Public Interest Groups, Google Encourage FCC To Dedicate TV Channels to Unlicensed Use
The Open Technology Institute at New America and Public Knowledge jointly urged the FCC to set aside either one or two vacant TV band channels in every market nationwide for unlicensed use after the TV incentive auction. “The Commission can…
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best optimize the use of TV band spectrum for communication, innovation, job creation, consumer welfare and economic growth more broadly only by ensuring the availability of a substantial number of six megahertz blocks of unlicensed access to TV White Space spectrum in every local market nationwide,” the groups said in a filing posted Thursday in docket 12-268. Wi-Fi generates at least $200 billion in consumer welfare each year in just the U.S., they said. “Yet Wi-Fi never would have flourished without access to a substantial and predictable amount of unlicensed bandwidth in every market nationwide.” Google also backed the proposal. "The preservation of sufficient unlicensed channels is critical to achieving the FCC’s goal of expanding the availability and affordability of unlicensed wireless broadband services, and therefore well worth the small practical impact on broadcasters," the company said.