International white spaces enthusiasts could soon get a little one-on-one time with the Federal Communications Commission.

The agency announced Friday that it has created a new International TV White Spaces Fellowship and Training Initiative - a white spaces university of sorts for regulators and technical experts.

The initiative "will provide a platform for the FCC to work with international regulators and their spectrum experts on technical issues associated with the use of TV white spaces and further build on our momentum in this area," FCC chairman Kevin Martin said in a statement.

The commission's Office of Engineering and Technology and the International Bureau will oversee the effort, though they have not yet announced details on how and when people can apply. Some people will be trained remotely, while other fellows will be invited to FCC facilities.

In addition to the fellowships, the FCC will set up a Web site with data on white spaces, and host an annual meeting of white spaces fellows.

In November, the FCC gave its conditional support to the production of white spaces devices. What are white spaces? When TV stations switch from analog to digital signals in February 2009, unused spectrum - or white spaces - will emerge, and companies like Microsoft and Google want to use it for mobile broadband. Broadcasters, led by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), argue that such activity could disrupt TV signals and wireless microphone transmissions.

"Kudos to the chairman for taking these steps to expand the promise of these airwaves to Internet users worldwide," Richard Whitt, Washington telecom and media counsel fo for Google, wrote in a blog post. "Google looks forward to supporting the FCC's new initiative as a way to help bring high-speed wireless Internet access to everyone, everywhere."