FCC: Mobile Unlicensed Devices in TV Band Still Couple Years Away

In presentation at the Federal Communications Commission's public meeting, FCC officials suggested sharing of the vacant channels between TV stations was close to going online, but mobile unlicensed devices, the ones broadcasters are more concerned about due to possible interference, are still a couple of years away do to the technological challenges.

Julie Knapp, chief of the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology, said that the FCC is currently beta testing the database for registering wireless microphones -- one of the current licensed TV band users also concerned about unlicensed interference -- saying that was the last step before the deployment of fixed a services like broadband to schools, machine-to-machine wireless communications and some municipal applications. Sharing and clearing spectrum got a lot of attention at the meeting. The presentation went beyond what the FCC has already done in the TV band to suggest expanding that concept to other spectrum bands, particularly to the swaths of spectrum being used by government agencies, which are also being asked to find real estate to free up for commercial wireless broadband use.