By Teresa von Fuchs
Friday, May 23, 2008
Google co-founder Larry Page traveled to Washington, D.C. this week to speak with members of the FCC and Congress about his “concern” over a possible missed opportunity for the country to use unused TV airwaves for wireless Internet access. Called “white spaces,” the FCC has been testing the viability of using the unused portions of spectrum for wireless access. Page reportedly said white spaces represent a much better technology for blanketing the country with wireless Internet than Wi-Fi, as they have much longer range.
Page also objected to the National Association of Broadcasters’ claims that using white spaces for wireless services could disrupt TV broadcasts, saying that the group wants to keep the spectrum for themselves. Other groups have also raised concerns about possible interference issues from white space uses.
The FCC has been testing devices built for white space spectrum from Motorola, Microsoft, Philips Electronics and more. While the commission has not made any formal comment about how testing is going, reports claim that several devices malfunctioned during testing. It seems unlikely the commission will make a decision in favor of the use of white spaces until a device is tested that doesn’t interfere with the TV broadcasts.
Google’s Page is confident that eventually that will happen. “I bet 100% that it will happen. It's just a question of what year,” he reportedly said.