COULD FCC'S OPENING OF W-FI SPECTRUM BRING REAL BROADBAND TO RURAL AREAS?

(09/14/2010)

By Bob Weaver West Virginia is last in the nation to bring real high-speed broadband to to its rural areas. A new Wi-Fi system with longer range and wall-piercing power could make an appearance in 2011, with the opening of a new radio spectrum by the FCC. Broadband in WV, when it is available, is often slower than molasses compared to other parts of the country. Nearly two years ago, the FCC voted to open up the so call "white-spaces" between broadcast TV channels for wireless broadband. The FCC has heard a lot of wrangling over key technical details, including concerns about interference with TV signals and wireless microphones. While most Wi-Fi experiments in West Virginia have been minimally successful because of the terrain, this brand of Wi-Fi could be different. Last year's transition from analog to digital television broadcasting freed up enough spectrum to make this possible. Technology companies envision all sorts of uses for white spaces, providing emergency services in disaster zones and creating home wireless networks that can send video between television sets and computers, to name just a few possibilities. Neeraj Srivastava, a vice president at a Florida company called Spectrum Bridge Inc., noted that white-spaces networks could be used to bring high-speed Internet access to remote corners of the country where the phone and cable companies don't offer land-line broadband. The FCC says that it is a high priority. Still, it remains to be seen what the new technology could mean to rural areas.

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