FCC pushed to finalize rules for "white spaces"

Lawmakers and tech industry officials are urging the Federal Communications Commission to finalize rules on devices that could take advantage of what has been dubbed “Wi-Fi on steroids.”

The FCC will vote Thursday on implementing the final provisions for unlicensed wireless devices that operate on unused TV spectrum.

The FCC has delayed allowing technology firms to build devices that make use of the spectrum, known as white spaces, while it formulates rules to allay broadcasters' concerns regarding possible disruptions to TV signals or wireless microphones.

If approved, the move would be the first release of spectrum for unlicensed use in 25 years.

Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) wrote to FCC chairman Genachowski on Tuesday urging the Commission to allow devices to make use of the white spaces.

“Unused white spaces provides a tremendous potential economic benefit for advancing technologies, including clean energy and smart grid technologies,” Matsui said in a statement.

Meanwhile, technology firms expressed optimism that the passage of guidelines would unleash a new wave of innovation by allowing fast, dynamic wireless access to the Internet. Rick Whitt, senior policy director at Google, said the technical details of the rules would be critical to determining if the policy would attract commercial investments in new wireless devices.

"We're very excited about the upcoming ruling," said Liam Quinn, chief technology officer for client business at Dell, noting that existing wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi have been around for more than a decade. "I think the vision going forward is the true enablement of connection at all times regardless of the device."

The move to adopt white spaces for devices is expected to significantly accelerate adoption of wireless broadband because the low-frequency waves can travel through buildings and trees and cover a radius of 50 miles with a single router.

Quinn said new routers would leverage the larger coverage area to allow many more users to access the Internet for the same price as a standard W-iFi router. He predicted the earliest adopters would be college campuses, schools, libraries and other institutions that seek to provide ubiquitous Web access but have thick walls that make it difficult.

In a separate action the FCC is expected to approve an upgrade to the E-Rate program, which seeks to provide high-speed Internet connections to schools, libraries and other community anchor institutions. Genachowski said Tuesday that participating institutions may be allowed to make use of unused fiber optic cable known as "dark fiber" to speed up their connections.

Internet service providers have resisted allowing schools to use dark fiber, lest they become competitors in offering the public high-speed broadband access.