Update: Google Guy's Words Get Quick Response



Google co-founder Larry Page turned up on Capitol Hill today to boost the company's "Free the Airwaves" campaign, and he had some strong words for those who oppose their bid to open more of the airwaves for high speed Internet access.

Google, Microsoft and others in the tech world want the FCC to allow the unlicensed use of "white spaces" -- the gaps in the spectrum between television channels -- as a means of making broadband Internet access widely available in the U.S. But broadcasters fear that their use could cause interference with television stations and other devices, such as wireless microphones.



Page said some of the tests that have been done to determine whether new devices using the white spaces would interfere had been "rigged." A Google spokesman said later he was referring to tests held in August at FedEx Field.

"The test was rigged deliberately," Page said during his remarks in the Dirksen Office building. "That's the kind of thing we've been up against here, and I find it despicable."

What did he mean by rigged? A Google spokesman explained later that the test devices could not detect the wireless microphones because the testers had used the same frequency as local television stations -- in essence hiding within the television spectrum so that the test device could not detect them.

Asked afterward whether the Federal Communications Commission, which had run the tests, had a role in their "rigging," Page stepped back.

"Broadcasters have been very active in this," he said.

He also called on the FCC to approve the unlicensed use of the white space before the November election and toward that end, his handlers said, he was meeting with most of the FCC commissioners today, as well as some members of Congress. The company's Free the AIrwaves campaign has also led 16,000 people to send letters to the FCC.

He also took the opportunity to pull out the new G1 phone, which is the first to use Google's Android software.

"The notion that a small device like this is going to interfere is just garbage," he said.

Shortly after Post I.T. blogged about Page's visit to Washington, Mark Brunner, Shure Inc.'s senior director, public and industry relations, contacted us with a response:

"The FCC's wireless microphone field tests were carefully planned and thoroughly executed based on sound engineering science and real-world operating scenarios. These tests were open to the public, and those who choose to discount the results -- which have not yet been published -- had every option to be present and to witness them for themselves."

By Peter Whoriskey | September 24, 2008; 4:03 PM ET

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» Free the Airwaves, Free Puna and Free the Whales" from "Brent.fm • a technology mixdown

Okay, this post won’t be freeing any whales. Sorry. Dave has a good handle on this. But you will be freeing yourself. Do whatever you want with your free-self. We know Google already tried to give away wi-fi across many cities. The plan was stopp... read more »

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