First White Spaces Broadband Trial Spreads Wi-Fi Via Broadcast TV

The NAB has been battling white spaces networks for years, but the technology that repurposes unused TV spectrum as a Wi-Fi signal is finally getting a trial period in Claudville, Virginia.

The idea is simple, but the politics aren’t. All white spaces networks do is stick data into the unused frequencies that neighbour television signals, but broadcasters are afraid that TV signals aren’t robust enough to handle data being packed in so tightly. This trial will be the first real-world test of that belief.

Hopefully all will go well and the tech will be able to provide rural communities with the broadband they’ve been hurting for. [Ars Technica]

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