Commentary

Report: FCC 'White Spaces' Plan Nears Approval

The FCC appears poised to approve a plan to allow the use of use "white spaces" for Wi-Fi, Reuters reports.

Google, Microsoft and other tech companies are backing the proposal to allow unlicensed airwaves to be used for the Internet. Those companies, as well as broadband access advocates like Free Press, say the proposal will bring broadband to underserved areas, including pockets of the inner-cities and rural communities.

But TV industry executives have objected loud and long to the plan. The National Association of Broadcasters and other industry groups maintain that allowing the airwaves to be used for broadband could interfere with TV signals. Also opposing the plan are Broadway theaters and churches, some of which have used wireless mics, without licenses, for nearly 30 years.

Those theater companies and churches appear to have been squatting on the airwaves, but they've been doing so for so long that they seem to have taken adverse possession -- at least in the eyes of some observers.

What's more, theaters have stoked enough concern about this issue that the New York City Council is now considering asking the FCC to abandon the plan unless it ensures that there will not be a negative impact on performing artists, among other current users of wireless mics.

But fears about theoretical effects on Broadway theaters or other unlicensed users can't outweigh the need to boost people's ability to access the Web. In New York City, only an estimated 26% of low-income homes and 54% of moderate- to high-income households have home broadband connections, according to Diamond Management & Technology Consultants.

The FCC's white space plan could go far towards improving those stats. And there's every reason to think that Broadway theaters, like churches and other wireless mic users, are resourceful enough to find a way to continue to operate if the plan goes forward.

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