There are less than two weeks left before FCC commissioners vote on whether they should allow unlicensed use of white space spectrum, and the debate between old-media regime (TV broadcasters) and the new-media regime (tech companies) has gotten vicious.
The National Association of Broadcasters (including Fox, NBC and Disney) filed an emergency request on Friday for the FCC to delay the vote, and in the meantime, they've launched a series of attacks on white space proponents, which range from hostile to downright bizarre. A statement released by the NAB on Wednesday night, for example, suggests that Google and Microsoft are somehow conspiring to "destroy television." (Huh?)
In reality, both companies have invested tremendous financial and human resources in the TV ad market -- even if they're focused on the digital TV ad market. They don't win if broadcast networks fail.
Meanwhile, the consortium of tech companies lobbying to get the spectrum opened up
(notably including Google, Microsoft and Motorola), have played it fairly cool -- until now.
Google appealed to the public to sign a petition to "free the airwaves"
and Motorola CEO Greg Brown met with FCC Chairman Kevin
Martin and "urged the chairman to move forward" on the white space initiative.
But the rhetoric took a turn for the worse by midday Wednesday.
"The strategy of misdirection and hysteria is intended to distract attention from sound policymaking at the FCC," said Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, a media reform special interest group, in a prepared statement. "Having lost on the facts, the NAB has resorted to angry ranting. This crucial decision should be based on science, not who can shout the loudest."
And the Wireless Innovation Alliance, a special interest group whose members include Google, Dell, Motorola and HP, was equally emotional in its response to the NAB.
"The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) reached a new low last night as they stretched the limits of reason and reality, claiming that a November 4 vote by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on white spaces technology would put the future of over the air television in jeopardy," said spokesman Jake Ward, in a prepared statement.
The FCC says it is still reviewing broadcasters' request to delay the vote, and it doesn't have a time line by which it expects to deliver a decision.We're assuming the decision will be made next week, though, before the scheduled vote on Nov. 4.
See Also:
- Google Pushes for White Space Ahead of Election
- White Spaces Becomes Religious War
- Republicans Say Google 'Duped' FCC in Spectrum Auction
- Google Sets Sight on White Spaces Spectrum
Photo: Courtesy Google
