Lawmakers urge FCC to allow comment on white spaces report

Reps Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Jon Porter (R-NV), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), William "Lacy" Clay (D-MO), Jim Cooper (D-TN), and Robert Brady (D-PA) have written the Federal Communications Commission asking the FCC to delay a planned Nov. 4 vote on a proposal to open up unused portions of the television airwaves known as "white spaces" in order to deliver wireless broadband services. "Priority must be given to making the final decision a transparent and fair process," the letter said. "To justify a major spectrum policy decision on a 400-page technical report without a formal open comment period appears to violate this very basic premise of good government." Rep Bobby Rush (D-IL), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, also expressed concerns about "a hasty approach to the thorny white spaces issue" in a letter sent to the FCC on Wednesday.