Introduction

We have reached the digital age in television. As of February 2009, all analog televisions must use a converter box in order to view programs. All broadcast signals will be going from analog to digital. But what is to become of all the unused analog bandwidth (white space) we are all being forced to abandon. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is in charge of the white space spectrum and began accepting proposals for the utilization of this white space. Google had planned to open this white space for wireless use. They believe that they can make the Internet more accessible to all Americans. In their proposal to the FCC, they explained how these white spaces can be used to provide high-speed wireless Internet connectivity to consumers without any disruption to televisions and wireless microphones. However, it was Verizon who would win the 700 MHz spectrum auction, raising a record of $19.6 billion for the U.S. Treasury. They plan on building a 4G wireless broadband network.

This topic is important because there are debates currently going on about the use of this bandwidth. If this bandwidth is used for faster, wireless Internet connectivity, microphones that currently use this bandwidth will experience interference. This would affect every event that uses wireless microphones (concerts, sporting events, religious gatherings, etc). However, the same people complaining about interference, in my opinion, fail to see opportunities. I think that use of this bandwidth for the Internet can promote business. In my research, I will highlight ways in which this bandwidth can be used for:

• Bridging the digital divide by creating more Municipal Wireless Networks (MWN) nationwide
• Enonomic growth
• Innovation
  

I will also examine both sides of the white space argument and present different opinions for the use of the white space.

References:

Labaton, Stephen. (2005, December). Transition to Digital Gets Closer. The New York Times. Pace University Henry Birnbaum Library. Retrieved June 28, 2008 from LexisNexis Academic. From http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/20/technology/20digital.html

Bloomberg News. (2008, March). Google Plan would Open TV Band for Wireless Use. The New York Times, Sec C (Col 0): 9. Pace University Henry Birnbaum Library. Retrieved on June 28, 2008 from LexisNexis Academic. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/business/media/25google.html

Reardon, Marguerite. (2008, May). Google to Verizon: Don’t shirk open access responsibilities. CNet News.Com. Retrieved on June 27, 2008 from http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9936712-7.html?tag=nefd.top

A little bit on Bandwidth

Communication takes place through the transmission across some form of electrical conducting medium. Telephone wires, coax cables, and fiber optic cables are used as communications media. Some transmissions take place using the air as a conductor, like that of cell phones. However, such transmission consumes bandwidth in the area where the information will be broadcast. Bandwidth is the amount of capacity used in a transmission medium that is measured in bits per second (bps); or the amount of 0 and 1 signals that can be transmitted in a second. Not all types of communications are efficient and with this being said, the amount of bandwidth used for voice or data is not always the same across all technologies.

The best way to send large amounts of data to many people is by using wireless connections. An example of such transmission is satellites, where transmission takes place over air and space. However, there is limited bandwidth available in certain areas and somehow this bandwidth needs to be managed in such a way that it will prevent it from overcrowding the frequency spectrum. The allocation of this spectrum is, for the most part, performed by the government or regulatory agency. It also generally involves issuing licenses that will allow companies to use segments of the frequency spectrum for certain applications. In that being said, this is the reason why only a few cellular phone licenses can be provided; because of the limited amount of bandwidth. Because of this, companies try to make use of the bandwidth in an efficient manner. Otherwise they won’t be able to provide customers with good service as more people utilize the same bandwidth.

References:

Clark, Theodore H.K., Westland, J. Christopher. Telecommunications Infrastructure in Transition. Global Electronic Commerce Theory and Case Studies. Cambridge, Massachusetts, London, England: The MIT Press, 2000

FindMyHosting.com. Bandwidth explained. Retrieved July 1, 2008 from http://www.findmyhosting.com/bandwidth.htm

JupiterOnlineMedia (2008). Bandwidth. Retrieved July 1, 2008 from http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/B/bandwidth.html

Mediaeng.com. Bandwidth. Retrieved July 1, 2008 from http://www.mediaeng.com/bandwidth.html

Showworks Inc. About Bandwidth. Retrieved July 1, 2008 from http://www.showorks.com/aboutbandwidth.htm

What's the deal with White Space anyway?

White space is the open spectrum between digital TV channels after the U.S. goes from analog to digital television in February 2009. The White Space Coalition consists of Microsoft, Google, Dell, Phillips, amongst others who want to use this spectrum for wireless broadband. When the transition from analog to digital takes place in February 17, 2009, much of the spectrum between 54MHz and 698MHz will be available; basically channels 2 through 51). The signals in this area are said to travel far and wide and can penetrate obstacles.

