c. 2008 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ A race for an invisible prize is pitting America’s largest churches against the giants of technology.

At stake are unlicensed television airwaves, or “white spaces,” the fuzzy channels between one network TV station and the next.

The arena is overseen by the Federal Communications Commission and populated by unlikely neighbors such as megachurches and Broadway, where white space frequencies are used for wireless microphones.

Tech heavyweights like Motorola and Google have set their sights on the extra channels, saying they could be used to send broadband Internet into the farthest reaches of rural America. Their “white space devices” would connect to the Internet from anywhere.

But in the hands of churchgoers or theater patrons, those devices might interfere with the wireless microphone signals broadcast around them. Megachurch pastors and Broadway singers could conceivably have their sermons and solos interrupted by the high-tech gadgets.

The FCC is doing “field testing” to make sure that won’t happen, saying that until white space devices can coexist with wireless microphones, they won’t pass muster.

Churches across the country are wary of that promise.

“When there’s so much money involved with these major corporations wanting this space, there’s just no way for us to win,” said Reid Hall, technical director at the Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. Lakewood, pastored by Joel Osteen, is the country’s largest church, and uses $50,000 worth of wireless gear to broadcast sermons to more than 40,000 weekly attendees, Hall said.

Hall fears high-power tech bidders with big bucks could sway the FCC to allow white space devices before properly testing them.

Complicating the debate is the fact that megachurches are not legally allowed to use the airwaves, which are intended only for broadcasters to reach the general public. A wireless microphone is over-the-air technology that doesn’t fit the bill. White space device proponents say that technicality shouldn’t be enforced, but it strengthens their case.

“Men of God are violating the law,” said Michael Marcus, a consultant for Silicon Valley-based Adaptrum, which is working on a white space device. “But if someone were to walk into a church next Sunday and grab the mike out of the minister’s hands and handcuff him, that wouldn’t be reasonable.”

Many companies don’t want money to change hands, said Jake Ward, spokesman for the Wireless Innovation Alliance. Members of the alliance include a wide swath of interested parties, such as Hewlett Packard and Microsoft.

Those firms are pushing the FCC to allow “unlicensed” white space devices, which would operate within the airwaves free-of-charge. That means even the biggest companies couldn’t outbid other white space users for the channels.

But the very existence of the Wireless Alliance is proof of how money could ultimately make a difference, Hall said.

“Google and Microsoft can fund these big lobbying groups,” he said. “What can we do?”

Churches have made their concerns known. Osteen joined directors at more than 70 other churches to send a letter to the FCC asking not to be pushed out of the space.

But tech firms are racing to develop a usable white space device by February, when all TV broadcasters will switch to digital and lose one of their two signals _ adding even more white space to the mix.

An instrument made by Philips Electronics NV is so far the only one that directly senses nearby wireless microphones; other companies are using different approaches.

Motorola’s device could track down and avoid competing signals, said Steve Sharkey, the company’s senior director for regulatory and spectrum policy. Churches would simply put up a tool called a beacon each time they expected to use their wireless microphones, alerting white space devices like Motorola’s to seek a signal elsewhere.

Sharkey said the cost for beacons will be around $40 to $50, and that churches will not have to replace their existing wireless microphones.

Churches are unconvinced by Motorola’s estimates, saying it could be far more costly.

“What if it doesn’t work? We’ll be up and running about $350,000 to $400,000 later,” said Steve Hinkle, director of engineering at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. He says churches might have to install pricey new sound systems and lose out on the investment they’ve already made.

So far, the Philips-made device has been tested alongside wireless microphones at a Washington Redskins game and at a Broadway performance of “The Phantom of the Opera.” Wireless microphone sellers say they failed at both, while device advocates say the opposite. The FCC has yet to weigh in.

“No determination has yet been made,” said Rob Kenny, an FCC spokesman. “We are building a record to decide how best to proceed.”

(OPTIONAL TRIM FOLLOWS)

With the February digital switch looming, however, wireless microphone sellers worry that record may be too thin.

“They’re trying to get it passed right now because so much is about to change. This white space thing is under the radar,” said Greg Stevens, general manager of Audiovend Wireless, a Houston-based microphone distributor. “But it’s not something that can be adopted in a year or six months.”

White space device developer Marcus said, “If the Lord Eternal could look down and see everything simultaneously, what he would see from heaven is that over most of the U.S. over most of the week, the white space isn’t being used.”

“It’s used in the Broadway district of New York in the evenings, in Las Vegas in the evenings and at megachurches on Sunday morning.”

DSB/RB END RAO

A file photo of Joel Osteen is available via https://religionnews.com.