The White Space Lobbying Race Pits Internet Vs. Telecom Firms

It looks like static on your old analog TV, but to Microsoft, Google and other tech giants, those unused channels between local broadcast stations represent the future of the Internet. A coalition of tech companies is promising a new generation of wireless offerings and faster, cheaper Internet services if the government frees up chunks of radio-wave spectrum being abandoned in the transition to digital TV. As TV broadcasters switch to digital signals that take up a different slice of the radio-wave spectrum, they'll leave behind airwaves used now for analog signals. A coalition of tech companies hopes to use those frequencies for a slew of wireless devices and services -- everything from Internet-connected cars to interactive TV on the go. That vision hinges on a report the Federal Communications Commission plans to issue in the next few weeks. After nearly a year of research, the FCC is set to define how wireless networks and devices can tap into the spectrum without messing with TV signals and other communication systems that use nearby frequencies. Earlier tests on prototype devices uncovered some glitches, but technology firms say those bugs have been fixed.