The following statement is attributed to Harold Feld, legal director for Public Knowledge:

“Today’s action by the Federal Communications Commission is a great step forward to providing consumers with an exciting new range of products and services.  White spaces technology, using the gaps between digital TV channels, will be adapted to uses ranging from adding flexibility to laptops and tablet computers, to extending broadband access to underserved people in rural and urban settings.

“We haven’t seen anything like this since the FCC 20 years ago approved the use of what was then thought to be unwanted spectrum and what today is used for wi-fi, and other unlicensed consumer applications.

“Companies are eager to build devices and deploy the technologies.  The FCC’s action is a clear signal to go ahead and get started constructing an exciting part of our future.

Background: Acting on a petition filed by the Public Interest Spectrum Coalition, the FCC today issued an order banning the use of wireless microphones in the 700 MHz band. The order is here.

The following statement is attributed to Harold Feld, legal director of Public Knowledge:

"We thank the Commission for granting our Petition in a way that allows for rapid deployment of new wireless technologies while protecting consumers who bought wireless microphones in good faith. We are particularly pleased that the Commission will implement new signage requirements to curtail the previous deceptive advertising practices by wireless microphone manufacturers.

The following statement is attributed to Harold Feld, legal director of Public Knowledge:

“We are very pleased that the FCC has moved ahead to implement its order from last year allowing broadband service to be offered in the so-called 'white spaces' between digital TV channels.

“Selecting an administrator for the white spaces database is a crucial step toward bringing consumers another choice in a restrictive broadband marketplace. We expect that use of the white spaces spectrum will foster innovation and create jobs as new devices and services become available.”

Note: The FCC order is here.

Background: The Federal Communications Commission today said it would allow most of the space between digital TV channels to be used for Internet and other wireless uses. The following statement is attributed to the Public Interest Spectrum Coalition:

“The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today took a major step to foster innovation and create new opportunities for consumers. By allowing the ‘white spaces’ between TV channels to be used for unlicensed services, the FCC put the public interest ahead of the special interests. The FCC decision has the potential to bring enormous benefits to all Americans, whether as a tool for broadband access or as an engine of innovation and job creation. It will move wireless services into the 21st century.

“New wireless services will develop as a result of this decision that would not have been allowed to be realized otherwise.

Whether or not you’re in Austin for SXSW, click here and sign a petition to show your support for open networks!

Events like South by Southwest can highlight the limitations of wireless Internet access. Put a large number of techies in the same city and as they all try to tweet, share photos, and stay connected they can quickly saturate Internet connections–leading to websites not loading, messages not being sent, and connections dropping.

Engineers have already solved this problem–but there are legal challenges as well as technical challenges. Policymakers in DC have to make sure that FCC rules allow people to take advantage of new wireless technologies that are already being built. They need to set WiFi free.

On Wednesday, December 12, 2012, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held an oversight hearing on the implementation of spectrum auctions in an effort to meet the growing demand for wireless broadband services and fund a nationwide public safety network.  The five FCC Commissioners testified before the panel on the status of the auctions and their interpretations on how the auctions will free up additional spectrum and promote competition.  These auctions were part of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012.  For background on the spectrum provisions included in this legislation, read Harold Feld’s recap of the legislation from February of this year.

We have all kinds of reality-challenged folks in Washington. We got those who believe that we need to go back to the gold-standard and abolish the Federal Reserve. We got those who think vaccinations cause learning autism. To this we can now add “the folks who think we can keep finding federal spectrum to auction forever.”

Last month, we warned about how some folks in Congress (with support of the usual suspects) wanted to get some really bad law on the future of wireless included in the Payroll Tax Cut Extension. The proposed law would have:

a. Stopped the FCC from having any kind of net neutrality conditions on any future wireless services the FCC would create by auctioning more wireless spectrum licenses.

The PK in the Know podcast has been off for the past few weeks so that we could make technical changes to the back end.  This will result in a better feed, but  unfortunately it also means that the feeds have changed.  Please update your feeds by clicking here to subscribe via iTunes, and clicking here to subscribe via other readers.

But now, on to this week’s podcast!

Background:  Today, Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) along with 40 of their colleagues sent a letter to the House and Senate negotiators on the payroll tax bill supporting the use of unlicensed spectrum in any discussions.

The letter is here.

The following statement is attributed to Harold Feld, legal director of Public Knowledge:

“Rep. Eshoo and Chairman Issa and their colleagues have made a persuasive case for making certain that unlicensed spectrum is included in any larger spectrum agreements used to pay for the extension of payroll tax relief.