As expected, the Federal Communications Commission voted on white space today and approved the commercial usage of this unused spectrum. White space received the thumbs up from the FCC back in 2008 under the previous FCC head Kevin Martin.
Progress with white space technology was stalled by objections from the National Association of Broadcasters which was concerned about interference from this new wireless technology. In the intervening two years, the FCC has hashed out the details for this new form of mobile broadband and has finally approved a final, comprehensive set of rules governing its usage.
In a nutshell, white space is the unused slices of spectrum that exist between television broadcast channels. Some of this spectrum is used by wireless performance microphones, but the majority is vacant. A proverbial wi-fi on steroids, this unused spectrum is highly attractive as its signals can travel over large distances and penetrate deep into buildings. Think of your TV signal and all the places where it can be picked up with an internal antenna. With white space broadband, you can receive high-speed internet access instead of the latest episode of House. w00t!
To protect current broadcast television signals, the FCC put restrictions in place that require all white space devices to connect to a special geolocation database before transmitting. The database has information about the broadcast channels in each area and the white space available for usage. The FCC also reserved two channels in each market for wireless microphone usage. Each channel supports 12-16 microphones at one time and is enough for typical daily usage. When there is a big event, like the Superbowl or the World Series, broadcasters can petition the FCC for more spectrum which wil be added temporarily to the spectrum database.
In the end, the FCC has mitigated the concerns of the broadcast industry and opened up a new form of wireless broadband for the public. Though it may take a few years for the technology to develop and deploy on a wide-scale, analysts estimate it could turn into a multi-billion dollar industry and could offer mobile internet access to rural areas not serviced by traditional landline or cellular options.
[Via FCC (pdf)]