To see how to use TV white spaces for rural broadband the FCC nee...
To see how to use TV white spaces for rural broadband the FCC need look no further than Canada, the Association for Maximum Service Television told FCC officials in a meeting last week. MSTV discussed the Canadian example, submitting…
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a copy of March regulations released by Industry Canada opening channels 21 to 51 for licensed use. Canada imposed several controls to protect TV broadcasts. For example, broadband isn’t available near major cities or broadcast facilities. “They have moved forward and issued rules and licensing procedures for a licensed, fixed broadband service to serve rural areas,” MSTV President David Donovan told us. “We have said you can move forward with fixed broadband services. Canada is a classic example of using the white spaces for that.” MSTV is pushing hard at the FCC and on Capitol Hill, opposing major high-tech companies and their demands that the spectrum be made available for use by unlicensed portable devices. The FCC will do a second round of testing of devices designed to operate in the band but avoid causing harmful interference by sensing whether spectrum already is in use. Donovan hopes U.S. officials will draw a valuable lesson. “Everyone talks about facilitating rural broadband,” he said. “This service is being rolled out as a licensed service in Canada, while we're still holding our rural broadband service up in order to see if sensing works.”