Microsoft says it has the fix to the world's spectrum crisis: unused broadcast TV spectrum called "white space." But consumers shouldn't get too excited. It could take years before technology supporting white space spectrum finds its way into popular mobile products.
On Monday, Microsoft announced that it has joined forces with broadcasters and technology companies in the United Kingdom to launch the most wide-scale test network to date of the technology, designed to show how this spectrum can be used to offload wireless data traffic in urban areas as well as provide wireless broadband service in rural communities.
The new group, called The Cambridge TV White Spaces Consortium, includes British broadcasters the BBC and British Sky Broadcasting, as well as telecommunications provider BT and technology companies Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung Electronics, Neul, and Spectrum Bridge, among others.
On Monday, Microsoft announced that it has joined forces with broadcasters and technology companies in the United Kingdom to launch the most wide-scale test network to date of the technology, designed to show how this spectrum can be used to offload wireless data traffic in urban areas as well as provide wireless broadband service in rural communities.
The new group, called The Cambridge TV White Spaces Consortium, includes British broadcasters the BBC and British Sky Broadcasting, as well as telecommunications provider BT and technology companies Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung Electronics, Neul, and Spectrum Bridge, among others.