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Ofcom releases 2012/13 plan: no UK 4G until you've eaten your vegetables
UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has released its draft plans for 2012/13 with big changes ahead for nerds on this side of the Atlantic. The auctioning off of the 800MHz and 2.6GHz spectrums for 4G internet is coming as soon as the British FCC has booted off the remaining TV services that still use 'em. It's gonna open an online complaints site (for when the Saturday evening show of your choice offends you), crack down on slow broadband speeds and keep the airways clear for the Olympic Games. Nearly 16 percent of Scotland and five percent of Wales has non-existent mobile coverage, something Ofcom's pledging to fix. TV-on-demand content also better keep its nose clean over the next 18 months -- it'll be getting the same level of government scrutiny that standard broadcasts receive. Rather wisely, the paper buries the real bad news: it looks like there won't be nationwide 4G mobile internet until 2015 -- so you win this round, America.
White space 'Smart City' network goes up in Wilmington, North Carolina
White space internet just took another step on its long, vaporous journey: in addition to the 916-person trial in tiny Claudville, Virginia kicked off last year, Spectrum Bridge just launched its first large-scale "Smart City" network in Wilmington, North Carolina. If you'll recall, white spaces are the bits of spectrum in between TV frequencies, and a whole host of heavy hitters including Microsoft and Google pushed the FCC to open them up for data usage after years of lobbying and comically failed tests. Wilmington was selected for the big trial since it was the first community to switch completely to DTV broadcasting, and the city's using the new network for a variety of infrastructure tasks, including traffic camera monitoring, free WiFi in city parks, and remote wetlands monitoring stations. There's also more to come, including medical uses and more broadband for schools as time goes on. We're assuming NAB is totally SulkyFace5000 right now, but we've got to hand it to the White Spaces Coalition -- after all that talk, they've finally gotten up and running in a larger community. Anyone in Wilmington care to chime in and tell us how it's working?
FCC starts up white spaces database, devices now inevitable
White space devices seem likely to play a major part in the FCC's solution to the wireless spectrum crisis. Operating in the buffers between frequencies used by television broadcasts, these devices will be able to exploit TV's airspace without interfering with the incumbent users' traffic. The unlicensed utilization of white spaces has been approved going on for a year now, but really important government stuff has gotten in the way of making that vote a reality. It was only recently that Claudville, Virginia got the very first such network, and initial results show that it hasn't disrupted any of the fine, fine programming percolating the local airwaves. The only issue we see is that your WSD will need to be capable of both identifying its own position by GPS and hooking up to the database to find out what bands it may use, but then it's not like anyone sells smartphones without these capabilities nowadays, is it?
First 'white space' network hits Claudville, Virginia
Well, this one's been years in the making (literally), but it looks like the very first white space network using those newly freed up broadcast TV channels has now been lit up in Claudville, Virginia (population 916), which should just be the first of plenty more rural communities to come. As you might expect, the network was no small undertaking even considering the size of the town, and involved an "experimental license" from the FCC, network infrastructure from Spectrum Bridge, and a slew of equipment that Dell, Microsoft and the TDF Foundation contributed to the local school and computer center. No word on anything like actual speeds just yet, but we're guessing the Claudville residents will be plenty pleased regardless, as they've been stuck with nothing more than dial-up or expensive satellite internet until now.
NAB throws down, sues FCC over white space internet
Look sharp, Julius: you may have thought the debate over white space internet was over since the FCC approved the Google- and Microsoft-backed plan and the industry's gearing up to make it reality, but part of the new gig is learning that nothing's ever over while NAB still has lawyers at its disposal -- the prickly broadcasting organization has filed suit to stop the tech from hitting the market. As usual, NAB says that despite all the convoluted geolocation sensing and interference detection measures the White Spaces Coalition promises to implement, TV signals will be interfered with, and that's not okay. Of course, we've heard all these arguments for years now, and while white space devices have had a rocky test history, they've been successful recently -- it seems like NAB is taking advantage of confusion at the FCC following the delayed DTV transition to try and pull the rug out while no one's looking. A bastard move, to be sure, but we doubt it's going to be successful -- going up against both the government and the heavy hitters of the tech industry is rarely a winning idea.
