Google leader sees green in white space FCC move will aid communication - and his company

Google co-founder Larry Page and Kevin Martin, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, lauded this week's FCC vote to open up vacant broadcast spectrum for unlicensed use. Larry Page, co-founder and president of products at Google, poses for photographers after arriving in Oviedo, northern Spain, October 24, 2008. Page will be awarded with the 2008 Prince of Asturias for Communication and Humanities award at a traditional ceremony on Friday in the Asturian capital. The Prince of Asturias Awards are held annually since 1981 to reward scientific, technical, cultural, social and humanitarian work done by individuals, work teams and institutions. REUTERS/Felix Ordonez (SPAIN) less Google co-founder Larry Page and Kevin Martin, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, lauded this week's FCC vote to open up vacant broadcast spectrum for unlicensed use. Larry Page, co-founder ... more Photo: Felix Ordonez, Reuters Photo: Felix Ordonez, Reuters Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Google leader sees green in white space 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Google co-founder Larry Page and Kevin Martin, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, lauded this week's FCC vote to open up vacant broadcast spectrum for unlicensed use - a move, they said, that carries enormous potential.

The new use of these "white spaces" could enhance people's lives in much the way that Wi-Fi has become indispensable for laptop and mobile device owners, they said Thursday at a wireless conference in San Jose. But it will take at least 18 months before devices are built to work on the spectrum.

The available airwaves are in the 700 MHz band and would be able to travel farther and through walls, making their use potentially more cost efficient than Wi-Fi.

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"With white spaces you need many fewer (transmitters than Wi-Fi) and the cost difference is going to be astounding, hugely different," Page said. "In terms of how people use the Internet, how they communicate with each other, how rural areas will be able to have connectivity, this will be a tremendously important thing."

Page said Google has taken the lead on the issue for reasons both economic and philosophical. He said if wireless users can get cheap, pervasive Internet access that "just works" everywhere, it will mean more Google searches and a potential 20 to 30 percent increase in advertising revenue.

But he said the cause is also about ensuring that the same access to the Internet, which first catapulted Google from a garage project to worldwide success, is replicated in the mobile world.

"I don't want people to forget about the Internet," Page said. "We've been active in this area not for our own interests so much as making sure the culture of innovation and services can exist and continue to grow."

Martin said the FCC went to great lengths to meet the concerns of broadcasters and live performers, who worried that utilizing white spaces would interfere with TV signals and wireless microphones. Martin said Google was helpful in developing ways of using geo-location for devices, so they will be able to identify existing TV channels and wireless users and avoid interfering with them.

"We certainly benefited tremendously from people like Larry who came in and tried to explain both how it was to be done without interfering and how important it was to get the connectivity he was talking about," Martin said.

He said the United States, with the FCC's recent decision, can push the use of white spaces abroad, helping spur development in this area.

Page said the goal is to push down the price of chipsets that can handle white spaces to make them easy to deploy in mobile devices. Ultimately, he'd like to see radios that could handle multiple wireless technologies, allowing people to stay connected wherever they went.

Both Martin and Page cautioned there is much to be done before the spectrum can be widely used. Page acknowledged that no standards exist for white spaces, as they do for Wi-Fi. But he hopes that will be done quickly, following the pattern of Wi-Fi.

He said if the pieces fall into place, it could help the United States regain its leadership position in broadband penetration and wireless innovation.

"We could be first, not in the middle, if we get all this right," Page said. "We're set up to do that. We have the technology and we have the innovation and a government that's been doing a good job doing some of the regulatory things we need to make that happen. So I'm very optimistic."