Google Play for White Spaces During Nexus One Hoopla

Yesterday Google revealed one of the worst kept secrets in both the Android and mobile phone world in general with the Nexus One, but behind the scenes Google is soliciting the FCC to administer white spaces.

My feeling is that for a true Google SUPER phone it would need to completely bypass the mobile service providers by allowing VoIP anywhere calls which the recently freed up white spaces could provide.

Google stated in 2007 that, “white spaces — could be used to expand Internet access through low power personal devices, akin to Wi-Fi. Best of all, new spectrum sensing technologies can ensure that this spectrum could be used for mobile broadband service without interfering one bit with television signals.”

Google initially formed the White Spaces Coalition back in 2006 to deliver high speed broadband internet access via these whites spaces in unused television frequencies between 54-698 MHz which was freed up in June 2009 with the analog to digital TV conversion in the US.

Google even formed a Free the Airwaves campaign in 2008 to prod the FCC to allow unlicensed use of this spectrum but has since dropped the site along with the campaign and according to PC World changed tactics.

Just as Google said it wouldn’t themselves create or sell a “Google Phone” they also stated a year ago they would not seek to administer white spaces.

Since the FCC requires a database to be created before the white space can be used, Google is now advocating that the FCC consider an open architecture for this database, with a clearinghouse that would collect and distribute changes to other database providers with Google as the admin.

So if the FCC approves of Google to be an administrator for this white spaces database then that could be one of the final hurdles for VoIP anywhere calls that would usher in a true SUPER Google phone in my opinion.