• Associated Press, Thursday, August 9, 2007 11 AM

It's a long-held dream of the country's biggest Internet and technology firms to beam high-speed Web service to homes using unused television spectrum. Standing in the way, is the Federal Communications Commission, which still controls the spectrum, and the millions that big telecom puts behind its spectrum lobbying efforts. Indeed, the latest attempt by Google, Microsoft, Dell and others to provide cheaper high-speed Web access was shut down yesterday by the FCC.

In no less than 85 pages, the federal organization said the prototype devices submitted by Google and friends couldn't reliably detect unused spectrum and would cause interference with other wireless networks. But the FCC did offer the proposal a lifeline in saying that the agency supports the idea of transmitting high-speed access over unused airwaves. A coalition rep said the companies believe the spectrum could be used without causing network interference.

There are some hefty names behind this coalition; aside from the aforementioned supporters, HP, Intel, EarthLink and Philips support the initiative. The companies all said they would work with the FCC to devise a solution. The idea is to have the prototype devices go on sale after Feb. 18, 2009, by which time TV broadcasters have to switch from analog to digital transmissions.

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