Microsoft Seeks Additional Changes to TV White Spaces Rules, With Some NAB Support
Microsoft asked the FCC Friday to launch a Further NPRM on TV white spaces. NAB, which has raised concerns about Wi-Fi in the TV bands, is on board with at least asking many of the questions proposed, the company said. The software maker proposes modifying rules to allow higher power levels in some areas, higher antennas, and geofenced operation of white spaces devices (WSDs) on mobile platforms. The FCC in March tweaked the white spaces rules and said it will consider an FNPRM on changes previously sought by Microsoft (see 1903200059).
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“These proposed changes are a logical outgrowth of the Commission’s current White Space rules, and are the product of several years of on-the-ground experience with White Spaces deployments, improvements in technology, and meetings with Commission staff and other stakeholders,” said a petition in docket 14-165. It said the rulemaking should look at permitting fixed WSDs in the second-adjacent channel to broadcasters “in less congested areas to operate at a higher radiated power limit” and allow WSDs to operate at greater than 40 mW “on the first-adjacent channel at locations within the protected contour where the potential for harmful interference is low.”
The tech firm proposed the FCC allow fixed transmissions at heights above average terrain of up to 500 meters “subject to a special set of coordination procedures modeled on the Commission’s Part 101 rules.” The agency should also “foster the development of narrowband WSDs that can support IoT applications by modifying existing technical and operational rules and providing licensees the same level of protection from harmful interference as the rules for broadband WSDs,” Microsoft said.
“NAB and Microsoft have discussed the issues in Microsoft’s petition,” a NAB spokesperson emailed. “While we do not agree on every issue, we believe the Commission can move forward with several of Microsoft’s proposals. We look forward to working with the FCC and Microsoft to develop rules that allow greater flexibility for white spaces operation in rural areas while continuing to protect broadcasters.”
“The technical changes Microsoft proposes will greatly benefit rural America and other underserved areas still lacking basic broadband connectivity,” Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, told us: “TV viewers have never suffered interference from the use of vacant TV channels for rural broadband, so it’s time for the FCC to unleash the technology’s full potential.”
“Low-band spectrum is the most cost-effective, proven method of providing broadband coverage in rural areas” and closing the digital divide, said Tom Struble, R Street Institute technology policy manager. The urban uses are less clear, he told us. “There are fewer vacant TV channels in urban markets, meaning the FCC may have to force some broadcasters off the air to make way for the TV white spaces, which could get messy,” he said. “Mobile carriers are already present in every urban market and have shown strong interest in IoT.” Sorting through the economic and engineering argument between NAB and Microsoft is difficult, Struble said. “The FCC has entire offices full of engineers and economists who are trained in evaluating such claims, so I trust they will be able to sort out this dispute one way or another,” he said: “Any FCC decision here should be well informed by technical and economic evidence, and an FNPRM could be a useful way to gather that."
“Increasing power and height and relaxing out-of-band emission limits will create more opportunities for rural broadband access,” emailed Claude Aiken, president of the Wireless ISP Association.
In meetings at the FCC last week, members of ACT|The App Association urged the agency to continue work to make more spectrum available for unlicensed use, including in the TV white spaces. Members met Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Brendan Carr, and aides to the other commissioners. They also lobbied on cable/broadband issues (see 1905030047).