Fresh off open-access win, Google pushes for Wi-Fi in white spaces

Google Inc., a major force in prying open the 700 MHz band for third-party applications and devices, could also become the pivotal deal-maker in the equally controversial and politicized debate over whether federal regulators should make vacant TV channels — white spaces — available for unlicensed wireless broadband access.
Google submitted to the Federal Communication Commission a proposal that it believes “will eliminate any remaining legitimate concerns about the merits using the white space for unlicensed personal/portable devices.” The Google plan draws on a Motorola Inc. technology combining geo-location to avoid interference to digital TV signals and beacons to prevent disruptions to wireless microphone operations. Moreover, the proposal includes a safe harbor for wireless microphones in channels 36-38, meaning no TV white spaces would be allowed to transmit in that spectrum.
The high tech and TV broadcasting sectors remain engaged in a high-stakes battle over whether potentially huge swatches of vacant TV airwaves — approximately 15 to 40 channels in the 210 TV markets after the digital transition ends in early 2009 — can be freed up for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed services. Broadcasters argue Wi-Fi deployment in white spaces could undermine the expensive transition to digital technology, pointing to government testing last summer that found a Microsoft Corp. device incapable of avoiding interference to TV reception. High-tech companies reply that other test devices have passed muster in FCC testing to date, proving spectrum-sensing technology works just as it does with 5 GHz sharing between Wi-Fi users and military radar. High-tech firms brush off the Microsoft incident as a case of defective equipment.
The FCC is conducting a second round of testing on units supplied by Microsoft, Phillips Electronics and Adaptrum Inc. The agency could issue rules this summer.
Several House members previously wrote FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to urge a prompt resolution of technical issues and a final decision in the next few months. Still, a considerable number of lawmakers have expressed concerns about white-space device interference to digital TVs.
Richard Whitt, Washington telecom and media counsel for Google, told reporters today he hoped to win support for Wi-Fi in TV white spaces.
“While we continue to believe that spectrum sensing alone is more than sufficient to protect legitimate concerns of the broadcasters and wireless microphone communities, we are willing to go considerably farther in order to secure a positive outcome for all,” stated Whitt in a Google filing to the FCC. “The value of the TV white space to all Americans simply is too great to allow this unique opportunity to be blocked by unfounded fear, uncertainty and doubt.”
Google previously lobbied the FCC to include open-access stipulations on the recently auctioned 700 MHz spectrum. The stipulations require the winner — which turned out to be Verizon Wireless — to open the network to all suitable devices and applications.
Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA Inc., the nation’s third and fourth largest mobile-phone operators, respectively, have voiced support for a fixed-licensing scheme for TV white spaces that would offer a less costly option for wireless backhaul services.