrying long-distance traffic. The measure, which was criticized by consumer groups for potentially raising the cost of phone service, also would have dealt with reforming the Universal Service Fund, which subsidizes phone service in rural parts of the country. These issues are expected to be at least discussed, if not voted on, at the FCC's December 18 meeting.
Several lawmakers and professional sports organizations are urging the Federal Communications Commission to delay a vote on opening spectrum known as "white spaces" for unlicensed use.
On Friday, the Sports Technology Alliance, a trade group that represents eight major sports leagues, including the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, and NASCAR, filed a petition with the FCC asking the agency to open up a comment period on a proposal that would open white-space spectrum for unlicensed use.
Several members of Congress, including eight who signed a single letter as well as House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.), have also sent letters to the FCC asking the agency to delay its planned November 4 vote on a white-space proposal.
The congressional leaders and sports leagues join the National Association of Broadcasters in asking for a 60-day comment period on the proposal.
"White spaces" are slivers of unused spectrum that sit between licensed broadcast channels in the 150MHz to 700MHz spectrum bands. The FCC tested several proof-of-concept devices this summer to see if companies can develop products that could use this spectrum without interfering with licensed spectrum services in these bands.
In a report released last week, the commission's Office of Engineering Technology concluded that for the most part devices with geolocation and sensing technologies could be used to avoid interference with broadcast TV channels. But tests regarding interference with wireless microphones, which also operate without an FCC license in that spectrum band, produced mixed results.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, who supports the use of "white spaces," has already begun circulating a proposal for rules for white-space use that the agency will vote on at their open meeting on November 4.
Technology companies, such as Google and Microsoft, support the use of "white spaces," because they believe the spectrum can be used to help deliver new wireless broadband services. Earlier this week, Richard Whitt, Washington Telecom and Media Counsel for Google, wrote a blog urging people to write to the FCC to make sure the vote occurs on November 4. Whitt called the current petitions to the FCC merely stall tactics used to "derail the technology before the rules of the road are even written."
"The enormous promise of white spaces is simply too great to get bogged down now in politics," he said. "We're less than two weeks away from a vote that could transform the way we connect to the Internet. The time for study and talk is over."
Tech industry: Critics have had plenty of time
As a group, the technology industry has also filed comments with the FCC. The White Spaces Coalition, which represents these companies, said in a petition filed this week with the FCC that white-space critics have had more than enough opportunity to comment on this issue.
"After more than four years, multiple notice and comment periods, multiple rounds of lab and field testing, and over 30,000 filings by the public, broadcasters now accuse the commission of a rush to judgment on the white spaces," the coalition said. The group went on to say that these critics have also already filed more than 16 oral and written presentations with regard to the engineering report to the FCC.
Former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates also made a plea to the FCC this week to help move the process along. According to FCC filings, Gates talked to FCC commissioners and urged them to wrap up the issue by early November "to allow companies to begin the process of bringing the benefits of white spaces to consumers."
Not all lawmakers are opposed to voting on the white-space issue. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) sent a letter to Chairman Martin urging the Commission to move forward and establish guidelines for the initial use of white-space technology as scheduled.
For its part, the FCC has said that it is considering all the petitions. But so far the agency has kept mum about whether it will delay the vote. Considering Chairman Martin's strong support for the vote, it seems unlikely the agency would delay its vote. But given the mounting pressure, it's difficult to say what it will do. So stay tuned.
The Federal Communications Commission is considering delaying its November 4 vote on using unlicensed white-space spectrum after broadcasters filed an emergency petition, according to Web site Ars Technica.
The article quotes FCC spokesman Rob Kenny as saying the agency is reviewing the broadcasters' request. But the article also made it sound like the FCC wasn't crazy about the idea of delaying the vote. Kenny notes in his comments that the white-space proceeding has been open for several years and there have already been several rounds of testing, which were open to the public for comment.
Big technology companies, such as Motorola, Microsoft, and Google, have been lobbying the FCC for more than a year to open up these channels known as white spaces. These slivers of spectrum have been used as buffers between TV stations. But if used, they could provide between 300MHz and 400MHz of unlicensed spectral capacity throughout the country that could be used by anyone.
The National Association of Broadcasters has opposed using the buffer spectrum, saying that the use of white spaces will interfere with licensed broadcast channels.
Last week, the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology released a report in which it concluded that detection technology along with geo-location technology worked well enough in proof-of-concept devices to avoid interference issues. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin also announced his support in favor of opening up white spaces for unlicensed use and said the issue will be voted on at the November 4 FCC meeting.
But the NAB and the nation's three major TV broadcasters argue that the report's findings indicate there are interference issues. On Friday, they filed an emergency petition asking the FCC to launch a 70-day public comment cycle on the report.
"The widespread WSD (white-space device) sensing failures, all documented in the report, rebut the report's conclusion that there has been a 'proof of concept'," the NAB said in its filing. "There is no basis for concluding that devices that rely on spectrum sensing only, without geo-location, are feasible."
The NAB also argues that the FCC has sought comment after other technical reports were issued in the past. For example, the group noted that the agency asked for public comment about a study on 3G, or third-generation, wireless use in the 2,500MHz to 2,690MHz band in 2001. It also asked for comment after issuing studies on media ownership in 2007.
Of course, it should come as little surprise that the broadcasters are unhappy with the FCC's support for white spaces. They have been fighting the proceeding tooth and nail from the beginning. While broadcasters say they oppose the use of white spaces because of interference issues, I wonder if they are also afraid that opening up this spectrum might hurt their business models years into the future.
