Wireless News!

Sound Advice by Brent Handy Contributing Writer April 06, 2009

As a follow up to my last article. This should make you feel better. The government can listen and react.
However, we have yet to see where the politicizing will take us.

There are now three Bills, from three authors, in the works. Rep. Jay Inslee's (D-Wash.), Sen. John Kerry
(D-Mass.) and Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) have rolled out their own versions of "white space" Bills. Sununu's
is the worst in my opinion, allowing for auctioning licenses for the spectrum.

All of the Bills allow low-power, unlicensed RF transmitters (our wireless systems) to be operated
in unused broadcast channels, or "white spaces". These open channels are intentional gaps between
TV channels, that prevent interference between TV stations. Your existing wireless systems won't
work in this spectrum. But, what there would be a migration of other digital devices to those
bands, freeing up other bands for us to use for audio. These devices will likely be "wireless
multimedia routers for the home and portable communications gear". Microsoft, Dell, Intel,
Hewlett-Packard, Philips and Google are pushing to open white spaces and has told the FCC it
will soon provide a prototype device for interference tests." The FCC's own timeframe would
release unlicensed devices into TV spectrum Feb. 17, 2009; the day analog TV transmitters must be shut down.