By Kristy Ondo - bio |email
WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) - This week, the Federal Communications Commission took a monumental step in determining the future of broadband in the United States. The FCC sent its recommendations to Congress, in the form of a national broadband plan, on how it believes our legislators should proceed.
Why should you care? What Congress decides will determine whether vast amounts of unlicensed broadband spectrum will be in the hands of the public, or the private corporations also vying for control. There's also the fact that Wilmington is currently positioned at the center of the action, as a "smart city" test market for "white spaces," the unlicensed parts of broadband spectrum currently in use in the Port City.
[Wilmington is testing market for White Space created from Big Switch]
Buried within the pages of the lengthy "National Broadband Plan," Commissioners suggest "the FCC should move expeditiously to resolve pending petitions for reconsideration in the TV white spaces proceeding." In other words, they want ongoing white space arguments resolved so the technology can be further explored. They stop short, however, of suggesting white spaces be approved for good.
Dr. John Chapin is a scientist at MIT who is serving as the chief technology advisor for TV Band Service, the company that's testing white spaces in Wilmington. Dr. Chapin is encouraged by the FCC's decision to give white spaces a chance, citing the endless possibilities for public use now being explored in New Hanover County.
"What's going on in Wilmington is making it real," said Chapin. "Until just a couple of months ago it wasn't real yet. It was just a bunch of engineers talking to each other."
Now the public is finally beginning to talk about white spaces and their many potential uses, from revolutionizing the health care field, to providing high speed Internet to America's most rural areas.
"If you live in a rural area, this is one of your best chances for getting affordable Internet access to your home," said Chapin. "If you are a tax payer to a municipality or a county, you should be interested in this because it's going to allow your local government to operate more efficiently, to reduce the cost of providing services that you depend on."
When it comes to white spaces and broadband, there are many questions still unanswered, including the crucial question of who will control the broadband spectrum. Expect to see a clash of the technology giants before that question is answered. According to Chapin, powerful names like Google and Microsoft are fighting for public broadband along with TV Band Service. They're up against wireless giants like Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon, which are seeking to auction off the broadband spectrum to the highest bidder. Depending on who wins the broadband battle, Americans could see drastically different outcomes.
As if it's not enough to have the likes of Google, Microsoft, and the nation's most powerful wireless companies in the ring, now add some equally powerful national broadcasting groups. The loudest objections to opening up more broadband spectrum have come from The Association for Maximum Service Television and the National Association of Broadcasters. The two organizations teamed up to send their comments to the FCC's Broadband Task Force.
"The Task Force should not assume the validity of either the wireless industry's claims to need more spectrum or the presumption that allocating additional spectrum would lead to greater broadband penetration, spectrum efficiency, and public benefits," MSTV and the NAB wrote in a 26-page statement to the FCC.
Broadcasters all over the country are concerned that opening up the broadband spectrum for either public or private use could interfere with radio and television signals. For that reason, they're asking the FCC to proceed with caution when it comes to white spaces. In the meantime, all of those involved hold their breath and wait for the FCC to finalize the rules that will become the law of the land. Those rules will determine how much, if at all, the new generation of broadband spectrum could interfere with licensed broadcasters.
"Nobody knows what the final rules will be," said Chapin.
What we do know is this: what happens next will affect all of us…for better or worse.
To learn more about the FCC's plan for broadband in the United States, click here.
To read more about the response of MSTV and the NAB, click here.
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