Super Wi-Fi runs over unused TV white space
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray announced Microsoft had installed a novel “super Wi-Fi system” at the popular Seattle Center that is said to provide users with data speeds 5,000-times faster than the previous Wi-Fi system.
This is the latest step in Murray’s three-point broadband plan, which aims to reduce regulatory barriers to high-speed broadband, leverage public-private partnerships and explore municipal broadband deployments.
For the Seattle Center, Microsoft ran a fiber optic line to the Wi-Fi system, with the wireless signal broadcast on unused portions of television spectrum called white space. This type of wireless Internet is ofter controversially referred to as super Wi-Fi, even though it does not rely on traditional unlicensed spectrum in the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz band that is currently used for commercial Wi-Fi services.
“This is another step forward in our work to seek out public-private partnerships to improve Internet access in Seattle,” Murray said. “More than 12 million people visit Seattle Center each year, and now they will enjoy fast, free broadband on their devices. This pilot program tests new technology that we may be able to deploy to other neighborhoods in the city.”
To compare the new Wi-Fi with what was previously available, the legacy system supported e-mail use and basic Web browsing, according to city officials. The new super Wi-Fi supports video calls like on Facetime or Skype, as well as photo backup and other high-capacity uses.
Seattle Center Director Robert Nellams said the super Wi-Fi will “serve to enrich the visitor center.”
Michael Mattmiller, the city’s CTO, lauded the work Microsoft put into delivering the super Wi-Fi: “The new technology places Seattle at the forefront of fast, convenient and accessible public broadband. We are grateful for Microsoft’s efforts to pilot the technology in Seattle.”
While the idea of super Wi-Fi has been around for years, the concept hasn’t seen much real traction or interest from major telecom players.
Earlier this month, Mary Ellen Carroll, a designer, futurist and director of Public Utility 2.0/VUUM, led a discussion on the topic for the interactive portion of the annual SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. Citing research from The New York Times, Carroll said that more than 60 million Americans do not have access to the Internet. That issue of access, she said, could be solved through clever utilization of disused UHF/VHF spectrum formerly dedicated to television broadcast.
“These old TV frequencies can, in fact, be used to create new networks,” she said. “It may not be the case if the [Federal Communications Commission] auctions off these licenses to the highest bidder. … Next year the FCC will conduct a reverse auction, which allows broadcasters to sell the spectrum rights to the United States, followed by a forward auction when they will auction the licenses to that spectrum.”
Carroll pointed to a pilot super Wi-Fi project in a section of New Orleans using technology developed at Rice University in Houston. She cautioned that depending on how the FCC proceeds with auctioning the licenses, an opportunity to increase the accessibility of the Internet could be lost to private interests. However, seeing that the FCC raised more than $41 billion through the recent auction of spectrum in the 1.7/2.1 GHz band, it’s expected that the government will likely follow the money trail.
