FCC announces sites for white spaces field testing
Aug 10, 2008 8:00 AM
The Recording Academy is one of several organizations offering to assist the FCC in its evaluation of white space devices.
Several organizers and producers of large-scale events have recently contacted the FCC to volunteer the use of their venues in the ongoing FCC field testing of proposed white space devices (WSDs).
In the meantime, FCC field testing continues in the suburban and rural Maryland area. The commission also announced WSD testing specifically for wireless microphone detection from 10 a.m. through 8 p.m. on Aug. 9 at FedEx Field in Landover, MD, and during the week of Aug. 11 in the Broadway district of Manhattan, with dates and times to be announced. Tests at both venues will be conducted before and during live performances.
Louis Libin, president of Broad-Comm in Woodmere, NY, and chairman of POLCOMM, the group handling frequency coordination during the Democratic and Republican political conventions, has suggested that the FCC conduct real-world field tests of proposed unlicensed white space devices during the upcoming conventions.
Daryl Friedman, VP of advocacy and government relations for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), wrote a letter to the commission stating, "We firmly believe that the commission should move with extreme caution before approving any new portable device operations in the TV band.” NARAS had suggested the recent Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago as a test site.
Producer Don Lepore of NBC's "Nashville Star" expressed his own concern regarding new devices in the white spaces and invited the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) to come to Nashville, TN, offering his show’s expertise and facilities to the commission.
For more information, visit www.fcc.gov/oet/projects/tvbanddevice/Welcome.html.
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