vRRitti.com, providing sentiency

Apparently “information” isn’t the only entity with a desire to be free. Same applies to ‘cords’, ‘cables’, ‘wires’ and ‘pipelines’. Next up, ‘free devices’ or ‘free advertising opportunities’?

The European Commission today unveiled plans to deal with the exponential growth in mobile and wireless data traffic by enabling wireless technologies, including broadband, to share the use of the radio spectrum.

With new technologies it is possible to share radio spectrum amongst several users – such as internet providers – or use the spectrum available between TV frequencies, for example, for other purposes. National spectrum regulation often does not reflect the new technical possibilities, leaving mobile and broadband users at risk of poor service as demand grows, and preventing a single market for investment in such communications markets.

Through advances in technology, shared spectrum access makes additional resources available without compromising the incumbent license holder’s rights to use the frequencies. For example, many new wireless technologies are designed to share bands in which no licence is required (licence-exempt bands). Others make additional spectrum resources available by, for example, providing wireless broadband services in between TV frequencies (so-called ‘white spaces’).

To maximise the benefits of such approaches to share spectrum, regulatory barriers need to be removed and incentives provided at EU level. In particular, new regulatory approaches need to give different users, including current holders, guaranteed rights to use a given frequency band on a shared basis with guaranteed levels of protection against interference.

The ongoing implementation of the spectrum inventory in accordance with the RSPP will provide relevant usage information about frequency bands and thus facilitate the identification of beneficial sharing opportunities (BSO) in the single market for both licensed and license-exempt spectrum. Once established, BSOs can also be recorded in the inventory as benchmarks for other geographical areas or similar use in other frequency bands.

The Commission seeks the support of the European Parliament and the Council for creating this more advanced regulatory environment in Europe.

Much more:
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/12/929&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

In 2007: 

COVETED BITS of the radio spectrum called “white spaces” — unused areas of spectrum wedged between licensed TV channels — may soon be freed up by the Federal Communications Commission. Right now no broadband devices are allowed to use these parts of the spectrum, but the FCC is considering whether to let companies sell FCC-certified wireless devices that would be used without an exclusive broadcast license in these slivers of bandwidth. Such white-space devices (WSDs) would be low-power and so would emit signals over very small geographic areas.

More:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/15/AR2007081502128.html

In 2008: 

Google and other companies (including Dell, EarthLink, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Microsoft, and Philips) have formed the “White Spaces Coalition,” to persuade the FCC to establish appropriate interference standards that would allow entrepreneurs to develop fixed and mobile devices that utilize these airwaves. Earlier this year, the coalition submitted two prototype devices (from Microsoft and Philips) to the FCC’s engineers to demonstrate the feasibility of this approach.

The idea is to create wireless broadband using this spectrum that will effectively ensure continuous and near-universal coverage for internet-connected devices (fixed and mobile). Unlike conventional radio/wireless spectrum, the “unlicensed” part of this means that no one has to pay anything to the FCC to use it. That stands in contrast to the nearly $20 billion paid as part of the recent 700MHz spectrum auction earlier this year (dominated by AT&T and Verizon).

What happens now? Google co-founder Larry Page makes a prediction:

We will soon have “Wi-Fi on steroids,” since these spectrum signals have much longer range than today’s Wi-Fi technology and broadband access can be spread using fewer base stations resulting in better coverage at lower cost.

It opens up a range of intriguing possibilities for consumers, tech and media companies and device makers. And it points to a not-too-distant future of near-ubiquitous internet connectivity.

More:

http://searchengineland.com/tech-companies-win-white-spaces-airwaves-decision-15373