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Nov. 6, 2008

The FCC wasn't expected to make a decision so rapidly, but late yesterday the Commission said it has approved the use of White Space Spectrum.

White spaces are the frequency allocations that won't be used by analog TV stations, since they will be using digital only signals beginning in February 2009.

Additionally, the FCC also has approved proposed mergers between some wireless operators. Verizon Wireless can now acquire Alltel, while Sprint Nextel has the green light in acquiring Clearwire.

Earlier this week, while most of the U.S. was focused on the presidential election, people in the wireless industry watched FCC votes related to white spaces, which as expected were 5-0 decisions with a handful of partial dissents.

Verizon Wireless, the second-largest U.S. mobile operator, will top AT&T to become the largest carrier when its acquisition of Alltel is completed later in December or January 2009. Verizon is paying $5.9 billion and inheriting another $22.2 billion in debt.

The FCC vote included several specific conditions focused on existing roaming deals and overlapping markets. Details of those conditions will be announced soon, an FCC spokesman said.

A third major issue facing the FCC now was the topic of white spaces – spectrum remaining from defunct analog TV networks that could be used for unlicensed devices. As many had expected for many months, FCC officials voted in favor of specific rules for this purpose.

“The new rules will allow for both fixed and personal/portable unlicensed devices. Such devices must include a geolocation capability and provisions to access over the Internet a database of the incumbent services, such as full-power and low-power TV stations and cable system headends, in addition to spectrum-sensing technology. The database will tell the white space device what spectrum may be used at that location. Wireless microphones will be protected in a variety of ways,” the FCC said in its written statement.

At the same time, Sprint Nextel is merging its Xohm division with Clearwire. The new company, which will specialize in mobile Wi-MAX technology will keep the Clearwire name.

It has major investments from Comcast, Google, Intel and Time Warner Cable. A smaller company, Bright House Networks, also is involved. The total group investment is $3.2 billion, and Sprint will own 51 percent of the company.

The FCC also has required that devices include the ability to listen to the airwaves to sense wireless microphones as an additional measure of protection for these devices. All white space devices are subject to equipment certification by the FCC Laboratory.

The commission also will permit certification of devices that do not include the geolocation and database access capabilities, and instead rely solely on spectrum sensing to avoid causing harmful interference, subject to a much more rigorous approval process.

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Source: The Federal Communications Commission.