Seven leading technology companies has banded together to promote the timely creation and operation of a
white spaces database and govern use of the vacant television broadband
spectrum (aka white space).
Founding members of the
White Spaces Database Group include Comsearch, Dell, Google Inc., HP,
Microsoft Corporation, Motorola Inc., and NeuStar.
Their goal is to bring the benefits of white spaces to consumers as
soon as possible. The Group will establish data formats and
protocols that are open and non-proprietary and will advocate that
database administration be open and non-exclusive.
In November 2008, the Federal Communications Commission unanimously
approved the use of white spaces spectrum by unlicensed devices.
Pursuant to that decision, white spaces devices will be required to
access a white spaces database to determine available channels before
transmit capabilities are engaged. After eight months of thorough
laboratory and field-testing, the Commission established geo-location
based methods are fully adept at identifying television signals and
preventing interference.