Posted on 10/14/2008 11:24:24 AM PDT by weegee
A battle between tech companies like Google Inc and broadcasters over use of soon-to-be vacant airwaves will heat up soon as U.S. regulators release an anticipated report on the issue.
The Federal Communications Commission's report will weigh in as early as Friday on the feasibility of opening up "white spaces" -- unused pockets of the spectrum to become available when broadcasters move completely to digital television next year -- for unlicensed use.
Google, Microsoft Corp and others want the spaces for a new generation of wireless devices. So-called incumbents on the space, including broadcasters and wireless phone companies, oppose unlicensed use, worrying that it would create interference and other technical problems.
High-tech companies "see this as a way to sell more devices and more services," said Harold Feld, senior vice president with the Media Access Project, a consumer group that backs the idea...
The National Association of Broadcasters, which represents the big networks like Walt Disney Co's ABC and General Electric's NBC, fiercely opposes the idea.
All sides have been waiting for an FCC engineering report that will lay out results of several years of data collection, including field tests on Broadway in New York City and at FedEx Field in Maryland.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
So this means broadcasters want to be the captive source of information?
I’m going to have to pull out the 82 channel tuner, the 40 channel CB, and the really old police scanners!
Not sure how a 700 MHz (or thereabouts) signal can interfere with a 1900 MHz CDMA/TDMA cell phone signal, but...
Free phone service!
Please watch these ads before we connect your call.
I thought that range was for first providers. As usual, WTF?
3.65 Mhz is an amateur radio frequency.
My bad....3.65GHZ....
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