Microsoft Unveils Plan To Deliver Broadband To 2 Million, NAB Immediately Craps All Over The Announcement

from the I-just-hate-innovation-and-disruption dept

Since 2004 we've talked about the effort to take unlicensed spectrum, previously used by TV stations, and make a new wireless broadband delivery alternative. Dubbed "white spaces" (or occasionally and misleadingly "super WiFi") the technology has the potential to provide less expensive, niche connectivity in areas incumbent broadband providers are unwilling to upgrade. Even then, incumbent ISPs have consistently tried to kill the technology, as has the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), whose members aren't keen on an entirely new broadband and TV delivery mechanism they won't have control over.

This week, Microsoft punctuated years of global trials of this technology with the announcement that it would be deploying white space broadband to around two million Americans in 12 states (New York, Texas, Washington, Virginia, Michigan, Maine, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin) over the next five years. According to Microsoft, the project should cost somewhere around $10 billion, and provide another layer of competition in some of the areas that need it most:

"The time is right for the nation to set a clear and ambitious but achievable goal – to eliminate the rural broadband gap within the next five years by July 4, 2022. We believe the nation can bring broadband coverage to rural America in this timeframe, based on a new strategic approach that combines private sector capital investments focused on expanding broadband coverage through new technologies, coupled with targeted and affordable public-sector support."

Of course the push to connect 2 million rural consumers to broadband in a nation where 34 million Americans still can't access broadband is a small drop in the dysfunction bucket. And Microsoft's obviously not operating out of blind altruism here, since like Facebook their focus on broadband is primarily driven by cornering the hardware used to receive these signals, and therefore the ad load. Still, it's at least an effort to do something to shore up connectivity in a nation that has let companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast dictate federal policy for decades -- to what should be obvious results.

White Space broadband has had a long, difficult road to arrival thanks in part to intense lobbying against the technology by incumbent broadband providers, companies like Cisco, and NAB. NAB's legal and PR assault on the technology has often been particularly comedic. At one point they employed Dolly Parton to rail against the technology, claiming it would cause interference armageddon. At several points NAB launched incredibly alarmist campaigns featuring grandmothers being left unable to watch their TV programs if white space broadband was allowed to materialize.

And while studies showed that a ham-fisted, idiotic approach to the technology might cause problems, those same studies indicated there were numerous ways to mitigate any potential issues. So plenty of very smart engineers spent the better part of a decade testing the technology, and developing an elaborate system of databases that can be used to track and prevent any potential interference in target markets. Microsoft meanwhile has been conducting trials to show the tech works as promised, and pushing the FCC to set aside unlicensed spectrum for broader adoption of the technology.

But, right on cue, NAB today issued a short and pithy statement crapping all over Microsoft's announcement, insisting the entire technology was little more than an "unmitigated failure":

"It's the height of arrogance for Microsoft -- a $540 billion company -- to demand free, unlicensed spectrum after refusing to bid on broadcast TV airwaves in the recent FCC incentive auction," whined NAB. "Microsoft's white space device development has been a well-documented, unmitigated failure. Policymakers should not be misled by slick Microsoft promises that threaten millions of viewers with loss of lifeline broadcast TV programming."

Again, while there are potential interference concerns, NAB likes to play those up for dramatic effect. Why? Because the organization's deeper-pocketed member companies (like, oh, Comcast NBC Universal) don't much like the idea of an entirely new technology disrupting the existing telecom and television ecosystems. After all, somebody might, oh, offer cable TV for less than the cost of a new Tesla, or deliver broadband that doesn't require a second mortgage. Hardware companies like Cisco similarly oppose the tech because they missed the boat on early hardware development (telecom sector lawyer Harold Feld explains this in great detail here).

All of that said, it's still not entirely clear if white space broadband will be anything more than a niche broadband solution. But it's at least another tool in the tool chest as we attempt to bring something vaguely resembling competition to bear on a captive market. And it should go without saying that there's oodles of legacy companies that like the current culture of dysfunction -- just the way it is.

