Today, HTTP asked the Federal Communications Commission postpone its November 4 vote to authorize the use of white space spectrum by unlicensed devices. Some advocates have come out in support of immediate adoption of the white spaces proposal because they believe that the use of white spaces provides a mechanism to expand broadband access. HTTP submitted a letter to the FCC Chairman, Kevin Martin, to bring attention to important aspects of this issue that have been ignored by these advocates. HTTP is concerned that the negative impact of interference from white space devices on broadcast programming serving the Hispanic community would be magnified by the DTV transition.

Specifically, we are concerned that the FCC’s October 2008 technical report on the issue does not provide sufficient reassurance that white space devices will not interfere with over-the-air television reception. The possibility of interference is of particular concern to our community because Hispanics are more highly reliant on “free”-over-the-air television. In addition, a large segment of the Latino community relies on Spanish-language programming through low-power or Class-A television stations. These over-the-air stations, which are largely viewed by language-minorities, would be most affected by this interference.

The combination of the DTV transition – less than 4 months away – and the potential impact of white space devices precludes experimenting with a new policy that could cause widespread damage to consumers. Unchecked interference from new devices in the TV spectrum could effectively disenfranchise over-the-air viewers across America. Many Hispanic households could be marginalized in the digital era by the loss of access to the free broadcast information safety net.

On October 15, 2008, Nielsen Media released a report that documented that the Hispanic community was behind the curve on the DTV transition. The report noted that Spanish Language TV viewers would be most impacted by the DTV transition because they were the least prepared for it.

Furthermore, HTTP believes that the DTV transition will cause over 3 million Hispanic TV households to be at-risk of losing their LPTV and/or “Class A” broadcast stations because digital converter boxes sold for over-the-air viewing on older TV sets are not analog-pass-through ready.

Interference issues can be especially problematic in densely populated areas and multi-unit dwellings, where residents share walls. In apartments with a master antenna, a single unlicensed portable device can cause interference throughout the building. This is particularly problematic for Spanish language over-the-air viewers, as nearly 40% of Hispanic households reside in multiple dwelling units.

For over 10 years, HTTP has strongly supported policies which expand access to broadband, but we cannot support a vote on the issue of white spaces devices because we believe that their proposed implementation will in the long-run threaten the Hispanic community’s access to broadcast television.

While we support innovation and advancements in telecommunications technology, we stand back from doing so at the expense of our community’s access to broadcast TV services. In view of the above, we’ve ask the FCC to postpone this vote and open a formal public comment period on the findings of the October 2008 report. This issue is too important to the future of our community to be voted on without input from those affected by the proposal.