Google and Microsoft have been asking that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allow the unused spectrum to be turned over to the public for free and unlicensed to be used as wireless networks for homes, businesses, and cities. This would give Internet users a quicker mobile Internet access. However, there still exist concerns about how this unlicensed spectrum can interfere with wireless microphones that are used by music artists, sportscasters, etc. during live events. There is also a concern about certain medical equipment experiencing interference as well. Just take a look at the reception on grandma’s television.

Source: http://www.cnettv.com/9742-1_53-29164.html

The FCC has recently revised the 700 MHz band plan in order to allow the wireless broadband services to consumers as well as to create a network that could be used for public safety. As a result of migrating to digital television, the 700 MHz spectrum runs from 698-806 MHz and is currently occupied by television broadcasters will be made available for wireless devices. It is the 22 MHz upper 700 MHz C block to be auctioned that will be available to devices and applications.


References:

Bangeman, Eric (September 2007). NAB takes fight against “white space” broadband to the airwaves. Ars Tehnica. Retrieved on July 1, 2008 from
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070911-nab-takes-fight-against-white-space-broadband-to-the-airwaves.html

Kharif, Olga (May 2008). Google’s White-Space Fixation. Businessweek.com. Retrieved on July 1, 2008 from http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2008/tc20080522_623138.htm

VIEWpoint (March 2008). Segment 1 on White Space Issues. Retrieved on July 1, 2008 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JFEWzm_pXU&feature=related

VIEWpoint (March 2008). Segment 2 on White Space Issues. Retrieved on July 1, 2008 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kemtpLXNyWo&feature=related

HIS (August 2007). FCC Revises 700 MHz Rules for Public Safety Communications, Wireless Broadband. Retrieved on July 2, 2008 from http://electronics.ihs.com/news/fcc-revises-700mhz.htm

What is MWN?

My research discovered the rise of Municipal Wireless Networks (MWN). MWN is defined as a wireless Internet access network that is created with active local leadership and involvement (Fesenmaier, Jain, Mandiwalla, Meyers, Smith, Weinberg, 2008). MWN projects have been spreading throughout the United States; anywhere from In Operation locations like Philadelphia, PA to Under Construction locations taking place in Downstate New York (Farivar, 2008). MWNs are seen as a feasible alternative to Internet access. They are also becoming convenient for travelers/tourists.

Currently, there are many cities in the U.S. that have begun and/or are considering setting up MWNs. Some MWNs can be accessed for free or as a lower cost alternative than that of broadband services. While others are to be used by the city only; meaning that law enforcement, emergency services, etc. can only access it.

You can visit the following link to see where MWN projects are taking place nationwide.
http://news.cnet.com/Municipal-broadband-and-wireless-projects-map/2009-1034_3-5690287.html


References:

CNet News. (2005). Municipal Broadband nationwide. CNet News.com. Retrieved on June 25, 2008 from http://news.cnet.com/Municipal-broadband-and-wireless-projects-map/2009-1034_3-5690287.html

Farivar, Cyrus. (2008, March). The United States of America. Free municipal Wi-Fi has hit the streets, but mostly in cities you’ve never heard of. Wired, 16(3): 42-43.

Fesenmaier, Julie., Jain, Abhijit., Mandiwalla, Munir., Meyers, Gregory S., Smith, Jeffrey W., Weinberg, Paul. (2008, February). Municipal Broadband Wireless Networks. Communications of the ACM, Vol 51(2):72-80. Pace University Henry Birnbaum Library. Retrieved June 22, 2008 from ACM Digital Library.

Advantages of MWNs

The goals that MWNs can provide are to improve worker productivity, make a city more attractive to businesses, boost the economy, bridge the digital divide, or all of the above with just one network. Such network would make broadband more financially available to more people. As of 2007, approximately $460 million will be spent on MWNs. San Francisco, Portland, Ohio, and Pennsylvania have already built these citywide networks. They have provided connectivity to improve the local quality of life and public policy strategies.

The city of Philadelphia is an early adopter on this technology. Imagine getting lost while visiting Philadelphia. You are not a happy camper while asking for directions and struggling to find your way. Now imagine, getting lost there with a mobile device. Not too bad of a feeling now because you packed to be prepared for anything. You can fire up your mobile device and get instant driving directions and be on your merry way.

