spectrum

White House backs FCC plans for more spectrum

The Federal Communications Commission's plan to free up 500 megahertz of additional wireless spectrum got a significant boost from the White House.

On Monday, President Barack Obama signed a memorandum that commits the U.S. to making an additional 500MHz of government and commercial spectrum available for auction and for unlicensed use within the next 10 years. This goal of getting 500MHz more spectrum in the hands of wireless broadband providers over the next decade is a key part of the National Broadband Plan that the FCC presented to Congress earlier this year.

With the backing of Obama, the … Read more

Google me

Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:

Samsung launches a new line of Galaxy-S phonesObama is set to sign a memorandum to put an additional 500 megahertz of spectrum up for auction for commercial use in the next 10 yearsAmazon releases Kindle for iPad, iPod Touch, and iPhone with the ability to play embedded audio and videoFacebook is blocking Twitter's application but we don't know whyICANN tentatively approves the .xxx top-level domain for pornographyKevin Rose speculates about a new social network from Google called Google Me

Google-backed smart grid now on TV 'white space'

The smart grid for Plumas-Sierra County, Calif., is now operating via the television broadcasting system's "white space," software and service supplier Spectrum Bridge announced Wednesday.

The TV white space spectrum is the portion of unused broadcast TV channels that became available with the national switch from analog to digital TV broadcasting.

The space is prized because it can provide a venue for data exchange rates significantly faster than the current standard Internet Wi-Fi, and can be broadcast for extended distances and through obstacles, making it ideal for use in smart grid communications.

For years, Dell, Google, Microsoft, Motorola, and others lobbied the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to open up the space … Read more

FCC sets sights on satellite spectrum

The Federal Communications Commission is looking to free up spectrum allocated to satellite services as the agency moves forward on plans to get more spectrum in the market for wireless broadband services.

The agency said in the National Broadband Plan issued in March that it planned to make 300MHz of spectrum available for wireless broadband use over the next five years. To meet this goal, the agency has suggested getting about 120MHz of spectrum from TV broadcasters. And now it's planning to reclaim 90MHz of spectrum from the Mobile Satellite Service band, or MSS.

The FCC's spectrum task … Read more

Rethinking the wireless spectrum crisis

Make no mistake: There's an impending shortage of wireless spectrum, the lifeblood of the mobile market.

The trick--and it's a doozy--is getting that technology into the hands of wireless operators and their customers. It's a tech issue as well as a public policy and business model issue. In other words, it's daunting, but not an impossible problem to solve.

"There is a crisis in the sense that people who need access to wireless capacity in order to deploy new services can't get it," said Kevin Werbach, assistant professor of legal studies at the … Read more

FCC chairman seeks broadcaster support

Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski tried to convince broadcasters to support his plans to reauction TV wireless spectrum during a speech he gave Tuesday at the industry's annual trade show sponsored by the National Association of Broadcasters in Las Vegas.

Genachowski said the additional spectrum is needed to ensure that U.S. wireless operators can meet the growing demand for wireless broadband services. He said new smartphone devices, such as the Apple iPhone and the Motorola Droid, are causing a 40-fold increase in demand compared to a three-fold increase in spectrum for mobile broadband coming online. He said the … Read more

FCC unveils National Broadband Plan

WASHINGTON, DC - The Federal Communications Commission made its National Broadband Plan public Monday outlining specific recommendations for policy makers over the next decade to ensure all Americans get access to high-speed Internet.

Congress asked the FCC as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed in February 2009 to come up with a comprehensive plan to spread affordable broadband access throughout the U.S., with the goal of creating more jobs for Americans, improving health care, and encouraging energy independence. The FCC task force, which has been working on the report for nearly a year, will present its … Read more

TV white space networks tested

The city of Wilmington, N.C., and the surrounding county of New Hanover, N.C., are among the first communities to test wireless applications using TV white space technology.

The city and county have partnered with TV Band Service and Spectrum Bridge to launch a new experimental network that uses white space spectrum to provide wireless connectivity to surveillance cameras and environmental sensors in a "smart city" deployment.

TV white spaces are the unused TV broadcast channels made available by the recent transition from analog to digital TV. In 2008, the Federal Communications Commission unanimously agreed to open up this unused broadcast TV spectrum … Read more

Buzz Out Loud Podcast 1150: Up the creek without a Bible

The FCC is coming for the schools and churches just like that crazy guy on the corner told you! On June 12, it'll require anybody using a wireless microphone that operators in the 700 MHZ spectrum to stop using that mic. That's right. The purge is coming! For microphones!. Actually, it'll affect Broadway shows, too. Will the FCC be able to round up the ne'er-do-wells? Will Google ruin U.S.-China relations? Well, that's another story. Literally.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1150 … Read more