Would be wireless innovators have run into a little problem: Their headlong assault on television spectrum keeps tripping over its own testing. The NAB and MSTV are dipping into their advertising budgets to show legislators just what unlicensed, interference-causing devices would do to their television screens.
The two broadcast associations are putting their message in the full array of Capitol Hill press outlets, including Congress Daily, Roll Call, Politico, Congressional Quarterly, Communications Daily and The Hill.
"It’s one, two three strikes you’re out," reads the banner headline, which appears above a depiction of what may happen when unlicensed devices infiltrate the signal of a digital televised baseball broadcast.
Noting that testing by the companies behind the Wireless Innovation Alliance and that done by the FCC itself have thus far failed, NAB/MSTV ask, "If the devices fail in pristine lab conditions, can you really trust them in the real world."
RBR/TVBR observation: 70 legislators have thus far recognized the danger of allowing the unlicensed device experiment to move forward, particularly during the high-stakes move to digital television. That means 460 or so may need convincing. NAB’s list of the 70 is available below the click. If yours isn’t there, this may be a good time to contact them and express your concerns.
Legislators opposing unlicensed white space devices
Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL), Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL)
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Rep. Marion Berry (D-AR)
Rep. Howard P. McKeon (R-CA)
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO), Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO)
Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT)
Rep. Ric Keller (R-FL)
Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Rep. John Barrow (D-GA), Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA), Rep. Phil Gingrey, M.D. (R-GA), Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), Rep. Tom Price, M.D. (R-GA), Rep. David Scott (D-GA), Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA)
Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-IL)
Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN)
Senator Charles E. Grassley (R-IA), Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-IA), Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA)
Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), Rep. Tom Allen (D-ME), Rep. Michael Michaud (D-ME)
Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Rep. Jon Porter (R-NV)
Senator Pete V. Domenici (R-NM)
Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ)
Rep. Eliot L. Engel (D-NY), Rep. Vito J. Fossella (R-NY), Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY)
Rep. G. K. Butterfield (D-NC), Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC), Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-NC), Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC), Rep. Walter Jones, Jr. (R-NC), Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC), Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC), Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC), Rep. David Price (D-NC), Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC), Rep. Melvin Watt (D-NC)
Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH), Rep. Dave Hobson (R-OH), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Rep. Steven C. LaTourette (R-OH), Rep. Patrick Tiberi (R-OH)
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Rep. J. Gresham Barrett (R-SC), Rep. Henry E. Brown (R-SC), Rep. John Spratt (D-SC), Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC)
Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN), Rep. David Davis (R-TN), Rep. Lincoln Davis (D-TN), Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN)
Rep. John Carter (R-TX), Rep. Charles Gonzalez (D-TX), Rep. Al Green (D-TX), Rep. Gene Green (D-TX), Rep. Ralph Hall (D-TX), Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX), Rep. Nick Lampson (D-TX)
