Martin Voices Support For Other Uses Of Vacant Airwaves

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin told reporters after a Senate hearing Tuesday that the FCC should be able to make a decision before the end of the year about whether to grant those companies one of their top priorities, unlicensed use of the airwaves. "I do think we need to try to more efficiently use the broadcast spectrum and we need to do so trying to find a way to utilize those white spaces for other kinds of commercial services," Martin said. It would certainly be very helpful if we could find a way to use them for wireless broadband services and to do that in a way that doesn't create inference," he said. Chairman Martin said he is asking FCC's engineers to summarize their conclusions about the tests for the other commissioners. "This is going to help us inform what the rules should be to allow us to more effectively use the broadcast spectrum," he said. "Many people have claimed the devices passed or failed. Neither of that is accurate," he added. Martin said he is considering a certification process for the devices to identify any problems they cause with TV broadcasting or wireless microphones.