Filed Under: broadband, competition, spectrum, white space
Companies: microsoft, nab

NAB Cries To The Court About White Spaces Spectrum Plans

from the same-old-story dept

One of the better decisions to come out of the FCC during Kevin Martin's reign was the decision to free up the "white spaces" spectrum that lies in between TV broadcasts for other uses. The white spaces are unused spectrum that sit in between TV broadcasters' signals. They were important in analog broadcasts to keep stations' signals from interfering with each other, but they are less crucial in digital broadcasts (like the ones the US will eventually switch to). White spaces proponents say that they can effectively be reused by unlicensed devices that can seek out empty spectrum and use it to communicate, without interfering with licensed broadcasts, and the FCC concurred -- and, of course, made that a key part of its approval of the technologies. But as ever, the National Association of Broadcasters disagrees, and has sued to block usage of the white spaces, arguing it will interfere with their members' broadcasts.

We might be more sympathetic to the NAB's claim if it didn't have such a long and glorious history of trying to stifle anything that competes with incumbent broadcasters, and have such an annoying way of doing it. The FCC has put significant stipulations in place to ensure that white space devices don't cause interference, and despite the NAB's contention, the prototypes that failed in the testing process didn't do so. The FCC got it right by approving use of the white spaces with the restrictions and rules it put in place to tame interference; the NAB has once again got it wrong by trying to stifle innovation, and perhaps competition.

Filed Under: interference, lawsuits, spectrum, white space
Companies: fcc, nab

Kevin Martin In Favor Of Freeing Up White Space TV Spectrum

from the good-news dept

While there's been a ton of propaganda from TV broadcasters (and, oddly, wireless microphone vendors) concerning requests from tech companies to make use of the so-called "white space" spectrum that surrounds the spectrum the TV broadcasters use, it appears that FCC boss Kevin Martin is now prepared to support freeing the spectrum for other uses. This isn't all that surprising, given that the FCC has been pushing to free up such spectrum for years, but it is very good news. While there were some early test device failures, the problems were with the devices themselves, not in creating any interference, as the critics claim. This totally unused spectrum could open up all sorts of interesting new wireless technologies that could be tremendously useful in many different ways.

Filed Under: fcc, kevin martin, spectrum, white space

Invasion Of The TV Snatchers? White Space Devices Will Kill Us All!

from the a-little-over-the-top dept

The debate over white space spectrum has gone on for quite some time. Basically, the FCC handed out a ton of spectrum (for free, mind you) to TV broadcasters years ago. In order to prevent against interference, there's always been a requirement for some "buffer" space. However, as technology has improved, the need for this buffer space has decreased, and plenty of tech companies would be interested in making use of some of that basically unused spectrum by having it set aside as open spectrum. Earlier this year, some of those companies, led by Microsoft and Google, delivered a device to the FCC to test. Unfortunately, the device had some problems. However, the concept is sound -- and with some tweaking, it's quite reasonable that such a device could work without interfering with TV signals. But you wouldn't know that from broadcasters, who love to hoard their spectrum. Matthew Lasar writes in to note that in responding to the device, the broadcasters have gone way over the top in describing the horrible things that will happen if the white space is made available:

"Why would the FCC consider allowing millions and millions of these interference causing devices, like 'germs,' to spread throughout America with the ability to attack the TV receivers in people's homes, apartments, hotel rooms, hospital rooms, dormitories, etc., with no way for the owner of the TV set (the 'victim') to determine who was causing the 'illness' to his or her TV set?"

They also suggest that allowing this white space to be used would "risk the outrage of America's citizenry." Of course, it's important to remember that only a small percentage of TV watchers actually run this risk. The vast majority of TV owners in the US have cable or satellite TV -- meaning that they don't use the over-the-air broadcasts that use the spectrum in question. So, the "outrage" would be limited to the small group of people who still use over-the-air systems to watch broadcast TV and are close enough to a device that uses this white space in the unlikely situation when that device might temporarily interfere with their TV signals. But, apparently, with that tiny probability out there, opening up that white space is like a "germ" that will "attack" people's TVs, raising the "outrage of America's citizenry."

Filed Under: spectrum, television, white space