Tests being undertaken as part of the Cambridge ‘white space’ trial have successfully stream HD video from the BBC iPlayer at speeds of 5.4Mbps.
TTP is running the tests across a 5.6km white space link from its research centre near Cambridge to a house in the rural village of Orwell. The company says the trial demonstrates the potential importance of white space connections – which take advantage of unused TV spectrum – to deliver fast and cost-effective rural broadband to some 600,000 poorly served homes and business
“The TTP white space link is very much still work in progress but we expect to rapidly reach speeds of greater than 12Mbps over 6km using a single TV channel, compared to wired ADSL broadband that struggles to achieve 2Mbps with less than half the range,” says Richard Walker, head of wireless at Cambridge-based TTP . “Consumers will simply have to purchase a second TV aerial to go on the roof or in the attic, along with a white space router similar in size and price to that of an existing home router; while we believe charges will be equivalent to current ADSL costs.”
TTP is part of a the White Space Consortium – that also includes BBC, BSkyB, BT, Microsoft, Neul, Nokia, Samsung and others – established to focus on the use of TV white space to explore how unused TV spectrum could provide an inexpensive solution to satisfy the escalating demand for wireless connectivity from UK consumers and businesses in towns, cities and rural areas.
