Deborah D. McAdams / 12.05.2011 01:03PM
FCC To Commence Second White Space Database Trial Wednesday
WASHINGTON:
Despite the
uncertain future of the availability of TV spectrum, another test
is queued up for
further filling it with unlicensed transmissions. Telcordia
Technologies has
been approved for a white space database trial. The test marks
the second one
conducted by the Federal Communications Commission to assess the
efficacy of
databases for protecting TV signals from interference by unlicensed
devices. The 45-day
trial commences Wednesday.
Telcordia’s
test follows one
for Spectrum Bridge of Lake Mary, Fla., which concluded Nov.
2. The results were
opened to comment, with replies due today. The trials are
part of the
FCC’s white spaces proceeding, which started before the
Obama
Administration proposed to reallocate 40 percent of the TV spectrum for
broadband. A
related bill moving through the House provides no particular
protections for
white spaces in a reduced TV band.
White spaces, once
known as “taboo channels,” were
traditionally left
open to prevent interference between analog TV signals.
Digital signals are
considered less vulnerable, thus the FCC is opening taboo
channels for use by
a new breed of unlicensed personal electronics devices.
The databases are supposed to track and log all licensed
operations in the
spectrum dedicated to television, including full- and
low-power TV
stations, translators, broadcaster auxiliary services, cable
headends, private
land-mobile radio, offshore radio telephone, certain radio
astronomy and
wireless microphone sites. Unlicensed devices—which are
not yet
commercially available—will have to ping a database to find
open frequencies.
FCC rules “require that
unlicensed TV band
devices contact an authorized database system to obtain a
list of channels
that are available for their operation…. Such
devices are
required to provide their geographic location, by means of a secure
Internet
connection, to a TV band database system authorized by the commission.
The database will
then return a list of the channels available for operation by
the device for its
reported location.
The FCC said that
parties may
participate in the trial by going to an online
test
facility set up by Telcordia and activated on Wednesday at 12:01
a.m. EST.
The commission encourages participants to test
Telecordia’s
channel availability calculator and its receive site
registration
utilities for cable headends, satellite, BAS, fixed unlicensed
devices and
wireless mics. Inaccuracies and errors are to be reported to
Telcordia on the
trial website. The trial will conclude Jan. 20 unless the
FCC’s
Office of Engineering and Technology decides to extend it. Once
the trial is
complete, Telcordia will compile a report for the FCC.
Telcordia
was one of nine companies conditionally approved by the
FCC in January to
provide white-space database management services, and the
second to have its
technology go to trial. A
tenth—Microsoft—applied
late and won approval in July.
Telecordia Technologies
of Piscataway, N.J., specializes in
telecommunications
software and support. It reported sales of $739 million for
2010 and was
purchased by Stockholm, Sweden cellphone service provider,
Ericsson, last June
for $1.2 billion cash. The deal is expected to close this
quarter.
The other companies conditionally approved as
white space
database administrators include Mountain View, Calif., search giant
Google, Comsearch
of Ashburn, Va.; Neustar of Sterling Va.; Key Bridge Global
of McLean, Va.; KB
Enterprises of Washington, D.C.; Frequency Finder of Toccoa,
Ga.; and WSdB LLC,
which listed no headquarters. The company’s listed
website
also appears
inoperable.
The FCC first put out its call for
database managers
in November 2009. It revealed the nine applicants a year
later and granted
them conditional approval in January because final rules were
issued after the
proposals were submitted. The designees were expected to file
supplemental
information on their original proposals, but the FCC said each had
sufficient
“technical expertise” for the task, as well as
viable five-year
business plans. The companies will be allowed to charge fees
for
“fixed TVBDs and temporary broadcast auxiliary fixed links.
~ Deborah D. McAdams, Television Broadcast