Google Launches Site in Effort To Free Airwaves

Google Inc., owner of the most popular Internet search engine, started a Web site to lobby American regulators to free up unused television airwaves for wireless Internet access. The airwaves, known as white spaces, could spur a revolution in wireless services, Google said on the site, which it unveiled yesterday. The company designed the site to be "a campaign by and for consumers," a Google lobbyist, Richard Whitt, said on a conference call with reporters. Broadcasters such as CBS Corp. and Walt Disney Co.'s ABC are fighting the plan, saying the gadgets may freeze TV screens of consumers who get digital signals over the air. Sports leagues and Broadway theaters also want the devices banned, saying they may interfere with wireless audio equipment.