You can view places where you can get WiFi here: http://www.jiwire.com/browse-hotspot-all-united-states-us-new-york-ny-35.htm

Not only can we begin to bridge the digital divide through the use of MWNs and white space, city and government agencies, as well as emergency services can make use of this connection. In the event of an emergency where networks can get congested and/or experience downtime, this connectivity would allow them to connect to whoever they need to and continue operations to protect the public.Using the concept of a Wide Area Network with white space, a transmitter would be located on a building (base station). A wireless bridge will pick up the signal and pass it to a hard-wired router. A Wireless Access Point (WAP) will be located throughout the complex for Internet connectivity. Nodes can be placed on lamp posts to provide a stronger signal so that all areas have the same speed of connection (See figure 1). The server would be located at the base station. This is where user access is granted to the MWN (See Figure 2).

Figure 1: Courtesy Motorola: A node on a streetlight.

Figure 2: Municipal Broadband Wireless Network Diagram

References:

Hamblen, Matt. (October 2006). Municipal Wireless Networks are growing. Computerworld.com. Retrieved on June 24, 2008 from http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9004430

JiWire. (2008). Wi-Fi Finder. Jiwire.com. Retrieved on July 1, 2008 from http://www.jiwire.com/browse-hotspot-all-united-states-us-new-york-ny-35.htm

Koprowski, Gene J. (April 2005). Municipal Wireless Networks Generating Controversy. TechNewsWorld.com. Retrieved on June 17, 2008 from http://www.technewsworld.com/story/42543.html?welcome=1215389576

Roos, Dave. (2008). How Wireless Mesh Networks Work. Retrieved on June 17, 2008 from http://communication.howstuffworks.com/how-wireless-mesh-networks-work.htm

Shinkle, Kirk. (2008). Jeffrey Sachs on Beating Global Poverty. The Columbia economist says it can be done with little investing. US News & World Report. Retrieved on June 20, 2008 from http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/economy/2008/04/11/jeffery-sachs-on-beating-global-poverty.html

Wilson, Tracy V. (2208). How Municipal WiFi Works. Retrieved on June 17, 2008 from http://computer.howstuffworks.com/municipal-wifi.htm

Improve Economic Growth

MWNs appear to resolve digital divides in Internet access. The term digital divides is the gulf between people with broadband accessibility and people who can’t access broadband connectivity due to income differentials. MWN projects include education and workforce training programs (Fesenmaier, Jain, Mandiwalla, Meyers, Smith, Weinberg, 2008). This allows for people to gain basic technological skills that will assist them in attaining better employment.

Setting up MWNs will generate more jobs. Since people are generally interested in what’s going on in their local area, projects can be developed that will allow communities to share their knowledge and personal experience. Urban Tapestries is a research project that does just that. This concept is beneficial because if implemented along with a MWN, these individuals will be able to inform everyone within the communities of local events taking place. This draws in financial opportunities for local software writers as well as technical hardware specialists. It brings on a self-generating economic model by allowing innovative thinkers to create software that is user-friendly so that people in these communities can find it easy to post their own threads (Lane, 2003).


References:

Barrett, Craig. (2008, February 20). Digital Evolution. Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) Video Lecture. Retrieved May 10th 2008 from
http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/552

Fesenmaier, Julie., Jain, Abhijit., Mandiwalla, Munir., Meyers, Gregory S., Smith, Jeffrey W., Weinberg, Paul. (2008, February). Municipal Broadband Wireless Networks. Communications of the ACM, Vol 51(2):72-80. Pace University Henry Birnbaum Library. Retrieved April 15th 2008 from ACM Digital Library.

Grebb, Michael (2005, October). Cities Unleash Free Wi-Fi. Wired. Retrieved on April 25th 2008 from http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/news/2005/10/68999?currentPage=all

Lane, Giles. (2003, July). Urban Tapestries: Wireless Networking, public authoring and social knowledge. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, Vol 7 (3-4):169-175. Pace University Henry Birnbaum Library. Retrieved April 18th 2008 from ACM Digital Library.

