Telecom Lead America: Microsoft and Adaptrum showcased
the Super Wi-Fi technology at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) annual
meeting 2012 in Uruguay.
TV whitespace technology enables wireless broadband
service over the fallow spectrum between broadcast TV channels without
disrupting the TV broadcast service. The technology offers a path for migration
of TV spectrum from broadcast to broadband.
The TV whitespace technology, a wireless broadband
technology, is pioneered by the FCC and companies like Microsoft and Google and
U.S. based startups.
IDB that provides development financing for Latin
American countries, invests in state infrastructure projects including
broadband infrastructure in Latin American countries.
Adaptrum said TV whitespace technology uses a database
spectrum management model. TV whitespace lowers the barrier of entry for
wireless service providers and enables new business models to be developed in
an open and competitive market.
Microsoft and Adaptrum have been involved in the U.S. TV
whitespace rulemaking and made significant contributions to the process.
Since last year, Microsoft and Adaptrum have partnered in
various demonstrations around the world to promote the technology.
In the IDB demonstration, Microsoft and Adaptrum
showcased the real world utility of the TV whitespace technology on the two
channels (19 and 26) assigned by the Uruguayan spectrum regulation agency
URSEC.
The demonstration system was comprised of an Adaptrum TV
whitespace base station and an Adaptrum TV whitespace client station
interacting with Microsoft Research’s prototype TV whitespace database. The
base station is connected to the Internet and a whitespace connection was
established between the base station and client station using the assigned
channels, allowing the client side devices to stream live HD movies from
Netflix, perform Skype calls and browse the Internet all through the TV
whitespace connection.
TV whitespace rulemaking is completed in the U.S. and
commercial Super Wi-Fi products are expected to be available later this year
and the market poises to take off in 2013.
The initial applications of TV whitespace products in the
U.S. include rural broadband solution for wireless ISPs, campus and community
wide-area networks, cellular data offloading, and machine-to-machine networks.
Since last year, the technology is gaining momentum
globally and TV whitespace rulemaking is well underway in countries like UK and
Canada. Super Wi-Fi technology has potentially bigger economic and social
impact in developing countries where broadband infrastructure is non-existent
and ubiquitous broadband deployment is becoming the top societal priority.