The companies pushing hardest for white spaces are companies like Microsoft and Google. Today these companies don't compete directly with broadcasters. But as more video is distributed via the Internet, there's a chance that they could become competitors in the future. Google already competes in a minor way with its YouTube site. The white-space spectrum, which penetrates easily through walls and provides high capacity, could be used to extend broadband services wirelessly.
Perhaps a bigger threat to broadcasters are the companies that haven't been created yet. Opening up the white-space spectrum for free use could help spur the creation of new companies that could eventually compete with them. In many ways this is exactly what Chairman Martin hopes will happen.
The debate over new unlicensed spectrum the Federal Communications Commission is considering opening up is heating up as Google ups the ante with a new lobbying Web site.
Google on Monday launched the new site called FreetheAirWaves.com to provide consumers with a voice, the company's policy guru said during a press conference call.
Google and other technology companies such as Intel, Microsoft and Motorola have been lobbying the FCC for months to open up what's known as "white space" spectrum for unlicensed use after the digital TV transition early next year. These slivers of spectrum that sit between TV channels as buffers to ensure that TV channels don't interfere with each could be used to provide broadband wireless services.
But broadcasters say using these channels will cause interference with their broadcast signals and cause major issues for people watching TV.
"Microsoft's applications fail all the time," said Dennis Wharton, a spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters. "But for us our signals need to get to our audience, so it's a different world. And it's not acceptable for there to be any interference."
The debate is coming to head as the FCC finishes field tests of proof-of-concept devices used to detect and avoid spectrum already in use. The results of the tests have been mixed. Some companies claim that geolocation-based technology has proven that it can interference with existing spectrum holders. Meanwhile, a field test of spectrum sensing technology at a major sporting venue proved that technology still has some problems.
The FCC is expected to release a report of the test results next month. And it will likely vote on whether to open the spectrum in the next few months.
It's clear that this has become as much of a political debate as it has a technical one. On the one hand, the National Association of Broadcasters is pointing to the tests as evidence that interference can't be avoided.
On the other side, Google and the technology community say that these are simply proof of concept devices and not even prototypes that could be used in commercial products. In fact, Google's Whitt said he is certain his company and others would pour millions of dollars into development if the FCC approved the use of white spaces and gave specific guidelines and rules for products.
The NAB and others, such as Verizon Wireless, which also opposes the use of white spaces, certainly have their own business motivations for opposing the use of white spaces.
The NAB may claim it is afraid of interference, but the reality it members don't want to give up control of airwaves they believes are theirs. Verizon Wireless and other wireless operators don't want competitors to get their hands on free spectrum that they could use to build competing services.
That said, Google and the rest of the technology companies lobbying for the freeing of white spaces have their own motivations and interests to consider. The more wireless spectrum and broadband services available, the more Google can make from advertising. The company hasn't denied this. Intel, Microsoft, and Motorola also benefit as they can each sell more products and services to consumers who use this unlicensed spectrum.
Better coverage
But my gut feeling is that this new spectrum won't likely become a major threat to wireless operators, such as Verizon, nor will it cause any disruption in TV service. But it could drastically improve the coverage of broadband particularly in rural areas.
The 300MHz to 400MHz spectrum that is being made available through the use of white spaces is not contiguous across the United States, so it's unlikely that any company could use the spectrum to build a nationwide network to compete against the major carriers.
That said, much of the white space spectrum that will be available will be in sparsely populated rural areas where there are fewer TV broadcasters and little access to broadband. And because the spectrum is ideally suited for rural areas with good propagation characteristics, it could be used by rural communities to blanket their regions with broadband access.
This is exactly what Wally Bowen, from the Mountain Area Information Network in Asheville, N.C., and Matthew Rantanen, who works with the Tribal Digital Village in San Diego, Calif.--which represents Native American tribes--say they hope will happen if the white spaces are offered to the public without licenses. They say that broadband operators are currently underserving their constituents and that access to free spectrum would help get broadband to more people in the country.
So far it looks like FCC Chairman Kevin Martin agrees. He was quoted Monday in The Wall Street Journal in favor of opening up white space spectrum to encourage more broadband deployments.
"Spectrum is very valuable and we want to make sure it's being used as efficiently as possible," he is quoted as saying in the Journal. "The idea of trying to utilize the 'white spaces' from a consumer perspective would be a good win for everyone."
Technology companies have also proven that they can mitigate interference issues through proper engineering. Just look at the use of Wi-Fi. The technology uses unlicensed spectrum in the 2.4GHz band, and there are specifications to ensure that Wi-Fi devices don't interfere with microwave ovens and garage door openers that operate at the same frequency.
But even if the FCC is to allow the use of white spaces, Google and others are concerned that the FCC might succumb to pressure from the broadcasting industry to put onerous rules on the spectrum that will make it virtually useless. Some critics say that the FCC's rules on low-power FM devices and ultra wide band devices have restricted them so much they can barely be used.
"When you look at low power FM or ultrawide band rules, the technology has great promise but the Commission adopted rules that constrained it to the detriment of consumers," Whitt said. "So of course there are concerns that that the rules could be too limiting."
The NAB says it only trying to protect the TV viewing public.
"NAB supports new technology and ending the digital divide," Wharton said. "What we can't support is a multibillion-dollar spectrum giveaway to Google and Microsoft that threatens interference-free television."
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