Welcome to the White Spaces

If you’ve been following reactions from the Google Blog, Engadget, GigaOM, SearchEngineWatch.com or others, you know that yesterday the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made a historic and very important decision.  The FCC decided to allow the unlicensed use of portable electronic devices in the unused portions of the TV spectrum – known as the “white spaces.”   These white spaces consist of the unused TV channels in each city/geography in the United States.  Since these TV channels are unused and therefore empty or blank – they are called the white spaces. 

A previous decision by the FCC in 1985 to allow unlicensed portable electronic devices in the 2.4GHz spectrum spawned technologies like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth which have revolutionized wireless communications for consumers & businesses.  Dell believes that today’s FCC decision will allow the wireless revolution to continue and new products and applications to evolve.  If you want to learn more about the White Spaces, take a look at this video:

For more insight, here’s a PDF whitepaper that discusses what the white spaces are, the FCC approval process and the potential for new wireless applications. You can also visit www.wirelessinnovationalliance.org, or the Wireless Innovation Alliance’s YouTube channel features videos of testimonials from several members of the Alliance in Washington D.C. 

In the future, Dell and other companies will take advantage of the white spaces to provide new wireless communication products and services and thereby turning the white spaces into productive resource for the American consumer.  At that time the white spaces will no longer be truly “white” – they will be used by all us!

About the Author: Neeraj Srivastava