As the FCC struggles to discover and allocate more spectrum for broadband use, the Commission, in a unanimous vote, approved the use of “white space” for broadband. What is “white space,” and what does it have to do with broadband? White spaces are unused bands of spectrum between television stations, left after television signals went digital.

 When television made its grand switch to digital, a spectrum of space was freed. Nearly a year ago, officials and technology experts in the small Patrick County community of Claudville were granted an experimental license from the Federal Communications Commission to determine if those unused frequencies could be used to bounce wireless signals to some of the most isolated parts of Virginia. The project was successful.

 Rice University researchers have won a $1.8 million federal grant for one of the nation's first, real-world tests of wireless communications technology that uses a broad spectral range -- including dormant broadcast television channels -- to deliver free, high-speed broadband Internet service. The five-year project calls for Rice and Houston nonprofit Technology For All (TFA) to add "white space" technology to the wide spectrum Wi-Fi network they jointly operate in Houston's working-class East End neighborhood.

 The key word here is unlicensed Internet providers. If this technology reaches its full potential, anyone would be able to set up a white space hotspot like anyone can set up a wifi hot spot today. If that can happen and the range is respectable, it would provide real competition to both cable companies and cell phone providers. This could have a huge effect on the price and availability of both services.

 Spectrum Bridge, Inc. in partnership with Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative  and Google, Inc. has launched the nation’s first “Smart Grid” wireless network trial, utilizing TV White Spaces Spectrum. SBI’s solution is able to access available TV White Spaces spectrum and manage the deployed “Smart Grid” network by dynamically assigning non-interfering frequencies to White Spaces devices throughout the service area to effectively provide bandwidth where and when it’s needed.

 Sep 24, 2010 - Rice University professors Edward Knightly and Lin Zhong are likely to be among the first in the nation to test the FCC's new white-spaces rules, thanks to a recent $1.8 million federal grant to establish a white-space test-bed network in East Houston.

 A small rural community is taking matters in to their own hands to solve their lack of broadband. They’re using “white space” radios from Carlson Wireless, combined with lightly-licensed 3.65 WiMax and cellular microcells, writes Kim Miyade.

 First I need to correct an assertion I made last week in a blog.  I always hate having to admit to a mistake, but the one thing I hate more is someone not owning up to a mistake when the evidence is clear.  I spend a lot of time analyzing (and debunking if necessary) the work of others and it frustrates me to no end if they ignore the evidence so I would be a hypocrite if I behaved in the same manner.

 The city of Wilmington, N.C., and the surrounding county of New Hanover, N.C., are among the first communities to test wireless applications using TV white space technology. The city and county have partnered with TV Band Service and Spectrum Bridge to launch a new experimental network that uses white space spectrum to provide wireless connectivity to surveillance cameras and environmental sensors in a "smart city" deployment.

 If you're one of those people (like myself) that hasn't had cable television in a while, then you remember when everything went digital last summer and rabbit ears became a thing of the past, like rotary phones and modems. The changeover was all part of a larger plan, and part of that plan was to free up some of the broadcasting spectrum for other uses

 A person living in upstate Michigan may gain significantly more from the death of analog television than someone living in New York City--at least, as far as long-range wireless Internet is concerned, a study suggests. On November 4, 2008, the Federal Communications Commission voted to allow the "white spaces" in the radio spectrum that were freed up by the analog television switch-off to be used for long-distance wireless Internet connectivity.

 The first "white spaces" devices, which thread long-range wireless data signals through gaps in TV spectrum, will start to appear later this year.  Microsoft is bidding to play a central role in how they operate. The coming devices are expected to include home routers to bring Internet to the home and even mobile devices such as phones or tablets.

 Since rural America has fewer local TV stations, it will have far more of these empty "white spaces" to fill with new wireless signals, points out Alex Besen, who runs an industry consultancy, the Besen Group. In many rural areas, super Wi-Fi will have access to well over 200 megahertz of spectrum, he estimates—more capacity than Verizon and AT&T combined.