Google Readies for Spectrum Showdown

Google has launched an aggressive campaign to free up the soon-to-be-emptied "white spaces" of the TV spectrum for Internet devices and broadband access, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The spaces will open up when TV switches entirely to digital in February. Google and other tech giants are hotly disputing use of the spaces with broadcasters.

Google is using a grassroots-style Web campaign to rally public support ahead of the FCC's decision, expected within months. The broadcasting industry, meanwhile, is urging TV viewers to ask Congress and the FCC to oppose the initiative. Says the head of a nonprofit that's cast its lot with Google: "We're looking beyond the chess game inside the Beltway to what the real needs of people are."
(More airwaves stories.)