Martin Plugs Smart Radios

[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
At a March 6 Gulf Coast meeting of the FCC's independent committee investigating the impact of Katrina on communications, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin put in a plug for "smart radios." One of Chairman Martin's suggestions for improving communications "enabling first responders to communicate seamlessly during a disaster," is to develop new technologies like "smart radios," he said, which "can be used to re-establish communication as quickly as possible." The FCC is currently considering a proposal to allow such smart radios and other devices to operate in the unused spectrum, so-called "white spaces," between broadcast channels. The Senate Commerce Committee Tuesday was being asked by a Microsoft executive to allow the use of unlicensed devices (see story).
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* FCC Chairman Martin's Remarks
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-264196A1.doc