Future Now
The IFTF Blog
Slow Rollout for Future of Whitespace Wifi
IFTF colleague, Sean Ness, asked me for comments on glowing blog predictions for near term availability of wide area "Super WiFi" using the recently FCC Approved 'white space' radio spectrum adjacent to TV channel frequencies, and the IEEE 802.22 standard allowing individual geo-located mobile devices access to wireless data at speeds up to 22Mbps and as far as 100 kilometers from the nearest transmitter, by negotiating with servers, in realtime for access to broadband radio frequencies shared with many other users.
Pragmatically, we can expect wide area or 'Super wifi" in the future, but not very soon. It's not clear how soon we'll see prototype frequency agile radios that fit this specification for either mobile devices or for base stations. Also, the operations of 802.22 white space wireless services requires a continually updated, and accessible internet of spectrum arbitration servers, negotiating, location by location, available shared wireless spectrum betweeen users and local TV signals. The detailed operational designs and security regimens are non-trivial software challenges, that could take years to roll out safely.
Forecast: imho, White space wide area super-fi networks will, in the future, provide promised capabilities, but it will take years to begin broad deployment. ...Stay tuned...