After months of tests, the FCC said in a report released on Wednesday that it supports opening up white spaces spectrum for wireless devices.
"No one should ever underestimate the potential that new technologies and innovations may bring to society. We've begun to see a transformative affect in the wireless world with advances in new devices and software applications in recent years, and those same emerging technologies are the ones we hope will help pave the way for the unlicensed commercial use of TV white spaces in the near future,"
said FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, in a prepared statement.
The chairman also added that it is "critical that the Commission ensure that the spectrum is used in the most efficient way possible to bring added choices and benefits to consumers."
The next step: The FCC will conduct a "rulemaking proceeding" to consider authorizing low-power devices in the spectrum at locations where the channels are no longer being used for broadcasting television programming. The commission also said it will consider whether to allow "personal/portable" white space devices to operate in the TV spectrum.
While the National Association of Broadcasters and wireless microphone users have argued that opening up the spectrum would cause interference problems, the FCC said in its report that the burden of "proof of concept" has been met, and the commissioners are satisfied that any potential interference problems with operating white-space devices can be addressed.
The National Association of Broadcasters wasn't immediately available to comment, but we're pretty sure they aren't going to be too happy about it.
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