II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 337 

To require the FCC to issue a final order regarding white spaces, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 18, 2007 

Mr. SUNUNU introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the FCC to issue a final order regarding white 

spaces, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘White Spaces Act of 

5 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ELIGIBLE TELEVISION SPECTRUM MADE AVAIL7 ABLE FOR WIRELESS USE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the earlier of 90 

9 days after the date of enactment of this Act or October 

10 1, 2007, the Federal Communications Commission (in this 


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1 Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) shall complete its 

2 proceeding and issue a final order in the Matter of Unli3 censed Operation in the TV Broadcast Bands, ET Docket 

4 No. 04–186. 

5 (b) COMMISSION TO FACILITATE USE.—In com6 pleting the requirement described in subsection (a), the 

7 Commission shall— 

8 (1) permit use of eligible frequencies— 

9 (A) at the earliest technically feasible date, 

10 but not later than February 18, 2009; and 

11 (B) in compliance with the— 

12 (i) conditions described in paragraphs 

13 (2) through (5); and 

14 (ii) requirements of subsection (c); 

15 (2) establish technical requirements for devices 

16 operating in such eligible frequencies to protect in17 cumbent primary licensees of such frequencies from 

18 harmful interference from such devices; 

19 (3) require devices operating in such eligible 

20 frequencies to comply with existing Commission cer21 tification processes for new devices, including the 

22 initial acceptance of applications for certification of 

23 unlicensed devices not later than December 1, 2007, 

24 with a maximum of 90 days for the Commission to 


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1 review and dispense of each properly submitted and 

2 completed application; 

3 (4) conduct and complete field testing in a lim4 ited number of markets (such markets to be chosen 

5 at the discretion of the Commission)— 

6 (A) prior to the initiation of the certifi7 cation process; and 

8 (B) for the purpose of evaluating the po9 tential for actual harmful interference to incum10 bent primary licensees of such frequencies; and 

11 (5) permit the operation of both fixed and per12 sonal/portable devices at the earliest technically fea13 sible date, but not later than February 18, 2009. 

14 (c) COMMISSION AUTHORITY.— 

15 (1) AUTHORIZED USE OF SPECIFIED FRE16 QUENCIES.—In each local market, the Commission 

17 may authorize the use of eligible frequencies on a li18 censed or unlicensed basis, or a combination of both. 

19 (2) LICENSED USE OF ELIGIBLE FRE20 QUENCIES.—To the extent the Commission author21 izes the use of eligible frequencies in a local market 

22 on a licensed basis under paragraph (1), the Com23 mission— 

24 (A) shall grant such licenses through a 

25 system of competitive bidding that meets the reVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:33 Jan 20, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S337.IS S337

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1 quirements of section 309(j) of the Communica2 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)); 

3 (B) shall not also authorize the unlicensed 

4 use of such frequencies in such market; and 

5 (C) shall establish licensing areas that may 

6 be local, regional, or national in scope. 

7 (d) MARKETING PERMITTED.—The Commission shall 

8 not prohibit the marketing of any device in compliance 

9 with the requirements of subsection (b). 

10 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act, the following defini11 tions shall apply: 

12 (1) ELIGIBLE FREQUENCIES.—The term ‘‘eligi13 ble frequencies’’ means frequencies between 54 MHz 

14 and 698 MHz. 

15 (2) UNLICENSED DEVICE.—The term ‘‘unli16 censed device’’ means both fixed/access and per17 sonal/portable devices, as such terms are defined in 

18 paragraph 19 of the Federal Communications Com19 mission’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the 

20 Matter of Unlicensed Operation in the TV Broadcast 

21 Bands, ET Docket No. 04–186, adopted May 13, 

22 2004. 

Æ 


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