Less than a week after losing in the latest U.S. spectrum auction, Google Inc. has started pitching its plan to use TV “white space” — unlicensed and unused airwaves — to provide wireless Internet. In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission released by Google on Monday, the Internet search giant pressed the government to open up the white space for unlicensed use in hopes of enabling more widespread, affordable Internet access over the airwaves. Google said the white space, located between channels 2 and 51 on TV sets that aren’t hooked up to satellite or cable services, offer a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to provide ubiquitous wireless broadband access to all Americans.”
It was not the first time that Google has urged the FCC to open up television white space, but the Internet company’s public letter, sent Friday, was notable given Google’s involvement in the just-ended 700MHz wireless spectrum auction. TV broadcasters oppose use of white space, fearing such usage would cause interference with television programming and could cause problems with a federally mandated transition from analog to digital broadcasting signals next year. But Google in its letter urged the FCC to adopt a series of overlapping technologies, including “spectrum sensing,” designed to prevent signals from interfering with each other.
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