Skeptics Invite FCC to Expand White Space Testing
The FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) received several invitations from various productions and events to use their locations as part of its field test of prototype White Spaces devices.
The FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) received several invitations from various productions and events to use their locations as part of its field test of prototype White Spaces devices. The organization announced earlier this month that it would be conducting such tests at a sports and an entertainment venue as well as other locations.
In a letter dated July 8, Louis Libin, president of Broad-Comm and chairman of Polcomm2008, which coordinates the wireless microphone frequencies during the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, wrote, “We believe these conventions would provide a perfect opportunity to conduct further testing regarding the efficacy of these devices. It would provide a real experiment during an event that employs hundreds of wireless microphones and frequencies.”
Daryl Friedman, vice president, advocacy and government relations, for The Recording Academy (NARAS), wrote a letter stating, “We firmly believe that the Commission should move with extreme caution before approving any new portable device operations in the TV Band. We would be happy to help coordinate an FCC visit to the Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago on August 1.”
Most recently, Don Lepore, producer of NBC’s “Nashville Star,” expressed his own concern regarding new devices in the White Spaces and invited the OET to come to Nashville, writing, “To put it in its simplest form, the perception that there is significant fallow ‘white spaces’ in cities like Nashville is just wrong. ‘Nashville Star’ wants to extend its expertise and facilities to the Commission as it sets forth to execute the Commission’s testing plans at an entertainment venue.”
“We are pleased to see this response from the Recording Academy, Polcomm, and the producers of ‘Nashville Star,’ and we hope that the Commission will consider taking them up on their offers,” said Mark Brunner, senior director of public and industry relations for Shure. “There simply is no substitute for these types of real-world scenarios for the OET to conduct its field tests in order to determine what will be required to protect wireless microphones used in high-profile applications.”
