Using ‘White Spaces’ to Deliver Broadband in Rural Not-Spots Dr David H Crawford Centre for White Space Communications

Slide 2 Who We Are… A multi-disciplinary international centre working with industry, government and academic partners to undertake R&D on White Space and related areas Led by the University of Strathclyde Builds on over 30 years of experience in mobile communications and signal processing Investigating technological and socio-economic aspects of Dynamic Spectrum Access using White Spaces Academically-led, Industry-focused

Slide 3 What is ‘White Space’? Slide 3 790MHz TV spectrum contains ‘white’ space How much of this can be used for other purposes (e.g. Rural broadband, M2M,...)? Benefits include: –More effective network coverage (particularly important in rural areas) –Good propagation characteristics (e.g. fewer ‘not-spots’) Regulators following a licence-exempt approach But need to ensure that licensed services (e.g. TV, PMSE) are not adversely affected 470MHzf Ch 21Ch 60 … … TV spectrum (illustrative example): 320 MHz of RF spectrum

Potential Applications… Slide 4 Pollution monitoring Public safety and security Outdoor public internet access Campus networks In-building networks Emergency services Traffic monitoring & control

Slide 5 Rural Broadband – Bute Trial… Collaborative R&D project supported by the Technology Strategy Board Has successfully demonstrated the viability of using White Space for rural broadband connectivity Eight premises connected – trialists and their families speak very highly of their experiences −Video streaming (iPlayer, YouTube) −Facebook, Twitter, Videoconferencing −DEFRA, Internet Banking, VAT returns, … Six collaborating partners: (Mainland) White Space radio links to customer premises High-capacity microwave backhaul to mainland

Slide 6 Trialists’ premises Equipment Set-Up… Telephone Exchange

Field Measurements… Slide 7 Measure coverage and compare with simulations Measure White Space quality Measure DTT interference Data currently being collated – results & conclusions to follow

Slide 8 Where Next?

Slide 9 Next Steps… Bute Trial – Lessons learned –Report coming soon! Ofcom Pilot Q3 2013; UK ‘full solution’ expected Q Extension to frequencies other than TV band…(?) Emerging Markets in Developing Countries –UN MDGs (Education, Health, …) –Affordable internet access

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