Google, Microsoft and the rest of the white space boosters
have taken aim at broadcasters and wireless mic users. Google co-founder Larry
Page even called the tactics of his opponents “despicable” and said the FCC
rigged its own tests.
Lakewood
Church and Joel Osteen
Ministries, which packs in some 40,000 worshippers every Sunday, made a move
onto Page’s enemies list Oct. 6 with a letter to the FCC warning that white
space devices could suffer “immeasurable damage to our ability to minister”
Osteen, who says he was responsible for the technical
aspects of the church for some 17 years, noted that “the FCC has been subject
to a barrage of lobbying by those interested in selling new devices in these
white spaces area [sic].”
The church’s weekly television audience tops 7 million, he
said.
“From what I have read about the testing conducted by the
FCC there is clearly no reliable technology that can protect wireless
microphones from the interference that comes from new portable devices
operating in the same or adjacent channels as wireless microphones,” Osteen
wrote. “We have worked diligently to coordinate the use of the wireless
microphone systems that we deploy in each of our services. Adding new electronic
devices to the mix would make our audio programming and coordination virtually
impossible.”
The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology is expected to
report on its white space tests this fall.