Google wants TV band for wireless use

BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Google Inc. on Monday unveiled plans to use vacant television airwaves to provide wireless Internet without interfering with current equipment, media reported.

In a letter to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, the Internet leader outlined plans for low-power devices that use local wireless airwaves to access the "white space" between television channels. A Google executive called the plan "Wi-Fi 2.0 or Wi-Fi on steroids."

"As Google has pointed out previously, the vast majority of viable spectrum in this country simply goes unused, or else is grossly underutilized," Google said in the letter. "Unlike other natural resources, there is no benefit to allowing this spectrum to lie fallow."

Rick Whitt, Google's Washington telecom and media counsel, said this class of Wi-Fi devices could eventually offer data transmission speeds of billions of bits per second -- far faster than the millions of bits per second available on most current broadband networks.

Google and Microsoft are part of a group that wants the FCC to unlock the airwaves for unlicensed uses, like mobile Web access, after broadcasters convert to digital signals in 2009.

The group also includes Dell Inc, Intel Corp, Hewlett-Packard Co and the north American unit of Philips Electronics.

Google plans to bolster revenue by creating more Internet services for mobile phones and devices based on Android, Google's software that a variety of major equipment makers plan to use to build Internet-ready phones. Portable technology is outselling personal computers, giving the company new spots to place online advertising.

The idea is opposed by U.S. broadcasters and makers of wireless microphones, who fear the devices would cause interference.

(Agencies)