Microsoft, others to test 'super Wi-Fi' technology in UK - Seattle Post Intelligencer (blog)

Microsoft is part of a new consortium that will test the use of open television broadcast frequencies for wide-reaching wireless Internet service, a technology known to some as "super Wi-Fi."

Microsoft Research's prototype WhiteFi device. (Courtesy of Microsoft)

The Cambridge TV White Spaces Consortium – also including the BBC, Nokia, Samsung and other organizations – in a news release said it will launch a trial to "validate that TV white spaces can be used without any impact on traditional broadcast television in the U.K., a concept that has already been successfully explored in the U.S. and other European countries."

Indeed, in September 2010, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission approved new technical rules for using the open broadcast spectrum between television frequencies, which is known as "white space." Microsoft's research arm has been working on "WhiteFi" systems that can broadcast more than 1 kilometer away.

"As compared to the airwaves we released for unlicensed use in 1985, this 'white spaces' spectrum is far more robust – traveling longer distances and through walls, making the potential for this unlicensed spectrum much greater," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in September.

"We know what the first major application will be: super Wi-Fi. Super Wi-Fi is what it sounds like: Wi-Fi, but with longer range, faster speeds, and more reliable connections. We can also expect, as we've seen now with Wi-Fi, enhanced performance from the mobile devices using licensed spectrum that we've come to rely on so heavily."

U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., also has championed the development of white-spaces technology, sponsoring the 2007 Wireless Innovation Act. Inslee has announced his intent to run for Washington state governor.

For more on Microsoft's "super Wi-Fi" efforts, check out these previous reports:

• FCC gives go-ahead to 'super Wi-Fi' on TV frequencies (Sept. 23, 2010)
• WhiteFi: Broadcasting wireless Internet over TV airwaves (Aug. 31, 2009)

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