High Tech Poised for Big Win on TV White Spaces
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said Wednesday that he’s asking commissioners to approve an order allowing use of unlicensed, mobile devices in the TV white spaces at what’s shaping up as a hugely important meeting Nov. 4. Martin told reporters that white-spaces devices probably will hit the market about a year after the FCC sets rules. He also asked commissioners to approve two major wireless mergers: A Verizon Wireless acquisition of Alltel and a proposed WiMAX partnership between Sprint Nextel and Clearwire. Martin didn’t schedule a vote on the AWS-3 auction to license spectrum for a free national broadband network.
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Martin wants action the white spaces, subject of hundreds of hours of FCC testing, he said. “The commission has been studying for a long time how we can make more efficient use of the spectrum, how we can take advantage of the existing white spaces between broadcast channels,” he said. “This spectrum can be very conducive to broadband capability. That’s why [700 MHz] spectrum was worth so much when we auctioned it.”
The white-spaces item probably will win broad support among commissioners, FCC sources said. Some commissioners have said they were reserving judgment until release of an Office of Engineering and Technology report on white-spaces interference matters. Martin circulated the report with the order Tuesday night. The report was to be released by the FCC Wednesday.
Martin will propose use of devices that scan the spectrum for unused channels and devices that use a geolocation database, he said. Portable devices that just scan the band would face tight restrictions on power levels and could not operate at power levels above 50 mW on all channels and 40 mW when a TV signal is in an adjacent channel. White spaces devices that also use a database could operate at 100 mW of power, if there’s no TV broadcast on an adjacent channel. The FCC will allow fixed devices to operate at the highest levels - up to 4 watts of power -- if they use a channel with no TV signal in adjacent channels.
The first devices available will use a database, since those with just a scanner would face a battery of tests at FCC to prove it would not interfere with TV broadcasts, Martin said. The order reserves several channels for wireless microphones. More details are likely to emerge in coming days.
The issue remains fractious, pitting broadcasters against high-tech companies. The proposed order marks a major victory for Intel, Microsoft and Google and other high- tech companies and an apparent loss for broadcasters and wireless carriers who supported an auction of the spectrum. The proposal also seems to be a win for Motorola, which pushed the use of geolocation databases.
“This news should be greatly encouraging for American consumers,” said Richard Whitt, Google Washington telecom and media counsel. “The FCC now has more than enough information to develop appropriate rules that protect TV stations and wireless microphone users from harmful interference, while at the same time allowing innovators and entrepreneurs to develop technology that productively uses these airwaves.”
The Alltel takeover has been opposed by small carriers and public interest groups, but FCC sources see it as likely to be approved, they said. The order propose no roaming obligations for Verizon beyond what it has promised to win approval of the merger. Both mergers are being reviewed by the Justice Department, which is expected to act before the meeting.
“I thought it was important for us to try to move forward on the mergers, particularly because there’s so much stress in the financial markets,” Martin said. “To try to provide certainty on what the commission’s going to do on those transactions I thought was important for us.”
Martin is “still very anxious to move forward” with an order proposing an AWS-3 auction and rules for free broadband service, he said. Other commissioners were responsible for any delay in approving the auction rules, he said. “The commissioners have to figure out what they want to do,” he said. “It’s a little odd. The commissioners had all actually imposed a deadline on me by when we would have to act and then I gave an item … and they still can’t figure out what they at this point want to end up doing.”
Martin circulated an options memo asking commissioners’ advice on the AWS-3 item late Friday, before the long weekend, FCC sources said Wednesday. “His complaint therefore boils down to he did not get responses to his options memo within 24 hours,” a commission source said.
Martin didn’t propose to change FCC automatic roaming rules. He has had no guidance from other commission members on this, he said. Before the Aug. 4 meeting, Martin pulled an item dealing with complaints about the home-roaming exclusion in the rules. “The commissioners all said they weren’t ready to act, but wanted to act soon,” he said. “I haven’t heard back from them on what they want to end up doing.” An FCC source noted that Martin hasn’t circulated anything since he pulled the roaming item in August.
Some FCC and industry officials suggest that the November meeting could be Martin’s last shot at winning approval of major, contentious items since it’s the FCC’s last meeting before the election ends. Martin disagreed that action will be more difficult after a new president is elected. “I'm not sure it’s been easy to move complicated or difficult items thus far,” he said. “I think it will continue to end up being challenging.”