Google takes NAB to task over 'emergency' petition on TV white space database

It's pretty clear what Google thinks of the National Association of Broadcasters' "emergency" petition asking the Federal Communications Commissino to fix serious design flaws in its TV white space (TVWS) database system. In a word, "preposterous" might sum it up. The TVWS database system is supposed to keep track of channels in use by TV stations and others so that unlicensed devices using the white spaces do not cause interference. But after flaws were found, the FCC said it was working to correct the issues. The NAB had asked the commission to consider suspending database operations until flaws could be worked out. But Google wants the FCC to dismiss NAB's rulemaking petition "without further proceedings."

"Despite its theatrical title and overheated rhetoric, the National Association of Broadcasters' (NAB) 'emergency' petition for rulemaking identifies no actual interference or other harm to its member broadcasters, no failure of any FCC-certified television white space database, and no violation of any Commission rule," Google said in its FCC filing. To hear Google tell it, there aren't any real serious problems -- and certainly none that warrant significant changes or suspension of the system. Google explains that the individual database entries that NAB brands as "false" are likely test entries used by device manufacturers and database administrators to ensure that the broadcaster-protection system is working properly.