Google submitted a white spaces proposal to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that it believes provides a "foolproof" way to access unused spectrum for wireless broadband, but denied that the plan means Google will soon become a wireless carrier.
"We do not intend to support opening up the white spaces just so Google can become a wireless carrier or build a wireless network," Rick Whitt, Google's Washington telecom and media counsel, said during a conference call with reporters.
Google's only interest in white spaces is that they could provide Americans with "more opportunities to access the 'Net," he said.
When broadcasters shift from analog to digital signals in February 2009, there will be open, unregulated spectrum between the digital channels, or white spaces, that companies like Google and Microsoft want to use for wireless broadband service. Broadcasters, led by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), however, believe that allowing access to this spectrum could disrupt TV signals.
Google already submitted a white spaces plan to the FCC in December 2007 that endorsed a technology known as spectrum sensing, which scans spectrum to detect unused frequencies. Monday's plan goes beyond that to request additional safeguards, but Whitt stressed that Google still believes that spectrum sensing alone would do the trick.
"Spectrum sensing capabilities should be more than adequate," he said. "However, we just decided, in talking amongst ourselves, that we want to move the ball forward. We want everybody satisfied with this process."
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