White Space Technology Reaches 8Mbps Speeds in UK Rural Broadband Trials

Strategic Insights -

Rural broadband trials in the UK have achieved a significant milestone, with speeds of up to 8Mbps reached using white space technology in a 5.6km link from Cambridge to the nearby village of Orwell. This breakthrough, facilitated by the Cambridge TV White Spaces Consortium, holds promise for addressing the escalating demand for wireless connectivity in rural areas and towns. The consortium, comprising prominent companies like Arqiva, BBC, and BT, aims to harness the unused TV spectrum to provide a solution for the UK's rural broadband needs.

Key Takeaways:

  • The white space link has achieved speeds of up to 8Mbps across 5.6km, with potential to reach speeds of greater than 12Mbps over 6km using a single TV channel.
  • The technology has the potential to connect over 600,000 premises in the UK that are poorly served by wired ADSL, using cheap hardware operating in unlicensed TV white space.
  • The system's real-time intelligence ensures that white space devices can't interfere with primary users, such as TV receivers.
  • The technology has been proven to have a practical range of up to 10km, compared to the 4km range of typical wired ADSL connections.
  • White space broadband is expected to have lower deployment costs than fiber over long distances.
  • The UK government's support for white space technology, combined with OFCOM's license-exemption, makes it possible for the technology to be launched in the UK as early as 2013.
  • TTP's white space devices will require a second TV aerial and a white space router, similar in size and price to existing home routers.
  • The system's signal to noise ratio and signal strength are sufficient to enable higher-order radio modulation techniques and advanced forward error correction coding to achieve even greater speeds.

Statistics:

  • 600,000 premises in the UK are poorly served by wired ADSL.
  • Up to 8Mbps speeds were achieved in the 5.6km white space link.
  • The system's practical range is up to 10km.
  • Typical wired ADSL connections have a range of 4km.
  • The cost of deploying white space broadband is significantly less than fiber over long distances.

Sources:

  • [TTP Press Release, December 13, 2011]
  • [Comtex SmarTrend Alert, December 9, 2011]