WASHINGTON, DC – NAB released a statement today in response to an announcement from the Federal Communications Commission concerning the initiation of 'white space' device field testing.
Commenting on the FCC announcement, NAB Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton issued the following statement:
"NAB has no quarrel with field tests, but based upon multiple failures of unlicensed devices in laboratory testing thus far, we remain highly skeptical that this technology will ever work as advertised."
A July
2007 FCC report concluded that sample prototype 'white space' devices
did not accurately detect broadcast signals and caused interference to
TV broadcasting and wireless microphones. That setback was followed by
a February
2008 power failure, in which a Microsoft representative admitted that
their prototype device "just stopped working."
In March, another
Microsoft device "unexpectedly
shut down," according to a Microsoft press release.
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.