Microsoft wants to connect rural areas with White Space Internet

Microsoft wants to make broadband more accessible to rural areas in the US, but broadcasters are not keen on the idea. Microsoft's plan is to use White Space in TV broadcasts, an idea that has been floated for years but has never took off. Now the software giant is trying to enlist the help of the federal government to get the idea off the ground.

Microsoft said it is working on a five-year plan to bring this to fruition, and is open to working with all kinds of partners. This includes the Trump administration, which the company hopes would consider funding the project. The plan is still controversial, though, at least in the commercial sector.

White Space is the part of the spectrum that is in between TV stations. The idea is that since TV spectrum can travel far and wide, it could benefit many people to carry Internet connections over the currently unused parts of the spectrum. Broadcasters are afraid this will interfere with their programming. This is, after all, why TV channels are spaced so widely apart.

As of right now, Microsoft says it is working on launching this project in 12 states over the next year. If this does bring new areas broadband speeds, defined by the Federal Communications Commission as 25mbps downloads and 3mbps uploads, then people will need new equipment to take advantage of this new technology.

White Space spectrum is not the same thing as Wi-Fi. Existing computers would not be able to read these signals. Moreover, signals need to be sent back to a base station. This means at least a new outdoor antenna for the house and probably a new modem.

Hardware buyers and sellers shouldn’t start salivating just yet. The portion of the population in the US that can gain something from this project is relatively small. Since the US is a large country, there are enough people in these rural areas to make the effort worthwhile, but the majority of the population with access to cable Internet isn’t likely to find much appeal in this scheme since the speeds wouldn't be as fast. It could offer more competition in new markets, though.

This project does hold promise for places otherthan the US as well. Microsoft has also proposed using White Space to connect communities in Africa. Given the size of that content and the relatively low infrastructure built-out in many countries there, that could prove to be a real battle ground for White Space Internet. There might not be as much resistance from local TVs stations, too.