Wireless audio manufacturers unhappy with Google's whitespace internet plans
It's never been a secret that pro-level wireless audio manufacturers are nervous about the Wireless Innovation Alliance's whitespace internet plans, but now that Google's taken the fight to the people directly, various equipment makers are starting to air their concerns publicly -- and with millions of dollars in gear and people's livelihoods on the line, they aren't being shy about it. "We are worried the FCC will buckle and allow white space to be used by personal portable devices seeking wireless services," says Letrasonic's Karl Winkler, as professional wireless audio systems like those used in theaters and rock venues exist in the same frequency spectrum and redesigning them to avoid interference could "cost big productions millions of dollars." That's of course the same concern groups like the NAB had about television broadcasts, but where we can see consumers being willing to put up with some TV static to get cheaper net access, we don't think rock bands and stage performers will be as willing to compromise -- and although Motorola says its geolocation system will prevent any interference, it doesn't sound like the industry is ready to buy it. Of course, all these hysterics are based on nothing more than speculation and rumors, since basically no one's ever seen a whitespace device in use -- maybe if one of the giant companies backing the tech would actually demo some of this vapor, people wouldn't be so nervous about it. Just a suggestion -- albeit one we've been making for months now.
Google takes whitespace to the people with "Free the Airwaves"
Whitespace internet has long had heavyweight industry backing from the likes of Dell, Microsoft, and Motorola, and while those companies and several others have been lobbying Congress and the FCC through staidly named groups like the Wireless Innovation Alliance and the White Space Coalition, it looks like Google is sick of the red tape -- it's launching a petition drive aimed squarely at consumers called "Free the Airwaves." Yep, Google's cribbing its whitespace marketing from Pump Up the Volume -- and while that's certainly enough to convince us, we've got a feeling it's not going to sway anyone else's opinion until this semi-vaporware tech is actually demonstrated working outside of an FCC lab. Put up or shut up, El Goog -- or at least play a Descendents song or two.[Thanks, Zoli]
White space networking could disrupt hospital telemetry systems
The stumbling blocks keep piling up as white space networking struggles to get off the ground: it looks like the manufacturers of healthcare equipment are set to join NAB in opposing the technology. Wireless medical telemetry devices like heart monitors have been operating in broadcast white spaces since the late 80s, and manufacturers like GE Healthcare say that the Microsoft- and Google-backed white space networking initiative could potentially "directly interfere" and "prevent patient monitoring." For its part, the FCC has set aside all of channel 37 for medical telemetry devices in 1998 after interference from a nearby TV station shut down the system at Baylor University Medical Center, but it wasn't mandatory, and hospitals that haven't made the switch could face millions of dollars in upgrade costs. That's not say that medical telemetry concerns are a problem that can't be solved -- the new Google push includes a channel 37 exception, for example, and there are some other compromise solutions on the table -- but it seems like there's no end of issues for a technology that hasn't really even been demonstrated working yet.
Google pushes the FCC for white space access, will offer free reference designs to others
The 700MHz auction is over, but that doesn't mean the days of high-stakes spectrum drama have come to a close -- just like we'd heard, Google today began a renewed push for white space internet. Backed by Microsoft, Philips, Dell, HP and others, white space transmissions are designed to fit in between TV signals on channels 2-51, but there's just one little problem -- the stuff doesn't really work yet. That's all about to change, according to Google: the company says it's done its own testing and will submit a proposal for an enhanced system to the FCC soon -- hmm, that could explain that secret test 700MHz network on the Google campus we've been hearing about, no? What's more, in an effort to open up the white space market and bring some competition to the broadband scene, Google says it's willing to provide free technical assistance and reference designs to other would-be white space providers wanting to get in on the action -- sort of like white space Android. Of course, all of this hinges on the FCC actually approving the tech, but if the 700MHz open-access drama showed us anything, it's that Google is pretty adept at playing the system to get what it wants from Uncle Sam.
