White spaces?
What the heck are those? How does that have anything to do with democracy?
Well, just let me tell ya.
In the midst of a very historic Election Day, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) met and voted on a very important (if a bit wonky) new rule. This new rule allows for unlicensed use of “white spaces” for a variety of uses – including wireless broadband internet.
White spaces are simply the airwaves that aren’t used that act as a buffer between radio and TV signals so that there isn’t interference. With the Digital TV transition in February, white spaces are going to be less of an issue because digital signals are more discrete and less prone to interference. That means that those airwaves – which belong to the public – are going to be more available for other uses.
So why was this controversial? The broadcasters wanted to retain their dominion over these “buffer zones” so THEY could use them without paying any extra for them. But yesterday, the FCC rightly decided in the public’s favor that it would be better use to open them up for other uses.
There are a lot of other uses for these airwaves, and users still need to make sure they don’t interfere with each other or the broadcasters. They just don’t have to apply for licenses to use the airwaves.
This means that new technologies will be created to utilize these airwaves (good for our economy), people already using them won’t get in trouble (Broadway plays that use wireless microphones – oops!), and most importantly broadband internet can be offered on these airwaves into areas currently underserved by existing internet service providers.
This is what is important to us at Common Cause. The public is using the internet like never before to be involved in their democracy. But without access to broadband, it is very difficult to do so. This new rule will allow for low-income communities to use free wireless broadband provided by non-profit organizations or their municipality and it will allow greater access to wifi in rural communities.
This was a ruling good for democracy and good for our economy as well. Many kudos go to the FCC for making the right decision and for the many organizations and individuals who fought to make this happen. Special consideration to Harold Feld for all he has done, including his real time reporting of the FCC’s decision.
