Tuesday, March 13, 2007

white space: internet over TV airwave

so once we all switched over to our digital cable boxes we left one thing behind and plenty of.. analog TV airwaves which uses the 700 MHz spectrum and apparently its a good medium to provide high speed internet since it can penetrate walls..or at least thats the hope by the usual players (google, microsoft, HP, Dell, Intel, phillips) who have formed a coalition and have come up with a prototype that will be tested by the FCC to see if it does what it says...the spectrum is currently held by analog TV operators which have until feb 2009 to terminate analog TV service and go digital..I think its a great idea..
-this unused "white space" can be used to pipe broadband to homes - increase competition, sorry at&t, vz and comcast.. its time to bring your overpriced services down!
-nobody is using analog anyway..and those few that are should be switching to digital if not now definately by 2009..prices of HD plasmas and other TV units are cheaper than ever
-Rural love- even if you live in boonsville..you could get broadband access for less than cable/phone

so the prototype is in the FCC labs now and if it proves that it won’t interfere with spectrum that is already in use by TV broadcasters..we could see them as soon as early 09..

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

this technology has been available for years. It is about time that someone woke up to the fact that it could be used for the benefit of rural communities and under privlaged people to get connected. Lets hope the FCC does not screw this one up.