Digital Media Buzz > Google Steps Up White Space Chase

Google Steps Up White Space Chase

By John Greaves

Google recently made a significant move in the battle over white space by proposing to the FCC to be one of several administrators of a TV bandwith’s geo-location database. This is in response to FCC filings requiring such a database to minimize signal interference between white space devices and broadcast signals.

This is a key component of the fight to make unused white space available for bandwidth expansion, as signal interference is one of the key arguments made against such a move by white space opponents like the National Association of Broadcasters.

According to the proposal, Google would build and oversee the database as well as provide data repository, registration and determination of available channels/query process.

Having Google, a major industry player, be one of the administrators begs the question of whether letting Google keep track of what channels are available for bandwidth as well as the location and identification of all white space devices might not run counter to an open and competitive marketplace.

However, Rick Rotondo, CMO for Spectrum Bridge, which deployed the world’s first TV white spaces network and also applied to be a database manager, says Google’s proposal does not surprise him.

It’s a competitive environment,” Rotondo says. “But I think Google is actually trying to make the playing field more level.”

In a Jan. 8 blog on the Spectrum Bridge site, Rotondo had previously explained that the FCC is not granting unlimited authority in authorizing white space database managers.

“Specifically, in the case of TV white spaces database managers, the FCC is authorizing companies to represent themselves as being able to meet the minimum requirements the FCC has set out in its previous ‘Report and Order,’ as well as some new requirements spelled out in the recent Public Notice,” the blog states.

Rotondo’s comments echo Google’s official position on this issue. “I see myself here, in D.C., as playing kind of a defensive role, in terms of maintaining open platforms where they exist today, and more offensively, trying to be constructive in terms of creating new platforms and particularly ensuring that those new platforms also remain open to innovation and consumer choice,” says Richard Whitt, Google’s Washington Telecom and Media Counsel, in a January 2009 interview for CircleID.com.

That view has not changed. A Google spokesperson who asked not to be identified tells DMB, “We strongly supported the FCC’s decision to adopt an open, unlicensed model for white spaces, similar to what exists for Wi-Fi. Much as open, unlicensed access to the Wi-Fi spectrum has led to its widespread use, open, unlicensed access is also crucial to fulfilling the potential of white spaces.”

Whitt further supports the argument. “From the Google perspective, the C-Block, to us, was a successful story. We came into it with the hopes of triggering the openness conditions, by making the bid that would enable that to happen, which we did.”

Some may wonder if Google’s move signals the impending doom of 3G and 4G technology. However, such fears are unfounded, according to Digital Society analyst George Ou, a former network engineer who built and designed wired network, wireless network, Internet, storage, security and server infrastructure for various fortune 100 companies.

“The idea that you’re going to take unmanned white space and replace 3G and 4G is wrong. The guys that like white space always talk about propagation, and how Wi-Fi doesn’t have enough propagation,” Ou says. “What they don’t understand is propagation sounds like a good thing but it’s a bad thing. The more you can propagate the less you can use. The lower the power, the more the signal dies as it gets further away, the more you can use the same spectrum channels. That’s why Wi-Fi has such pathetically low signal strength, so you can reuse the same signals.”

Google tends to take the opposite view. A Google spokesperson says, “This spectrum is extremely valuable and has the potential to transform the way we connect to the Internet. As Larry Page has put it, ‘white spaces’ are like ‘Wi-Fi on steroids’ - wireless Internet with much faster speeds, stronger signals and more affordable costs.”

As far as the database is concerned, Spectrum Bridge’s Rotondo points out that the vague nature of the FCC’s ruling has left the door wide open for interpretation. “There is nothing saying you have to tell a device the best channel, you just have to give a list of available channels,” he said.

Google says it has yet to hear from the FCC regarding its proposal, which is understandable due to the enormity of creating a national broadband plan and presenting it to Congress in time for the new March 17 deadline.