Or, this rulemaking could further delay a solution to the lack of
affordable broadband which handicaps so many of our rural communities.
The FCC ruling will decide whether or not vacant TV channels — which
become available next February when TV goes digital — may be used for
unlicensed wireless broadband Internet access.

The technology is similar to the popular wireless broadband — known as
Wi-Fi — now used in homes, airports, and coffee shops nationwide.
These TV channels (part of our public airwaves) are far superior to the
unlicensed spectrum currently used for Wi-Fi access — and for a wealth
of other useful wireless devices ranging from baby monitors to
garage-door openers. This spectrum has exceptional reach and coverage:
signals travel further, using less power than in the higher frequency
bands, and can penetrate foliage and solid objects, making it easier
and cheaper to construct networks.

Unlicensed use of this spectrum is a cost-effective solution to the
rural broadband problem, and it is close at hand. Without unlicensed
access to these vacant public channels, rural America will be condemned
to even more years of absentee-owned telecommunications networks — and
the dependency and neglect this system perpetuates.

A growing coalition of rural organizations — including the Center for
Rural Strategies, Main Street Project, and the Institute for Local
Self-Reliance — are urging the FCC to approve unlicensed use of the
vacant TV channels. This letter to the FCC will be added to the
official FCC file on the vacant TV channels (known in tech-speak as the
“white spaces”). [The FCC letter is “Unlicensed Operation in the TV Broadcast Bands”; other documents are backgrounders.]