McDowell Calls For Widespread Use of White Spaces

MCDOWELL CALLS FOR WIDESPREAD USE OF WHITE SPACES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell Thursday called for "widespread, unlicensed use" of the so-called white spaces between vacant TV channels, but he said broadcasters must be protected from interference. Commissioner McDowell, who was speaking at a Catholic University School of Law Symposium in Washington, did say that it was important for the FCC to ensure that the new equipment "does not cause harmful interference to the current operators in the white spaces," and even gave broadcasters a new term they could use. Suggesting the issue was not black and white, Commissioner McDowell said: "[M]aybe we should start calling them 'gray spaces.'" McDowell made some cable executives day during the speech by arguing that some criticisms of the pace of the U.S.broadband rollout are off the mark, a point National Cable & Telecommunications Association President Kyle McSlarrow made at least twice this past week. McDowell also put in a plug for extending the FCC's December video franchise relief order to incumbents, something McSlarrow has also been pushing for.
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