Free the Airwaves: Minnie Ingersoll

Google Product Manager Minnie Ingersoll relates the political issues involved in the government's deciding whether or not to expand wireless broadband by opening up the "white spaces" in TV signals for general usage.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• white
• space
• fcc
• free
• the
• airwaves
• tv
• spectrum
• open
• access
• wireless
• innovation
• alliance
• internet
• google
• federal
• communications
• commission
• wifi
• wimax
• broadband
• minnie
• ingersoll

[Charbax]

Also, can you make sure everyone gets good or fair bandwidth access? Wouldn't even white spaces have bandwidth limitations in densely populated areas?

Would it be fair to implement bandwidth metering such as a dynamic price per GB at any location based on Adsense-like auctionning of available bandwidth depending on demand.

Also, could law enforcement people be worried about users accessing the Internet anonymously to do illegal things, do you provide a solution for identification?

[Charbax]

You are awesome!

Can Google please come and help us lobby for freeing the airwaves in Denmark as well?

Are there any country in the world that uses their TV spectrum for WiFi 2.0 type usage?

Why are some countries delaying transition to digital TV and closing of Analog TV spectrum?

[1umbnonearth]

Seems to good to be ever available in rural as well as urban areas, free no charges? Anyone can access?

[1umbnonearth]

Many service providers will lose revenue from the competition?

[1umbnonearth]

Maybe the government does not want people to be to informed.

[adamdoug]

its almost as if she believes some of what she says - though I know better. surely, someone put these words in her mouth. adam says hi.

[lucindamc456]

Fantastic.I applaud what Google is doing. I am a filmmaker. I don't seek to make money from my films. I just want to get the out there. Freeing up white space and giving more people access to the internet means more viewers for films. I like that idea. And it doesn't just mean an advantage for film makers but gives people access to the internet who otherwise may not have been able to have it. The internet is information, communication and education. Enable this, enable world communication.

[bryr74]

There will be a day - mark my words - where a handheld user gets on a freq that they are suppose to stay off of and cause interference.

The problem will come when they get on a wireless rigging system and send it crashing to the ground killing everyone that is beneath it.

Maybe once people die - the FCC can figure out that Google is full of it and has lied their asses off to get the white spaces cleared for their take-over.

[bryr74]

The proposed database with a list of wireless in use in an area will not work. The phone is suppose to use it geolocation sensors to relay to an online database... then it will be given a frequency to operate on.

The issue is going to come when there are several units and not enough wireless space.

[bryr74]

we typically have anywhere from 75 - 150 wireless mics, ear monitors and rigging systems in a production.

No way is a portable handheld going to be able to track that much wireless signal and also compete with all of the other handheld units in the area as well. It will not work.