It was recently announced that Google is teaming up with several technology companies, including Comsearch, Dell, HP, Microsoft, Motorola and Neustar, to form a new coalition called the White Spaces Database Group, which will provide and compile into a database technical specifications for devices that will use white space spectrum.

White spaces are unused slivers of spectrum in the 700 MHz band that sit between broadcast TV channels. Google and others successfully lobbied the FCC last year to open up that spectrum for unlicensed use so that new wireless devices could access that spectrum. In its ruling in November, the FCC said that devices using a combination of geolocation technology and spectrum-sensing technology could be approved for unlicensed white space use. Before sending or receiving data, devices will be required to access this database to determine available channels. And the device will not transmit in channels that are already known to be in use.

TV broadcasters and wireless microphone companies have long opposed the use of this spectrum fearing it will interfere with their services but Google believes that using geolocation technology used along with spectrum sensing technologies will offer complete protection to licensed signals from harmful interference. Do you think the TV broadcasters and wireless microphone companies have a legitimate complaint?