The FCC has announced that it has canceled its upcoming December 18th meeting. As part of that meeting, the FCC had planned to vote on the proposed auction of portions of the white space spectrum which would be used for free, nationwide wireless broadband. The white space initiative generated a firestorm of controversy that pitted T-Mobile, the National Association of Broadcasters and celebrities like Dolly Parton, Neil Diamond, and the Dixie Chicks against technology companies such as Google, Dell, Microsof...

First it was the White House that voiced its opposition earlier this week to the FCC’s plan for free wireless broadband using the white space spectrum, now it is Congress’s turn to weigh in on the matter. In a letter to the FCC,  the incoming chairmen for the Senate and House Commerce committees, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), urged the FCC to focus on the upcoming digital TV transition and to stay away from “complex and controversial items that the new Con...

After the whole controversy over the usage of the White Space spectrum had been given the thumbs up by the FCC, we thought that free, nationwide wireless Internet access was a given. Not so fast says the White House. The FCC was going to vote as early as next week on a plan to auction 25 megahertz of spectrum in the 2155MHz to 2180MHz band. According to the FCC’s plan, those who purchase a license to use this spectrum would be required to offer free wireless broadband service. The White House disagreed ...

Score one for Google and company as the FCC has cleared the way for the use of the white space spectrum for free, nationwide wireless internet service. Calling the reports of interference by the opposition as being “overblown”, recent tests conducted by FCC engineers in Seattle showed that the white space could be used for wireless internet service without a significant risk of harmful interference. Bad news for T-Mobile who has vehemently opposed the plan as their recently launched 3G network, wh...

Once television goes digital, there is going to be some open “white space” in the air and the FCC is now deciding on how the spectrum should be used. Companies like Google and Microsoft want the space for a variety of reasons – Google mainly suggesting it be open for use by anyone (so they can get their platform onto more devices that will be using the spectrum, one would assume). Naturally, mobile carriers and device makers want the spectrum so they can expand their business and sell more p...