Google and other technology giants like Microsoft, Intel and Dell, have long pushed for a plan to allow soon-to-be-vacant broadcast spectrum to be used to provide new high-speed wireless Internet access networks. The airwaves, known as “white spaces,” will be unused after TV stations switch to all digital broadcasts next February, and the Federal Communications Commission is expected to decide their fate soon.

Now Google is hoping to rally grass-roots support for the plan, which is opposed by broadcasters and others. On Monday it announced a public advocacy campaign that it hopes will put pressure on the F.C.C. and members of Congress to back the plan. The campaign includes a Web site, FreeTheAirwaves.com, where users can learn about the issue and get involved in a “Googley” sort of way by, say, uploading videos to YouTube.

Google is being upfront about its self interest.

“Google has a clear business interest in expanding access to the web,” Minnie Ingersoll, a product manager in Google’s alternative access team, wrote on the company’s official blog. “There’s no doubt that if these airwaves are opened up to unlicensed use, more people will be using the Internet. That’s certainly good for Google (not to mention many of our industry peers) but we also think that it’s good for consumers.”

In a conference call with reporters, Ms. Ingersoll described the potential new wireless networks that could be created using the white spaces as “WiFi 2.0.”

Not everyone agrees that freeing white spaces for Internet access is a good idea. The National Association of Broadcasters and wireless microphone companies have opposed the plan, saying it could cause interference with broadcasts and their wireless devices. Technical tests have been inconclusive, so far. The opponents have gotten support from some members of Congress.

Source:nytimes