A huge decision is going to be made on Election Day that could change the lives of millions of Americans. And it’s not about Obama or McCain.

On Nov. 4, the Federal Communications Commission will vote to open unused television airwaves to provide affordable, wireless Internet services nationwide. Help sway the vote by calling Congress today.
Opening up these vacant airwaves – called white spaces — might be our best opportunity to close the digital divide. White spaces can be used to transmit an Internet signal over mountains and through concrete walls.

FCC engineers just completed an exhaustive 18-month study that shows new technology can use white spaces without harming adjacent TV signals. The agency released its report on Oct. 15 and will vote on its conclusive findings on Nov. 4.

The facts are pretty clear: White spaces can be used to deliver Internet service to people near and far. But that hasn’t stopped the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), a powerful group representing the nation’s largest media companies, from deploying their lobbyists to try to keep Americans from gaining access to these airwaves.

Right now, NAB lobbyists are lining the halls of Congress to convince our lawmakers that using white spaces is a bad idea. And now they’re trying to delay the FCC’s ensuing decision by demanding the agency issue an official comment period for its report – despite the public’s existing opportunity to weigh in on the findings.

It’s another scare tactic by the NAB, and it’s getting old. It’s time we ended the NAB’s decades-long effort to control our airwaves.

We must move quickly to make sure we don’t lose the chance to connect all of America to affordable Internet service.

In rural parts of the country, more than 75 percent of TV airwaves sit vacant. Even urban areas, where the spectrum is crowded, stand to gain from opening up white spaces. Making these airwaves available for Internet access has bipartisan support at the FCC and in Congress. It just makes sense.

On Nov. 4, the FCC needs to simply follow good science with good policy — shedding outdated standards that have placed our airwaves under the lock and key of the broadcast lobby.

Time is running out. Don’t miss your chance to help make history on Election Day by urging Congress and the FCC to open up white spaces.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 at 3:51 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.-->