Television broadcasters have some unkind words for FCC commissioners. The National Association of Broadcasters, an industry trade group, accuses the FCC of ignoring its own test results when it said, earlier this week, that white spaces spectrum should be opened up for use.
"It would appear that the FCC is misinterpreting the actual data collected by their own engineers," said Dennis Wharton, executive vice president of the National Association of Broadcasters, in a prepared statement. "Basing public policy on an imprecise Cliffs Notes version of a 149-page report raises troubling questions."
In a nutshell, the NAB argues that the technical hiccups mentioned in the FCC's report -- including problems with a Microsoft-developed device that was supposed to detect spectrum that is in use -- are grounds for further investigation.
[White spaces refers to the unused spectrum that lies between analog television channels. Tech companies such as Google, Motorola and Microsoft argue that the spectrum is a vast resource that should be tapped for wireless broadband services. Broadcasters and wireless microphone users say that opening up the spectrum would cause them interference problems.]
"With the transition to digital television looming and tens of millions of TV viewers at risk, the stakes are too high for this proposal to be rammed through without thoughtful deliberation," said Wharton, in the statement.
But from where we're sitting, this looks like a clear and deliberate attempt to stall the process. The FCC has, at the NAB's behest, already conductive extensive tests. And while the NAB complains about potential interference problems for wireless microphone users, it's worth noting that most of the wireless microphones are unlicensed and illegal, anyway.
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