Broadcasters Tackle Spectrum-Sharing Debate

There has been much debate of late over sharing TV spectrum with laptops and other mobile wireless devices. Broadcasters have heard a lot of talk from companies such as Dell and Google about the fallow spectrum being protected in the TV band. But the national broadband plan, due to Congress on Feb. 17, 2010, has created numerous new opportunities for those companies and other parties -- including the Federal Communications Commission and Congress -- to take aim at broadcast spectrum and to raise questions about how efficiently it is being used. One of the latest red flags involving the issue came two weeks ago, with the commission's decision to seek specific comment, as part of the broadband plan, on how spectrum could be put to better use, including whether efficient use of spectrum should be part of the FCC's public-interest test for spectrum holders. Then there was the request last week by CTIA-The Wireless Association (which includes AT&T, Verizon and Sprint/Nextel) that the FCC needed to find and reallocate another 800 MHz of spectrum given the coming demands of wireless broadband. Those demands have been a constant drumbeat at the FCC as it works feverishly on the February plan. Wireless broadband needs more spectrum to produce the higher speeds the FCC suggests will be required to deliver applications.