Google Land

Google pres Larry Page on Thurs rejected the idea of buying out homes that rely on over-the-air so that others could have access to broadcasters’ spectrum. The problem, he said, is "political," with the spectrum being valuable to broadcasters because of must-carry provisions attached. "If you took the 5, 10%, or whatever, 15% of people who still watch TV that way, it wouldn’t cost you very much to buy them out," Page said at a New America Foundation event. "Must-carry provisions are really what they’re after… That has a lot of economic value for the broadcasters, and they don’t believe they’ll have that right if they no longer broadcast." NAF proposed something along those lines a few years back. Instead of the govt helping to fund digital-to-analog converters, NAF suggested the first increment of money from the 700Mhz auction go to help get broadcast-only homes get cable or satellite service. Check out his 90-min interview with New America Foundation’s Michael Calabrese athttp://www.newamerica.net/events/2008/google_unwired. www.newamerica.net/events/2008/google_unwired.