Tag Archive for White spaces

| June 21, 2012
Comments Off on White Space Broadband in Michigan

White Space Broadband in Michigan

Residents of tiny Vergennes, Michigan a small community east of Grand Rapids, is taking matters into their own hands to solve their lack of broadband. They’re using “white space” radios from Carlson Wireless, combined with lightly licensed 3.65 WiMax and cellular microcells reports Dailywireless.

MichiganRyan Peel, owner of Vergennes Broadband has been continuously frustrated with the lack of broadband access. Peel’s solution according to the article is to combine three different technologies to extend wireless broadband coverage in his community: WiMAX at 3.65 GHz; TV white space radios; and micro-cell mini-towers to extend cellular phone coverage as well. It’s currently being constructed.

“There’s going to be a hybrid network”, explains Peel. “The primary technology will be WiMAX using 3.65 GHz semi-licensed band. It’s going to use WiMAX radio technology with 6x diversity. But there are a significant number of people in the area that WiMAX cannot reach, because of the terrain and tree cover as is the nature of rural America”, Peel told the blog.

TV white spaceVergennes Broadband uses two 100+ foot towers, each with a WiMAX radio and a Carlson TV white space radio called the RuralConnect IP. The software-defined radio uses the slivers of VHF and UHF spectrum not used by television broadcasters Dailywireless says.

According to the article, Peel is adding supplemental value to the project by offering femtocells. Femtocells provide a local cellular connection and use broadband for the backhaul. It simply plugs into customers’ new Internet connection to work.

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The plan seems like a kludge with a mix of three technologies. However, Comcast (CMCSA) and Charter are never going to do a build-out in rural areas. The Internet plans costs are

512 Kbps $39.99
1 Mbps     $49.99
2 Mbps     $59.99
3 Mbps     $79.99

This was a problem that RUS Obama-money was supposed to address, but that has gone so well. Maybe Merit can do it.

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

 

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| September 20, 2011
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Super-Fi OK’d by IEEE

Super-Fi OK'd by IEEEI usually don’t have a problem getting a wireless signal where in my Bach Seat. However, there are some areas where I coordinate technical services that don’t get wired or wireless Internet. In these rural areas, where AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ), Sprint Nextel (S), and Comcast (CMCSA) and their fellow travelers fear to tread because they can’t make a buck in these areas, some help may be on the way from the IEEE.

IEEE logoIn 2009, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) started the development of IEEE standard 802.22, which addressed the need for broadband wireless access in rural areas, those where it is not economical to deploy a wired infrastructure. In July 2011, the IEEE announced that it has published the standard titled: “IEEE 802.22-2011 Standard for Wireless Regional Area Networks in TV Whitespaces” (PDF).

The IEEE press release states: “This new standard for Wireless Regional Area Networks (WRANs) takes advantage of the favorable transmission characteristics of the VHF and UHF TV bands to provide broadband wireless access over a large area up to 100 km (60 miles) from the transmitter. Each WRAN will deliver up to 22 Mbps per channel without interfering with reception of existing TV broadcast stations, using the so-called white spaces between the occupied TV channels.”That part of the spectrum, known as white spaces, sits between broadcast TV channels and will become available when broadcast TV stations switch from analog to digital in 2009.

VHF and UHF TV bands to provide broadband wireless accessThe White Space Coalition led by Microsoft (MSFT), Google (GOOG), Dell (DELL), and other tech titans strongly support the use of the white spaces in the U.S., going up against strong opposition lead by Michigan’s own John Dingell and big media like the NFL, MLB, NASCAR, NBA, NHL, NCAA, PGA Tour and ESPN who say unlicensed devices in the TV bands would interfere with their signals.IEEE 802.22 reportedly will not interfere with TV broadcasts, because it incorporates advanced cognitive radio capabilities including:

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I met Mr. Dingell about a dozen years ago, at a school to encourage the politician to support schools when the USF started the eRate program for schools. I recall Mr. Dingell telling me he could not support eRate because he did not trust the FCC to get it right. At least he is consistent.

I believe there is a very good chance this technology will never be a commercial success. The wireless carriers will squash this technology like they have squashed municipal wi-fi and community fiber networks. The improved speeds and coverage areas are a threat to their limited 4G coverage and they would lose out on their monthly pound of flesh capped rate-limited data plan.

It will be up to us in the public sector to implement this technology for our clients.

What do you think?

Will Super-Fi ever see the light of day?

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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