Martin Says White Spaces Testing Remains on Track
LAS VEGAS -- Testing of devices designed to surf the Internet using the white spaces without causing harmful interference to TV broadcasts could take months to complete and analyze, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin Kevin Martin told CES here. Martin fielded audience queries on the topic during the session and afterwards from the press. Some industry and FCC officials have said in recent weeks they worry that consideration of the item may be on hold.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
“We just received some of the devices in December,” Martin said. “Our engineers have met with some of these companies and have proposed some testing schedules that would start this month. We're anxious to continue to move forward.” Martin has made no decision about whether to permit unlicensed use by portable devices, he said: “It depends on whether the equipment actually works as intended.”
Martin gave few new details on key items pending before the FCC or even on the timetable for resolving key issues. He expects the 700 MHz auction in January and February and the 2009 DTV transition to preoccupy the commission early in the year, he said, predicting the transition will go smoothly.
Martin isn’t sure the DTV shift can be tested in a few key markets before the full transition, though Commissioner Michael Copps has proposed use of test markets, the chairman said. “I'm concerned about how logistically we could accomplish that,” Martin said. “There’s only a year left before the actual transition and there haven’t been any communities that have yet come forward and said, ‘We want to be the experimental community to have this occur.'”
Acknowledging interest in some quarters in Google winning C-block 700 MHz spectrum, which would require open access, Martin said he mainly wants some entity to bid successfully for those massive 22 MHz spectrum blocks. “I'm not concerned about any company actually winning the spectrum,” he said. “The commission actually put in place rules that we thought were appropriate that would have a more wireless environment. I certainly would hope that someone would make a minimum bid to ensure that those rules go into place.”
The FCC is investigating complaints of Comcast blocking BitTorrent traffic and at least one similar complaint, Martin said. “I've told the staff that they act on all of those complaints and investigate all of them,” he said.
In telecom, the commission needs to examine how broadband is defined, “recognizing that the speeds used to define what is broadband are too low,” Martin said. The FCC also needs to get better data on broadband penetration, he said. The FCC will examine whether to include broadband support in the USF, he said. Under the universal service law, “there is an expectation that as technologies continue to evolve access to them will continue to evolve as well,” he said.
Martin appeared Tuesday in a question and answer session with CES President Gary Shapiro. He thanked Martin for a firm stance on consumer issues that earned him “darts in the back,” said Shapiro. “Any shield you can provide is good -- I'll take it,” Martin replied.