The Federal Communications Commissions voted late Tuesday to approve the unlicensed use of “white spaces” — empty airwaves between television channels — for high-speed Internet access nationwide.

The landslide vote of the five FCC commissioners (4 to 1) follows years of research, testing and public input that concluded white space frequencies can and should be used to transmit Internet signals to regions of the country that need it most.

While much of the nation is focused on the outcome of another election today, today’s decision will unleash a new wave of economic opportunity and civic engagement for tens of millions of Americans now stuck with no or slow dial-up connections.

In letters to the FCC and Congress, the nation’s leading consumer, media and public interest groups and bloggers voiced their strong support for white spaces. These groups include Free Press, National Organization for Women, Feminist Majority, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Consumers Union, Consumer Federation of America, Public Knowledge, Media Access Project, MoveOn.org, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Common Cause and the Center for Media Justice, among others.

Nearly every market in the United States has empty white spaces; in some communities, more than three-quarters of the television broadcast spectrum sits unused. Today’s FCC vote opens the market to innovators to develop new technologies that will make finding a fast and affordable Internet connection a lot easier for everyone.

The public was the big winner in this landslide vote at the FCC. The five commissioners chose to put politics aside on this Election Day and voted in favor of a policy grounded in sound science. The decision to open white spaces puts consumers first, marking a change in Internet policy we can all believe in.

Over the past eight years, the United States has fallen behind many other world leaders in providing fast, affordable Internet access. Nearly half of American homes are still not connected to broadband.

The phone and cable companies that dominate the broadband market promise more of the same slow speeds and high prices that put us in this mess. Opening white spaces adds much-needed competition and innovation — sparking economic growth at a time when jobs and investment are on a downward spiral.

The mudslinging over white spaces should now end so we can start a new era of innovation that will help close the digital divide and finally provide Internet for everyone.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 at 5:37 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.-->