FCC Head Voices Support For Other Uses Of Vacant Airwaves

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- A day before Google Inc. (GOOG) co-founder Larry Page makes a high-profile appearance in Washington to advocate for access to unused TV airwaves, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said he favors the idea.

"I do think we need to try to more efficiently use the broadcast spectrum and we need to do so trying to find a way to utilize those white spaces for other kinds of commercial services," Martin said.

Tech companies like Google and Microsoft want to use the vacant airwaves to wire peoples' homes and develop new mobile communications devices. The channels also are considered a good vehicle to deploy broadband Internet in hard-to-reach areas.