Access points and stations determine their position using a satellite positioning system such as
GPS and use the Internet to query a
geolocation database (GDB) provided by a regional regulatory agency to discover which frequency channels are available for use at a given time and position. In the United States, the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) permits TV white space operation in 6 MHz channels between 54 and 698 MHz in
TV channels 2, 5, 6, 14–35, and 38–51, with the
geolocation database granting use for up to 48 hours. For mobile stations, allowed transmit power is fixed to 100 mW per 6 MHz channel, or 40 mW if an adjacent channel is in use by a primary user. In the European Union, the
European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and
Ofcom permit TV white space operation in 8 MHz channels between 490 and 790 MHz, with the GDB granting use for up to 2 hours. The allowed transmit power is dynamically set on a per-station basis, based on factors including the geographical distance to the next primary user in the given frequency. This closed-loop scheme requires each station to report its position after a timer has expired or it has moved 50 m or more, and to stop transmitting within 5 s when instructed to do so. Compared to the open-loop scheme used by the FCC, the closed-loop scheme used by the ETSI and Ofcom is more granular and allows for a more efficient spectrum utilization. ==Comparison with 802.11ah==