Brian's Brain

From one television-related controversy to another...

Shure continues to be the a particularly vociferous critic of the White Space dynamic UHF-and-VHF spectrum usage pitch, seizing on any testing hiccup, big or small, (curiously, however, this information isn't on Shure's website) as a blanket condemnation of the technology. At the same time, the company continues to turn a blind eye to the reality that most of its UHF and VHF wireless microphone customers are operating their equipment without having first obtained the necessary FCC license. As I wrote in a cover story published earlier this month:

Shure publicly leads the other large, vocal anti-White Spaces alliance, the Microphone Interests Coalition. The members’ complaints border on hypocrisy; although the law requires owners and operators of FCC Part 74 devices, such as wireless microphones, to obtain licenses, few do. “We-were-here-first” arguments lose much of their punch when, as it turns out, “we were here first, illegally” more accurately describes the situation.

As such, I confess to feeling no shortage of satisfaction at seeing that the FCC is finally waking up to the issue. A recently proposed ruling will, if it becomes law, ban all low-power auxiliary transmitters (including wireless mic base stations) from the '700 MHz' (698- to 806-MHz, i.e. UHF channels 52 to 69) spectrum swath that the FCC auctioned off earlier this year. More generally, a consortium called the PISC (Public Interest Spectrum Coalition) filed damning anti-wireless microphone comments with the FCC last month. As Ars Technica reports:

Their filing called for an investigation of nine companies that they say "willfully and knowingly" market and sell wireless mics to "unauthorized users for ineligible purposes." The coalition wants the FCC to probe Shure and eight other alleged culprits for "deceptive advertising practices," and offer "amnesty" for unlicensed wireless mic users, as long as they relocate their operations elsewhere.

It is my sincere hope that the FCC responds to the filing by broadening its investigation to cover the entire UHF and VHF spectrum, not just the '700 MHz' portion.

To get you up to speed on the White Spaces topic, below please find some other industry coverage that post-dated the finalization of my cover story (notably again from Ars Technica, who's doing an outstanding job of regularly revisiting the issue):

• FCC to begin white space wireless broadband field tests
• Wireless mics at center stage as white space testing begins
• Verizon wary about white space, favors licensed spectrum
• Motorola declares white space device testing successful
• After field tests, mixed signals on white space broadband

Google, who my article mentioned is an especially strong White Spaces advocate, just launched a consumer-targeted website called 'Free The Airwaves':

And, in closing (at least for now), check out a recent FCC comments filing by Motorola, which Cisco Systems' Peter Ecclesine brought to my attention.