September 25th, 2008
Larry Page calls white space tests “rigged”
Google, along with several other companies including Microsoft, have been hoping the FCC will make available TV white space frequencies for wireless broadband purposes. Unfortunately, there are several organizations trying to shut down those efforts.
Those that feel threatened by the prospect of this coming to fruition include TV broadcasters and wireless microphone companies — and according to Google, it’s unfortunate, but those companies have decided to “inject politics” into the testing process. Page told lawmakers today in a presentation, that these tests to determine if using white space would cause any issues, were “rigged”.
He said that during these tests, wireless microphone operators decided to improperly transmit their signals on the same frequencies that were being used by white space devices. The stronger signals generated by the devices being tested naturally drowned out those of the weaker signals coming from wireless microphones.
If you have not yet signed the petition to free these airwaves, do it now. The FCC will be making a decision soon, and any little bit helps.
Garett Rogers is employed as a programmer for iQmetrix, which specializes in retail management software for the wireless industry. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
