Google Helping to Push FCC to Open Spectrum
The Federal Communications Commission will have the final say in the battle between the broadcasters — which fear interference on the airwaves they’ll still be using — and the companies including Google Inc. and Motorola Inc. that want to share the television airwaves, using them for high-speed wireless service that could spur the development of new wireless gadgets.
In September, the FCC is expected to report its findings on tests of prototype “smart radios” that can pinpoint which local broadcast channels are being used and then avoid them. Shortly after that, its five commissioners are expected to take up the issue of whether those TV airwaves can be shared, with an eye to setting rules for their use by year end.
White spaces are swaths of broadcast spectrum that will be left open after TV stations switch to digital broadcasting in February. This spectrum is valuable because signals can travel great lengths on it, and because it allows them to penetrate buildings, unlike airwaves used by some wireless phones and devices. The slivers of airwaves currently set aside for cordless phones, Bluetooth devices and Internet Wi-Fi networks are also getting crowded, and tech companies want more unlicensed airwaves to use.
“I like to think of it as Wi-Fi on steroids,” Google co-founder Larry Page told FCC lawyers, congressional staff and lobbyists in June during his first lobbying trip to Washington. “It would make a huge difference for everybody.”
Broadband Internet Price War
Verizon Communications Inc., which last quarter became the first company ever to see a drop in DSL subscribers — some of whom went to its faster FiOS service — is now offering customers six months of DSL service free if they sign up for the company’s phone and Internet package. That makes the bundled package $45 a month, vs. $65 prior to the offer. AT&T Inc., meanwhile, is now guaranteeing its current prices, ranging from $20 to $55 a month, for two years.While the most generous offers are coming from the phone companies, some analysts expect cable companies will also become more aggressive in their own promotions as they compete to retain customers.
HostingCon 2008 Video Review
George Mitsopolous was recently interview by WHIR.
