Cramer, 42 Other House Lawmakers Urge FCC to Advance Use of White Spaces for Rural Broadband

Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and 42 other House members jointly urged the FCC Monday to advance use of white spaces for rural broadband. The FCC is collecting comment on a Microsoft-backed proposal to reserve at least one blank TV channel in every market for white spaces devices and wireless mics after the TV incentive auction and repacking (see 1707050048). Microsoft more recently sought to work with NAB, which opposed the FCC proposal (see 1707110015). The agency should “preserve at least three, 6 MHz television white spaces channels in every media market” in the U.S., “to promote access to affordable broadband internet, particularly in rural and underserved areas,” the other lawmakers said in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and the other commissioners. The letter's signers also included House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Reps. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., and Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. White spaces “have strong potential to revolutionize broadband internet accessibility in rural areas,” they said: The proposed use of white spaces would allow internet services that are “extremely cost-effective requiring minimal infrastructure investments, and are far more dependable than the limited connections that many rural areas currently have.”