Portable Devices in White Spaces Threaten Medical Telemetry, GE Says
GE Healthcare, which makes medical telemetry devices that operate in TV broadcast spectrum, warned the FCC that portable devices operating in nearby spectrum could cause harmful interference. GE plans to elaborate on its concerns during upcoming meetings at the FCC. The company has made a number of filings at the commission on the white spaces proceeding, the latest in reply comments this week on FCC Office of Engineering and Technology tests.
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“We want to make sure that new services that operate in the band don’t harm medical telemetry,” said a lawyer familiar with GE’s position. “Hospitals use channel 37 for medical telemetry all over the country. We'd be very concerned about any kind of portable device getting into the hospital and getting close to medical telemetry to cause a problem.”
GE has three concerns. The FCC has announced that it won’t allow new TV band devices to operate on channel 37, where medical telemetry is licensed. GE wants this protection to be extended channels 36 and 38, to prevent interference. The company also warned that consolidating unlicensed medical telemetry devices on channel 37 could take longer than the FCC expects.
GE asked the FCC to delay until at least 2010 allowing new devices to operate in TV channels 33 through 36. It said many hospitals operate unlicensed medical telemetry devices on those channels. GE also recommended that any new services in the TV white spaces be licensed to ensure accountability and compliance with the FCC’s interference protections.
In reply comments, high tech companies and broadcasters again squared off in their running battle on whether portable device use in the white spaces would cause harmful interference and how to interpret recent OET tests of white spaces devices CD Aug 17 p1).
The White Spaces Coalition said the FCC should “continue with its process, reject calls to the contrary, and adopt final rules allowing personal/portable devices to use the white spaces in an interference-free manner.” The coalition said the FCC needs to determine whether an industry-proposed standard for sensing sensitivity devices is too strict. The coalition also said it questions the logic of prohibiting access to broadcast spectrum when a TV signal is so low the typical DTV cannot display the signal, or when the signal comes from outside a particular TV market.
The NAB and Association for Maximum Service TV said the record supports barring the use of portable devices in the spectrum. “A diverse range of parties -- including broadcasters, the cable industry, consumer electronics manufacturers, entertainment producers, microphone manufacturers, and wireless service providers -- have submitted studies and data showing the harmful interference effects of personal/portable devices,” broadcasters said. “These interference concerns have now been confirmed by the recent OET testing.”