Larry Page in Support of White Space?

The United States 700 MHz FCC wireless spectrum auction was started by the FCC on January 24, 2008 for the rights to operate the 700 MHz frequency band in the United States. The details of process were the subject of debate between several telecommunications companies, including Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and startup Frontline Wireless, as well as the Internet company Google. Much of the debate swirled around the "open access" requirements set down by the Second Report and Order released by the FCC determining the process and rules for the auction. All bidding must be commenced by January 28 by law. The auction was named Auction 73.[1]

It is one of these things that has been going on for a while now without the public really being aware. While the idea is sound in terms of "opening this technology with new possibilities," you should be fundamentally aware that this resource is a public one, and has been sold in auction by a Canadian government to encourage rural connections? It raised 12 Billion dollars.

How does this help your pocket book? It doesn't. It provides for more possibilities for the White space Coalition to advertise their wares.

A vote for broadband in the "white spaces"Posted by Larry Page, Co-Founder and President of Products

All eyes are on the presidential election today, but another important vote just took place at the Federal Communications Commission. By a vote of 5-0, the FCC formally agreed to open up the "white spaces" spectrum -- the unused airwaves between broadcast TV channels -- for wireless broadband service for the public. This is a clear victory for Internet users and anyone who wants good wireless communications.

The FCC has been looking at this issue carefully for the last six years. Google has worked hard on this matter with other tech companies and public interest groups because we think that this spectrum will help put better and faster Internet connections in the hands of the public. We also look forward to working with the FCC to finalize the method used to compute power levels of empty channels adjacent to TV channels (we have a number of public filings before the commission in this area and it is a vital issue in urban areas).

I've always thought that there are a lot of really incredible things that engineers and entrepreneurs can do with this spectrum. We will soon have "Wi-Fi on steroids," since these spectrum signals have much longer range than today's Wi-Fi technology and broadband access can be spread using fewer base stations resulting in better coverage at lower cost. And it is wonderful that the FCC has adopted the same successful unlicensed model used for Wi-Fi, which has resulted in a projected 1 billion Wi-Fi chips being produced this year. Now that the FCC has set the rules, I'm sure that we'll see similar growth in products to take advantage of this spectrum.

As an engineer, I was also really gratified to see that the FCC decided to put science over politics. For years the broadcasting lobby and others have tried to spread fear and confusion about this technology, rather than allow the FCC's engineers to simply do their work.

Finally, I want to applaud and thank FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, the other commissioners, and the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology for their leadership in advancing this important issue. And, thanks to the more than 20,000 of you who took a stand on this issue through our Free the Airwaves campaign, the FCC heard a clear message from consumers: these airwaves can bring wireless Internet to everyone everywhere.

This was the battle between Microsoft and Netscape under the title of the Cathedral and the Bizarre by Eric Raymond now in book form. It wasn't so sometime ago when I read of this history under a Macopinion.com link.

I think as a citizen of this country it would be a progressive move in face of the FCC in the United States decision, that the White Space that will connect communities should be a free one in terms of the internet. No where does Larry Page reveal this, and no where does Microsoft who is coming on board, reveal this as well?

So here's the idea.

Open source is a software application. What I am proposing is a "open source hardware application" that allows you to connect to the internet for free. If you can access it, then why should you pay for it? Did you ever pay for the signal when you were using your Rabbit ears? Charged for the utility of the phones in your home that are cord free?

I would like any comments here to this idea opened up for discussion while you become informed as to what has happened while we were sleeping. Testing procedures used to verify "no interference" then become the model for integrating and developing the connection to the airwaves for future free internet.