(Washington, DC) Google's Co-Founder Larry Page said today that recent tests conducted by the FCC that determined mobile devices in the so-called "white space" spectrum can cause interference with microphones and TV stations were rigged and shouldn't serve as the basis for government policy. Speaking at a Wireless Innovation Alliance event hosted by the New America Foundation here, Page said "I'm telling you the test was rigged" and urged the FCC to act on a proposal to free up the spectrum, slices of the airwaves set aside so that broadcast stations don't interfere with each other.
Holding up Google's just-unveiled Wi-Fi-enabled GPhone, Page said that the boom in unlicensed Wi-Fi devices is nothing compared to what could happen if the FCC allows companies to use the unlicensed white space spectrum as a basis for new devices that could radically spur innovation. Despite the revolution ushered in by Wi-Fi, that portion of the spectrum is severely limited. "It doesn't go through walls...there's no Wi-Fi signal in this room [hearing room in Dirksen Building] that works," he said, noting that portions of his own home lacks wireless access because "I haven't gone to the hassle of putting in multiple hubs."
"All the FCC has to do is say 'you can produce this device if it's shown that it doesn't cause interference,'" Page said. But political pressure from broadcasters has turned policy-making in a "perverse" direction by reframing the debate so that "you shouldn't even try" because the devices might cause interference. "This notion that we're hearing from the broadcasters that it will cause interference...is garbage, it's not true."
Making an unexpected visit to the event was Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA), who represents Redmond, home to Microsoft. Noting that both Microsoft and Google, otherwise notorious policy and marketplace foes, are aligned on white spaces, Inslee joked that "it's nice to see peace across the Valley."
Like Page, Inslee is pushing the FCC to allow development of devices in the white spaces. "It's clear that white hats are on the side of white spaces," he said. "If you are for innovation, you are for white spaces."
Not only will use of the white spaces speed communications innovation, it can also help solve the country's energy problems, Inslee said. "Virtually every machine we use that uses energy will be reporting back to a grid-based spectrum," allowing more intelligent and efficient use of energy resources, Inslee said.
Other industry speakers at the event stressed the innovation benefits that white space use could yield. Gary Grube, Senior Fellow at Motorola, said that "this piece of the spectrum is golden for the long-range." Marc Berejka, Senior Director for Technology Policy & Strategy at Microsoft, said the entrenched cellular industry, which should theoretically embrace use of white spaces, has opposed it because it is warehousing spectrum in rural America, making it hard for rural wireless providers to establish communications backhauls.
Dell Technology Policy Director Neeraj Srivastava said that it's hard to anticipate just what kind of revolutionary services could crop up if white spaces were exploited. "In 1985, there was not an engineer on the planet that would say Wi-Fi would come out of" unregulated use of the 2.4 Ghz spectrum, and now one billion devices are dependent on this relatively inferior slice of the airwaves.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 2:19 PM | Print | Comments (0)
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