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Google's Page Argues For White Space

Earlier this year, Google indicated interest in "white space" spectrum. Today, it took its proposal to Congress and the FCC, where it asked that the spectrum be freed up for anyone to use. Legitimate questions remain unanswered, though.

White space spectrum is the slivers of space that reside between television channels. Companies, including Dell, HP, Intel, and Microsoft, believe that the spectrum can be used for wireless computing purposes without interfering with the adjacent spectrum. Television broadcasters have decried the idea, and say that the spaces were left there for a reason. They don't want their television transmissions messed up just to suit what would be redundant services to what's already offered by technologies such as Wi-Fi, WiMax, and cellular networks. "Jeopardizing the future of digital television with an unproven technology would be unwise and unwarranted," said National Association of Broadcasters Executive VP Dennis Wharton in a statement.

Larry Page, co-founder of Google, disagrees. According to Reuters, Page said, "I am totally confident that if we have rules that say you can use the spectrum under conditions that you cause no interference, that those devices will get produced. And, in fact, hundreds of millions of dollars will be invested in making those devices noninterfering."

Microsoft, the FCC, and others are currently testing the technology to see if it can be done. While they test, the debate rages on.

Page believes that making more spectrum available for wireless computing is important. "I think it will make a huge difference to everybody. I think the debate's really been politicized. If we have 10% better connectivity in the U.S., we get 10% more revenue in the U.S., and those are big numbers for us."

The question remains, how will white space spectrum really benefit the consumer or the enterprise? Wi-Fi already is decent enough for local wireless connectivity. WiMax and various 3G broadband technologies pick up the slack and cover the wide-area spaces. The capital investment of these networks ranges from practically nil to many billions of dollars. Where would white space spectrum fall into this increasingly-complex mix of wireless technologies? And who is going to pay for it? With no apparent business model in place, I'm not convinced that making white space spectrum available for general use will benefit anyone in the short term.

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