West Virginia University is Air.U’s First TV White Spaces Network

Student and faculty at West Virginia University in Morgantown (WV) now have Wi-Fi connectivity at rapid transit platforms as the result of a recently completed TV white spaces deployment.

The deployment is the first to result from the Air.U initiative announced last year with the goal of bringing broadband connectivity using TV white spaces to university communities. TV white spaces equipment operates in vacant TV broadcast spectrum, making it an alternative to landline broadband in non-urban areas. In the WVU deployment, a single TV channel supports speeds of 12 Mbps over distances as great as two miles, according to Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Project at the New America Foundation, an Air.U backer. Calabrese said range is actually greater than two miles, but that WVU only requires a two-mile coverage area.

“Innovative deployment of TV white spaces presents an exciting opportunity for underserved rural and low-income urban communities across the country,” said Acting Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn. “I commend AIR.U and West Virginia University on launching a unique pilot program that provides campus-wide Wi-Fi services using TV white space devices. This pilot will not only demonstrate how TV white space technologies can help bridge the digital divide, but also could offer valuable insights into how best to structure future deployments.”