Disruptive Technology

Wireless Internet is seen as a disruptive technology by telecommunication companies and ISPs. Internet connectivity has undergone incremental technological change over time (Christensen, 2004). Its performance improvement has changed without affecting its connection to other components. As shown in Figure 3, internet connectivity has progressed in time from slow dial-up (hard-wired) connectivity to fast wireless connectivity. The screeching sounds for Internet connectivity by way of a 56K modem and a phone line are just about obsolete. The very few who still use this technology can’t afford (or don’t find it financially feasible) to have to purchase additional phone services and/or television channels to get a faster Internet connection.

Figure 3: S-Curve of Disruptive Technology

SOURCE: Exploring the Limits of the Technology S-Curve. Part I: Component Technologies. Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation 2004, 4th Ed.

Figure 4 further shows wireless Internet as a disruptive technology. The most demanding customers are the ones who are able to afford broadband connectivity while the least demanding customers (low income residents) look forward to free municipal wireless networks to access the Internet. The mainstream consists of people who don’t want any complication or interference with their Internet connectivity and performance. This would include government and emergency agencies that may need to make use of this Internet connectivity when their local connections experience technical difficulties.

Figure 4: Disruptive Innovation in Internet Connectivity
SOURCE: Disruption, Disintegration and the Dissipation of Differentiability. Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation 2004, 4th Ed.

But is white space a disruptive technology? Despite all the talk about making use of the white space for wireless Internet connectivity and how it will interfere will wireless microphones and medical equipment, I can only say that the majority of us look forward to a more robust wireless connectivity across different types of mobile devices for free and/or lower prices.

References:

Christensen, Clayton M. (2004). Exploring the Limits of the Technology S-Curve. Part I: Component Technologies. Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation, 4th Ed. Burgelman, Robert, Clayton Christensen and Steven Wheelwright. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin: 208-223.

Christensen, Clayton M., Verlinden, Matt, Westerman, George. (2004). Disruption, Disintegration and the Dissipation of Differentiability. Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation, 4th Ed. Burgelman, Robert, Clayton Christensen and Steven Wheelwright. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin: 278-302.

Tech Target. (2008). Disruptive Technology. Whatis.TechTarget.com. Retrieved on June 30, 2008 from http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci945822,00.html#

Internet Connectivity Costs Money

It is the cost of Internet connectivity that can be the problem. That is where white space and MWNs come into play. Every business focuses on financial growth, thus Internet Service Providers tend to the more attractive markets and consumers, ignoring low-income areas. Face it. The cost of Internet connectivity can be pricey for some. I pay about $32 a month for DSL service. And when I first signed up, I had to sign up for long distance to be able to get the DSL package that included the router/modem, filter, and a network cable. The cost of DSL also went according to what bandwidth you wanted. So if you wanted to download at a faster rate, you would pay more. The cost of cable broadband connection is slightly pricier. Just for online services, you can pay between $29.95 and $44.95, in addition to your cable package. If you want to be wireless, you would have to purchase the standard package at $44.95 and add an additional $5.95 making a total of $50.90 a month (excluding taxes) (TWC). Comcast and Verizon can charge residents anywhere from $50 to $200 a month for Wi-Fi connection (Travis, 2006). When you bring the cost to a project like that of a MWN, costs can run from $40,000 to $74,000 per square mile just for deployment (Fesenmaier, Jain, Mandiwalla, Meyers, Smith, Weinberg, 2008). The Wireless Philadelphia project is estimated to spend $49 million to cover the entire city with a broadband wireless network (Grebb, 2005). Because of free wireless Internet connectivity, ISPs are set to loose potential customers in these vicinities. You don’t want to start uproars for disrupting profit margin lines. Loosing 100 customers at $200 a month can cost $2,400 per lost customer a year in loss revenue.

Big ISP providers will try to create a barrier of entry into the Internet connectivity market for social entrepreneur companies. The use of technology to influence technologist’s innovative minds is used to assist low income communities. Even if used for a greater social purpose, these companies don’t want you to gain competitive advantage in the market and will go to the government to sustain their ground. And with white space about to be made available February 2009, this has them nervous.

Take into consideration your monthly expenses for just Internet connectivity. With money that you can potential save, you can use it towards heating up your home, fueling up your car and buying groceries.

