[opendtv] News: WHITE SPACE PROPONENTS TO FCC: TAKE IT SLOW

http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2007/09/19/daily.4/

WHITE SPACE PROPONENTS TO FCC: TAKE IT SLOW
TVNEWSDAY, SEP. 19, 8:56 AM ET
Stung by negative results of FCC testing, the high-tech firms advocating unlicensed wireless devices on vacant TV channels want the FCC to consider the results of their latest field tests, even if it means delaying a planned October vote. 

By Kim McAvoy
The White Spaces Coalition may have just blinked in its high-stakes showdown with broadcasters. 
Story continues after the ad
The Coalition of high-tech firms that had been pushing hard for an FCC vote next month that would permit unlicensed wireless devices to use the vacant TV broadcast channels in each market-the so-called white spaces-is now asking the agency to take its time and consider new data that it will be submitting, possibly as early as this week.
The Coalition believes the new data, results of field testing on devices in New York and California, will refute allegations that the unlicensed devices will cause devastating interference to digital TV reception and derail the DTV transition.
"Hopefully the commission will accept that data as verification that the Coalition's proposal is a good one," said Ed Thomas, a former FCC chief engineer who now represents the Coalition, which includes Microsoft, Google, Philips, Intel, Dell, HP and others.
"But if the commission doesn't accept it, our preference is that they be given the time in order to do their own independent justification and validations as opposed to ruling just because they said they were going to rule in October.
"We would provide them with whatever support is necessary for them to do it on an expedited fashion including providing them personnel if they want it," he said.
Last week, according to FCC filings, representatives of Microsoft and Dell contacted FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, thought to be one of the Coalition sympathizers, saying they would not mind if the vote slipped slightly.
The FCC has set a timetable that calls for a vote in October. The last word from Chairman Kevin Martin is that he is sticking to the schedule.
That the Coalition is tapping the brakes on the proceeding may be a tacit admission that it has lost ground since the FCC released the negative results of its testing of white space devices and evidence that the broadcasters' increasingly aggressive campaign against unlicensed white space devices is having an effect.
Early last week, the NAB and the Association for Maximum Service Television ratcheted up their lobbying efforts. Following a Monday press conference at NAB headquarters, a contingent of broadcasters and their Washington reps visited all the commissioners arguing that unlicensed devices in the broadcast band would hobble the new digital broadcast TV service.
The broadcasters' cause was strengthened-and the Coalition's weakened-in July by results of the FCC's testing of unlicensed device prototypes. The FCC found them seriously lacking and "capable of causing interference." 

The broadcasters needed the help.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org 
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word 
unsubscribe in the subject line.

Other related posts: