White Spaces is a project that was launched by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as a way to open up the unused part the television broadcast spectrum for unlicensed use which can help in offering wireless broadband at much higher speeds.
Google joined this project back in February of last year and has been working with the FCC in actively pushing the project through. The company has now urged the FCC to assign it the role of managing the database. In a proposal sent to the FCC yesterday, the company claims that their experience with such projects can be put to great use by taking part in an initiative that can help bring “WiFi on steroids”.
Also part of the proposal, the company has offered to sponsor the project for a full five year term if given the opportunity. The company writes
“Google is a large public company whose financial statements are a matter of public record.  Google has sufficient funds and access to capital to develop and operate the proposed Database for a full five-year term. We intend to operate the Database for a minimum of five years after being designated an administrator, as contemplated by the Commission’s rules.
In the event we do not complete a five-year term, we will transfer to a successor entity the Database, the IP addresses and URLs used to access the Database, and the list of registered Fixed WSDs, as required by the rules.”
Elaborating on the need for the company to participate in this program, Google writes
“We continue to be big believers in the potential for this spectrum to revolutionize wireless broadband, and we think it’s important for us to step forward and offer our assistance to make that vision a reality.”
The FCC response to the proposal is not yet known.