TV white space a type of wireless broadband that Ofcom hopes will come to the rescue of rural folk who’ve had trouble getting decent fixed-line broadband.
At DTG Summit 2013, we got to have a quick chat with Paul Egan, vice president for business development at Neul, a company that’s trialling TV white space broadband services.
Egan told us that current TV white space technology can reliably deliver download speeds of 10-12Mbps. Actual speeds experienced will depend on the number of people using TV White Space in one area, but as it’s mainly going to be used to deliver broadband in low density areas, this shouldn’t be a big issue.
Read Recombu Digital’s guide to TV White Space
Where TV white space has an advantage over typical wireless broadband services is that line of sight isn’t needed. TV white space signals aren’t constrained by trees or hillsides and other obstructions which prohibit installation of wireless broadband.
Egan told us that with the current power levels, Neul will be able to transmit broadband signals at a rate which will guarantee a reliable service while not interfering with Freeview transmissions.
Ofcom intends to have live pilots of TV white space later this year and expects commercial TV white space services to be live by 2014.
Egan gives us a quick demo of Neul’s current hardware as well as a good explainer for what TV white space is.
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