‘White Space’ Internet Could Connect the US’s Isolated Places

The digital divide in the most isolated parts of the United States is reinforced by risky economic propositions and geographic barriers to connectivity, but a technology in its infancy — TV white space broadband — may help communities clear these hurdles. “The attractiveness of it was this was prime spectrum that was not being used, and it opens up a second Wi-Fi band with significant improvements in coverage, range and bandwidth,” said James Carlson, CEO of hardware manufacturer Carlson Wireless Technologies. 

Declaration Networks CEO Bob Nichols believes that white space can help fill a gap in the digital divide that other technologies can’t fix. “The primary reason there is a digital divide is because the traditional approaches, fiber or cable, are very expensive, and the business case associated with deploying those types of technology in lower-density areas just doesn’t make sense,” Nichols said.  “There’s a tremendous need,” Nichols added. “Some of this recent activity with COVID-19 has really highlighted where people are able to go home and do teleworking and where they can’t.” Other stakeholders see how white space can bring other benefits as the technology advances. “The coverage of this would be… quite useful for drones compared to Wi-Fi,” Carlson said.