LITTLE ROCK — Federal regulators Thursday cleared the way for technology companies to use vacant television channels for their wireless data and Internet services that may be worth more than $4 billion a year.
The Federal Communications Commission voted 5-0 to adopt rules for using the airwaves, known as white spaces. Microsoft Corp., Google Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., Motorola Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corp. are laying plans to exploit the airwaves, which exist in all U.S. cities.
“Today we open a new platform for American innovation” that will lead to billions of dollars in private investment, said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. “When we unleash American ingenuity, great things happen,” he said.
The radio waves travel inthe spectrum between television channels known as white spaces, and like TV signals they carry far and penetrate walls. Uses may include wireless Internet connections, remote monitoring of industrial systems such as power plants, and taking oversome mobile-phone traffic to ease sluggishness for users of devices such as Apple Inc.’s iPhone.
White-space applications may generate $3.9 billion to $7.3 billion in economic value each year, according to a September 2009 study funded by Microsoft and written by Richard Thanki, a London based analyst with Perspective Associates.
New York and Los Angeles, the nation’s two biggest media markets with multiple TV stations, may have few vacant channels for the devices, according to an FCC fact sheet. Most markets have five or more empty channels.
Users of the white-space airwaves won’t need an FCC license, leaving them free to create devices for applications yet to be developed, Genachowski said in an interview before the vote.
The FCC in 2008 approved white-space use over objections of television broadcasters who said their signals might be disrupted. Wireless microphone manufacturers and users - including churches, theaters, karaoke bars and all types of performers - raised similar concerns. The agency left final rules on technical standards for later, and these are the matters that came to a vote Thursday.
Thursday’s vote mandates the creation of a database with a map of TV channels across the country as well as big wireless microphone users, such as Broadway theaters and sports leagues. White-space networks and devices would be required to determine their own location and then consult the database to find vacant frequencies to use. The FCC is also setting aside at least two channels forminor users of wireless microphones.
David Donovan, president of the Association for Maximum Service Television, said the group will work with the FCC to develop the technical protections to safeguard television signals.
The FCC also was to vote on easing rules for schools and libraries to use federal funds for high-speed Internet connections. Schools and libraries could use the funds to connect to networks or to fiber-optic lines that have been installed nearby and are ready to carry Internet service, Genachowski said in a speech Tuesday.
AT&T Inc. opposed the proposal, saying Congress intended subsidies to be spent on communications providers and not directly on fiber.
Information for this article was contributed by Todd Shields of Bloomberg News, Joelle Tessler of The Associated Press and Jeffry Bartash of MarketWatch.
Business, Pages 27 on 09/24/2010