• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, September 15, 2010

In November of 2008, when the Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously to approve the use of the white space spectrum for wireless broadband, then-chairman Kevin Martin promised that the move would pave the way for "WiFi on steroids."

Broadband advocates as well as tech companies like Google and Microsoft cheered the FCC's decision to allow unlicensed devices on white spaces -- or vacant radio airwaves. They argued that freeing the white space spectrum would encourage the creation of new wireless broadband networks because radio airwaves are powerful enough to transmit across large areas.

But many current users of the spectrum -- including TV broadcasters, Broadway theater owners, musicians and churches -- opposed the idea, arguing that new uses of the spectrum will interfere with television signals and wireless microphones.

Now, almost two years after the vote, the FCC is poised to finalize the rules for unlicensed devices on the spectrum. And, in what appears to be an attempt to move matters along, Google said this week that it's testing a new white-spaces broadband network for the Hocking Valley Community Hospital in Logan, Ohio.

"First responder vehicles, hospital grounds as well as the health department are being equipped with high-speed wireless Internet access," Google's Larry Alder, business operations project manager, said in a blog post. "Additionally, the hospital is using the network to manage its outdoor video surveillance system."

The FCC will vote on final white-spaces rules next Thursday. Google says it "can't wait to see how entrepreneurs and innovators nationwide will use unlicensed white spaces to introduce cool new products and services."

Virtually no one wants to see interference with TV broadcasts or wireless microphones, but there is little evidence that using white spaces for broadband will prove problematic to incumbents. Meantime, there clearly is a huge need for additional broadband networks in the U.S., where report after report has confirmed what subscribers already know -- that a lack of competition has resulted in service that's slow and expensive.