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August 18, 2008: Google is getting used to lobbying the FCC. After organizing a coalition to promote open networks to the FCC, Google is launching an effort to open up "white spaces" with an initiative called Free the Airwaves. Google's Free the Airwaves joins with other consumer efforts, like the White Space Coalition, to lobby the FCC for white-space access.
Having organized a coalition to promote open networks to the Federal Communications Commission with some success, Google has launched a new effort in support of "white spaces" called Free the Airwaves.
White spaces are the static between channels. According to Google on a new Web site promoting the Free the Airwaves initiative, more than three-quarters of those airwaves are not being used. Google cofounder Larry Page has described the potential as "Wi-Fi on steroids."
'A Revolution in Wireless Services'
"This vast public resource could offer a revolution in wireless Relevant Products/Services services of all kinds, including universal wireless Internet," the Free the Airwaves site proclaims. It adds that the FCC will soon make a decision about whether this unused spectrum should be made available for public use, and asks visitors to sign its petition and "spread the word."
Supporters of using the white spaces contend that services not offered today, such as universal wireless online access, could be provided. Google's newest effort, like the one in favor of open networks, joins with other companies and with public-interest groups.
The Free the Airwaves consumer effort is now allied in the same cause as the White Space Coalition, an industry group whose members include Google, Microsoft Relevant Products/Services, Dell Relevant Products/Services, HP, Intel Relevant Products/Services, Philips, EarthLink, Samsung and others. The coalition has developed a device that, with "smart" reception that intelligently separates received signals, can utilize white spaces for such goals as 80Mbps download speeds to homes.
Such access could also dramatically affect broadband access in rural and smaller markets. Opponents, such as the TV industry's Association for Maximum Service Television, say that utilizing white spaces will interfere with transmissions by licensees of the channels.
'Clear Business Interest'
Google has had some success this year in lobbying the FCC. After efforts by an alliance led by Google, the FCC required that the auctioned C block of 700MHz frequencies allow any compatible third-party device or non-malicious software to operate. Verizon Wireless, which submitted the winning bid for those licenses, is now obligated to provide "open-device/open-software" access.
Although Google participated in the bidding, it stopped bidding once the minimum price was reached, thus helping to open up frequencies without having to operate them. This strategy could pay off big for the company, not only in increased Web services, but in the use of upcoming devices that utilize its open-source Android mobile Relevant Products/Services software platform.
The white-spaces campaign could similarly benefit the company -- a fact it has acknowledged. Saying it wanted to be "transparent" about its involvement, Minnie Ingersoll, product manager for Google's Alternative Access Team, posted on the Official Google Blog that her company "has a clear business interest in expanding access to the Web." She added that, "If these airwaves are opened up to unlicensed use, more people will be using the Internet." This, she noted, would be good for Google and other companies, as well as for consumers.
Source : http://www.toptechnews.com/story.xhtml?story_id=10200A13K100
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