WASHINGTON, DC – NAB Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton issued a statement today in response to a letter received from the Wireless Innovation Alliance.
The letter, which was addressed to NAB President and CEO David K. Rehr, reiterated the wireless organization's desire to introduce unlicensed devices that would operate in broadcast spectrum, a prototype of which was shown to cause interference to broadcast TV reception.
Addressing WIA's claim that NAB has engaged in a "misinformation campaign" and that the testing process "should be left to the FCC's expert engineers," Wharton responded:
"A successful consumer transition from analog to digital television is now imperiled by a cadre of companies that have been hoisted on their own flawed technology petard.
"Try as they might, portable unlicensed device advocates like Google and Microsoft cannot run and hide from the fact that their own technology utterly failed FCC testing. That is not 'misinformation,' but rather an inconvenient truth."
The entire report issued in July by the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology can be read here.
To date, 70 lawmakers have expressed concern over the use of unlicensed personal-portable devices in the broadcast spectrum, including:
Senator Mary
Landrieu (D-LA)
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Senator Pete
V. Domenici (R-NM)
Senator Charles
E. Grassley (R-IA)
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Senator Johnny
Isakson (R-GA)
Senator Saxby
Chambliss (R-GA)
Senator Olympia
Snowe (R-ME)
Senator Susan Collins (R-ME)
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO)
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC)
Rep. John Spratt (D-SC)
Rep. J.
Gresham Barrett (R-SC)
Rep. Henry
E. Brown (R-SC)
Rep. David
Davis (R-TN)
Rep. Ric
Keller (R-FL)
Rep. Bobby
L. Rush (D-IL)
Rep. Jim
Cooper (D-TN)
Rep. Vito
J. Fossella (R-NY)
Rep. Eliot
L. Engel (D-NY)
Rep. Carolyn
B. Maloney (D-NY)
Rep. Howard P. McKeon (R-CA)
Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-IA)
Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA)
Rep. Marion Berry (D-AR)
Rep. Lincoln
Davis (D-TN)
Rep. David
Scott (D-GA)
Rep. John
Barrow (D-GA)
Rep. G.
K. Butterfield (D-NC)
Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC)
Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC)
Rep. Walter Jones, Jr. (R-NC)
Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC)
Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC)
Rep. Melvin Watt (D-NC)
Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-NC)
Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC)
Rep. David Price (D-NC)
Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC)
Rep. Gene Green (D-TX)
Rep. Ralph Hall (D-TX)
Rep. Charles Gonzalez (D-TX)
Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX)
Rep. Nick
Lampson (D-TX)
Rep. John
Carter (R-TX)
Rep. Al
Green (D-TX)
Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH)
Rep. Dave Hobson (R-OH)
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH)
Rep. Patrick
Tiberi (R-OH)
Rep. Steven
C. LaTourette (R-OH)
Rep. Tom
Price, M.D. (R-GA)
Rep. Lynn
Westmoreland (R-GA)
Rep. Jack
Kingston (R-GA)
Rep. David
Scott (D-GA)
Rep. John
Lewis (D-GA)
Rep. Phil
Gingrey, M.D. (R-GA)
Rep. Tom
Latham (R-IA)
Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL)
Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL)
Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN)
Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ)
Rep. Jon Porter (R-NV)
Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO)
Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV)
Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT)
Rep. Michael Michaud (D-ME)
Rep. Tom Allen (D-ME)
Rep.
Bart Gordon (D-TN)
Rep. Frank
Pallone Jr. (D-NJ)
About NAB
The National Association of Broadcasters is a trade association that advocates on behalf of more than 8,300 free, local radio and television stations and also broadcast networks before Congress, the Federal Communications Commission and the Courts. Information about NAB can be found at www.nab.org.