NAB Says White Spaces Device Failure Vindicates Broadcaster Concerns
NAB said Monday recent problems with a Microsoft sensing device undergoing tests at the FCC lab in Columbia, Md., show that unlicensed portable devices can’t be safely used in the TV white spaces. High-tech companies quickly said the failure was meaningless and should have no effect on pending agency decisions on future use of the white spaces. The argument comes at a critical time, with most FCC commissioners saying they're awaiting the test results before deciding the best use for the white spaces.
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!
Ed Thomas, former chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology, said in a filing last week the Microsoft sensing device lost power, forcing use of a second device. Sources said Monday the sensing device functioned properly until it appeared to overheat after prolonged testing. The device was shut down and allowed to cool down. When it was restarted it again functioned properly.
NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton noted in a news release that the Microsoft device failed in the first round of tests last summer, which led the FCC to order a second round of tests. They got under way Jan. 24 at the FCC lab (CD Jan 25 p2). “By failing two out of two tests at the FCC, Microsoft and the Wireless Innovation Alliance have demonstrated that unlicensed devices are not ready for prime time,” Wharton said. “This admission by ‘white space’ proponents vindicates beyond doubt the interference concerns expressed by broadcasters, sports leagues, wireless microphone companies and theater operators.”
“It’s very, very simple,” Thomas told us Monday. “This is not a production device. This is a test set provided to the FCC by Microsoft… It has absolutely no resemblance either in physical form or in the way it’s built to a production device if and when one is built… In a device like this of course you expect problems because people haven’t spent tens of millions of dollars to cross every engineering ’t’ and dot every engineering ‘i.'”
Thomas predicted that the failure of the device won’t change FCC staff analysis of how the devices functioned. “Now certainly the opposition will try to make enough noise to try to force it to be decisional,” he said. “That has nothing to do with technology. It’s just a PR-political ploy.”
“The FCC has been testing a couple of our devices and the devices have been detecting both wireless mics and broadcast signals successfully,” said Paula Boyd, regulatory counsel at Microsoft. “What we noticed last week was that there was an apparent power issue. From what we understand the FCC will continue to test our second device… We expect a successful conclusion of that process and then we expect the commission to move to final rules.”