References:

Grebb, Michael (2005, October). Cities Unleash Free Wi-Fi. Wired. Retrieved on July 1, 2008 from http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/news/2005/10/68999?currentPage=all

Labaton, Stephen. (December 2005). Transition to Digital Gets Closer. New York Times. Retrieved on June 25, 2007 from http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/20/technology/20digital.html

Technorati. Google Unwired – Larry Page on TV White Space. Retrieved on June 15, 2008 from http://technorati.com/videos/youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D0CpRNi64Tac

TWC, Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey. Packages & Pricing. Retrieved on June 20, 2008 from http://www.timewarnercable.com/nynj/products/cable/packagesandpricing.html?menu=6907

White Space Interference

The National Association of Broadcasters has expressed their concerns towards the use of unlicensed broadband service in white spaces. All events that use wireless microphones will be negatively affected; to include football games, concerts, wireless microphone companies, etc.

Google believes that the use of the white space poses no risk to the concerned parties. White Space devices that are due to launch February 2009, would rely on “all clear signals from a database of licensed transmitters or a geo-located device with access to that database.” Devices that don’t operate like this will not transmit at all. To prevent interference with radio astronomy services, channels 36 though 38 would be not be available to white space broadband; of which channel 37 is used for medical devices.

The following video clip shows how your television reception can be affected:


Source: CNetTV.com

References:

Bangeman, Eric. (March 2008). After 700MHz coup, Google now fronting white space devices. Arstechnica.com. Retrieved on July 2, 2008 from http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080324-google-takes-fight-against-white-space-fud-to-the-fcc.html

MeFeedia. (June 2008). Google and Microsoft Fight to Take TV White Space for Beyond Wi-Fi. MeFeedia.com. Retrieved on June 29, 2008 from
http://mefeedia.com/entry/video-google-and-microsoft-fight-to-take-tv-white-space-for-beyond-wi-fi/9812552

New America Foundation. (May 2008). Google Unwired: Expanding Broadband Access and Allocating Spectrum More Efficiently. Retrieved on June 15, 2008 from http://www.newamerica.net/events/2008/google_unwired

Room for Innovation

Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, said it best where “we are primitive in the Internet.” By allowing more people to have access to the Internet and at better connection speeds, we will be increasing innovation possibilities. Major companies like Microsoft, Adaptrum, Motorola, and Philips have already submitted devices to be tested for white space. These prototypes are not ready for consumer use as of yet, and probably won’t be until the transition on February 17, 2009. The purpose of these devices is to show that other signals can be detected within the same spectrum without causing interference should white space be used for wireless broadband service. This means that if a concert is going on, such device will detect the spectrum that is being utilized by wireless microphones and move on to use the next spectrum.

Although, there are controversies of whether these devices actually passed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) test, even if they were to fail, there is still room for improvement. White Space can open the market to anyone who can come up with a product that will eliminate interference and detect other spectrums being used at the same time; from large corporations to the person sitting right next to you.

References:

Anderson, Nate. (August 2007). Microsoft: FCC tested broken white spaces device, neglected backup unit. Arstechnica.com. Retrieved on June 23, 2008 from http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070814-microsoft-fcc-used-broken-white-spaces-device-for-test-neglected-backup-unit.html?rel

New America Foundation. Driving Wireless Broadband and Innovation. Retrieved July 2, 2008 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEyaxxInCpw&feature=related

TedTalk. (February 2003). Jeff Bezos: After the gold rush, there’s innovation ahead. Ted.com. Retrieved on July 6, 2008 from http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jeff_bezos_on_the_next_web_innovation.html

VIEWpoint (March 2008). Segment 1 on White Space Issues. Retrieved July 1, 2008 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NiqgUBUdXQ&feature=related

Innovations on the Rise

Google Android

Google has launched Android. It is Google’s cell phone or GPhone created to be an open development platform. As we still wait to see what will become of the unused spectrum, the Android software that is based on Linux, aims to allow anyone to design applications and services for it. The following is an image of an early Android device.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Android

Microsoft’s Prototype A

The White Space Coalition has submitted prototypes that claim it can pick up digital TV signals, wireless microphones, etc. that are using the 54 MHz to 698 MHz spectrum. This device is supposed to be able to pick up wireless microphone signals. The following is a picture of Prototype A, a white space device that was submitted by Microsoft for Federal Communications Commission (FCC) testing.

Source: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070814-microsoft-fcc-used-broken-white-spaces-device-for-test-neglected-backup-unit.html?rel


SSC Smart Radio Technology

Shared Spectrum Company (SSC) is the lead maker of radio technology that looks for the best frequency and bandwidth to use everywhere and at all times. This technology adapts to a spectral environment and changes its reception/transmission thereby eliminating harmful interference.

