FCC frees up TV white spaces

The Federal Communications Commission today announced what Chairman Julius Genachowski called “the first significant release of unlicensed spectrum in 25 years,” freeing up unused television spectrum also known as TV white spaces. The new order, Genachowski said in an FCC meeting today, should “enhance the economy” and “generate billions of dollars in private investment.”

The TV white spaces spectrum has excellent propagation characteristics and is expected to support WiFi-style connectivity over distances of several miles, which could make it well suited to support smart grid, smart city and numerous other applications.

The FCC plan would require devices using the new spectrum to automatically communicate with a database administrator over the Internet upon initial deployment. The database administrator would then assign an unused portion of the spectrum to that user and keep track of all assignments. The concept already has been tested in several trials using database technology from Spectrum Bridge, whose chief technology officer recently told Connected Planet that the company is one of several vying to be chosen to administer the database.

In comments at the FCC meeting today, FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell put his own spin on the white spaces order. By making spectrum available for unlicensed broadband use, he said, the new order provides a “competitive alternative to existing broadband providers,” eliminating the need for any action on Net neutrality. McDowell, who opposes Net neutrality guidelines, joked that Genachowski could now take that issue off of his to-do list.

Users of wireless microphones, including country singer Dolly Parton, had expressed concerns that freeing up the white spaces spectrum could cause interference problems for their mikes. The FCC hopes to address these concerns by dedicating a portion of the white spaces spectrum band for wireless microphone use. FCC senior staff engineer Hugh van Tuyl estimated that the dedicated spectrum could support 12 to 16 wireless microphones. Anyone requiring a higher number of microphones would have the option of making a formal request for assigned spectrum through the white spaces database.

The new order does not include a previous recommendation that would have required devices with geo-location capability to sense neighboring devices using TV white spaces spectrum and adjust sensitivity accordingly.