Battle over ‘white spaces’ makes for strange bedfellows

BATTLE OVER 'WHITE SPACES' MAKES FOR STRANGE BEDFELLOWS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Kevin Bogardus ]
It’s not often that Broadway theaters and heartland mega-churches find themselves on the same side of an issue. But a proceeding by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has drawn the two together in an intense lobbying battle that also includes some of America’s most powerful computer companies and its biggest broadcasters. In filings with the FCC over the last year, theater producers and pastors of 1,000-plus member churches have weighed in about a proposed rulemaking regarding “white spaces” -- unused parts of the spectrum that would be typically occupied by television frequencies. Computer and software giants like Google and Microsoft are working on developing portable devices that would utilize white spaces to broadcast Internet signals, potentially bringing broadband access to rural areas and strengthening networks at home and in the office. But allowing those devices onto the spectrum could have some unintended consequences like disabling the wireless microphones that mega-church pastors “rely on to communicate our spiritual message effectively and keep up with the demands of our membership,” according to a public comment filed with the FCC earlier this month on the behalf of large worship houses. A theater trade association, meanwhile, said in its letter to the FCC that “Broadway would be quickly paralyzed” if the new devices interfered with their microphones.
http://thehill.com/the-executive/battle-over-white-spaces-makes-for-strange-bedfellows-2007-10-26.html

* The Unending 'White Spaces’ Debate
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6494948.html