XG Program

Believe it or not U.S. Forces experience spectrum access issues in every country that they are in. The Defense Advanced Research Projects (DARPA) has come up with ways to use the unused bandwidth in its Next Generation (XG) program for military radios. The goal of the XG program is to provide the Department of Defense (DoD) equipment that will be able to pick up spectrum and evaluate it to see if it’s in use to minimize interference while ensuring U.S. operation systems.

References:

Anderson, Nate. (August 2007). Microsoft: FCC tested broken white spaces device, neglected backup unit. Arstechnica.com. Retrieved on June 17, 2008 from http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070814-microsoft-fcc-used-broken-white-spaces-device-for-test-neglected-backup-unit.html?rel

Bangeman, Eric. (March 2008). Gates makes case for action on white space broadband. Retrieved on July 2, 2008 from http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080314-gates-makes-plea-for-action-on-white-space-broadband.html?rel

Bangeman, Eric. (January 2008). FCC to test new “white space” wireless broadband devices. Arstechnica.com. Retrieved on June 23, 2008 from http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080118-fcc-set-to-begin-tests-on-new-wireless-broadband-devices.html?rel

Broache, Anne. (March 2008). Google outlines proposal for ‘Wi-Fi on steroids’. CNetnews.com. Retrieved on June 29, 2008 from http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9901747-7.html?tag=newsmap

CNet TV. (February 2008). Google Android. CNettv.com. Retrieved on June 30, 2008 from http://www.cnettv.com/9742-1_53-32288.html

Marshall, Preston. The Next Generation Program. Darpa.mi. Retrived on July 1, 2008 from http://www.darpa.mil/sto/smallunitops/xg.html

Reardon, Marguerite. (February 2008). Google Android prototypes debut at MWC. CNetnews.com. Retrieved on July 2, 2008 from http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9869123-7.html

Conclusion

Information and Communications Technology is making changes in all aspects of our lives and throughout the world. It doesn’t have to be as expensive anymore. Yet, there are many companies and organizations that continue to impose restrictions to market in order to gain competitive advantage.

The shortage of Internet connectivity in the U.S. can threaten economic growth, limit opportunities in innovation, and ultimately limiting our country to compete. With the use of white space, there is so much potential out there to improve our communication methods and technology. We can also speed up the process of bridging the digital divide.

The availability of white space spectrum varies from market to market. In rural areas, it can provide a great amount of capacity because there aren’t that many broadcasters readily available. In urban areas, it can provide less capacity because there are more broadcasters available. By making wireless Internet connectivity more accessible to unreachable areas within our own country, we can help to increase the living standards in low-income neighborhoods. I believe this can be accomplished by using white space in MWN to provide free or low cost Internet connectivity. We can begin to revive (nearly) desolate communities financially and socially and allow personal and professional growth to local individuals.

Usage of this spectrum will also benefit Emergency services, city and government agencies, and the military. Granted, as in any new technology, security issues are of concern. But let’s face it. We have security concerns about everything from e-payments to financial institutions to checking your email, and identity theft. The use of technology can bring much change to the way economies and societies work. Let’s use this spectrum to enhance our connectivity. And who knows? Possibly eliminating or lowering Internet connectivity costs. Use that money to pay other bills, heat up your home, fuel up your car, buy groceries, and/or just splurge.

References:

Windhausen Jr., John. (2008). Big Broadband Connectivity in the United States. Educause Review. Retrieved on June 27, 2008 from
http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSE+Review/BigBroadbandConnectivityi/46606

Meinrath, Sascha D. White Space Devices & The Batter Over Innovation: Public Access vs. Industry Control of the Airwaves. Retrieved on July 2, 2008 from http://www.newamerica.net/files/WSD_Battle_Over_Innovation.pdf

Reardon, Marguerite. (August 2007). White-space spectrum debate rages. CNet News.com. Retrieved on June 25, 2008 from http://usatoday.com.com/White-space-spectrum-debate-rages---page-2/2100-1034_3-6202753-2.html?tag=st.next

Ward, Jake. (2008). U.K. Takes Global Lead on White Spaces; Commits to use of Vacant TV Spectrum. The Wireless Innovation Alliance. Retrieved on July 2, 2008 from
http://www.wirelessinnovationalliance.org/index.cfm?objectid=F0E7AD03-1D09-317F-BBF9B837E4E1EF22