Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

FCC Plans to Open Vacated TV Spectrum for 'Super Wi-Fi'

by Terrence O'Brien on September 13, 2010 at 12:00 PM

FCCMost of the recent headlines regarding the FCC focus on the battle over Net neutrality. Lost among the haranguing over tiered service and packet prioritization, the debate about so-called white space has fallen by the wayside. But, with the fight to preserve an unrestricted Web temporarily on hold, the regulating body is finally moving to approve the unlicensed use of the spaces that exist between TV broadcasting frequencies. The available airwaves between stations have been greatly expanded with the transition from analog to digital broadcasts, and many technology companies (Google being among the most outspoken) have been pushing to open the spectrum to unlicensed use.

The first use of the spectrum will likely be for creating what the FCC has called "super Wi-Fi," which can cover greater distances, penetrate walls and transfer much more data. The technology could also be opened up to wireless microphones, personal area network radios (like Bluetooth) and local broadband. The FCC will vote on the new rules on September 23rd, and it's widely expected that electronic makers will jump all over the newly available spectrum. And in a win for privacy advocates, it appears a requirement that forced devices using the spectrum to register with a database has been dropped.

Tags: broadcast, FCC, federal communications commission, FederalCommunicationsCommission, Frequencies, super wifi, SuperWifi, top, white space, WhiteSpace

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular