Google may have lost out on the U.S. spectrum auction last week, but they are currently lobbying the Federal Communications Commission for permission to use “white space” in television airwaves (basically, airwaves not used by broadcasts), for wireless Internet services and broadband.
Google lawyer Richard Whitt says in a letter to the FCC that “As Google has pointed out previously, the vast majority of viable
spectrum in this country simply goes unused, or else is grossly underutilized. Unlike other natural resources, there is no benefit to allowing this spectrum to lie fallow.”
According to an Associated Press report, television broadcasters oppose the idea. THey claim that use of white space could potentially interfere with TV broadcasts and the planned transition from analog to digital this year.
