Google goes to bat for ‘white spaces’

Google co-founder Larry Page brought his campaign to open up “white spaces” that could be used to increase broadband access to Washington on Wednesday.

Page met with aides and members of Congress on Wednesday, and also talked up the issue in a speech hosted by the Wireless Innovation Alliance (WIA).

{mosads}“It is a natural resource we should use, and use efficiently,” said Page, whose company has started an online petition to support using “white space” devices that could greatly expand Internet access.

“We’re not doing that. It is mostly static,” said Page.

Google has increasingly put itself front and center in the raging debate between tech companies and broadcasters over what it considers the next frontier for the World Wide Web. And Page, who created Google while working with another doctoral student while at Stanford, has often led the charge for his company.

Page has not stopped at speeches or public events, either. He’s met with congressional aides and lawmakers and made personal phone calls to the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Kevin Martin, to discuss the issue, according to records filed with the commission.

Google is allied with other tech giants, such as Dell and Microsoft, which believe white spaces can be used to expand the reach of broadband in underserved areas of rural America.

But Silicon Valley has faced intense opposition from major broadcasters and wireless microphone manufacturers. They believe the devices will crowd their own signals and fuzz reception for television or audio equipment, ruining their performance for consumers.

In his speech Wednesday, Page encouraged the FCC to release its highly anticipated white spaces report before the election. “We could show real leadership on this issue to the rest of the world,” he said.

The report will include the FCC’s recommendations on how to regulate the devices, not yet available on the market, according to a FCC spokesman.

The FCC will be responsible for how white spaces will be used in the future. It has already finished testing prototypes of the devices.

The FCC spokesman could not estimate when the report would be released.

More than 16,000 people have signed Google’s petition, and Page has taken a deep, personal interest in the issue.

Google emphasizes that the use of white spaces is in the public interest, but also acknowledges it would benefit. More Internet access would help with profits, leading more people to perform Web searches and use the Mountain View, Calif., company’s software.

“Make no mistake: Open access to this unused bandwidth would surely be good for our own bottom line,” Google’s petition website reads.

Google’s main opponent in the battle over white spaces, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), said in a statement Wednesday that the devices have performed poorly during the FCC’s testing.

“All the petition drives in the world cannot mask the fact that Google’s own allies have admitted that these devices don’t work. Absent proven interference protection, Google’s gamble on the future of television is not a risk Americans should be asked to take,” said Dennis Wharton, NAB’s executive vice president.

Page on Wednesday dismissed those concerns out of hand. “The notion that a small device is going to significantly interfere with that is garbage, not true,” he said.

The debate has led to division on Capitol Hill as well. Seventy lawmakers have written to the FCC expressing their concerns over the devices, while more than 30 have written in support.

Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) — whose district includes Microsoft’s headquarters — spoke at Wednesday’s event, pushing the use of white spaces for Internet use. In turn, Reps. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) and Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) released a joint statement warning about signal interference for wireless microphones from the devices.

Page is optimistic that the debate in Washington will eventually lead to a solution for white spaces.

“We have proposed a number of reasonable solutions,” said Page. “I am very confident we will get through this.”