Rural America's (other) great broadband hope

Engineers have long dreamed of using cheap wireless networks to do an end-run around the companies that now provide Internet access and cell phone service. Those dreams have always proven to be money-losing delusions, not real threats to firms such as AT&T or Comcast. At least, not until now. A new technology called "Super Wi-Fi" offers a new way to offer wireless home Internet connections and even cell phone service. The trick is transmitting longer-range signals using the empty "white spaces" that exist between local TV stations, valuable airwaves that federal regulators are just now opening for public use at no charge. "There's going to be a great business case for not just fixed wireless but mobile wireless using white spaces," vows Rick Rotondo, the vice president of marketing at xG Technology. He says that the main opportunity will be in rural areas, where there are far fewer TV stations and as a result a lot more available white spaces. xG is testing out its gear in a trial with Townes Telecommunications, an Arkansas provider of local phone and Internet service. By mounting antennas of schools and water towers, the companies hope to build a flexible network that will be able to hook a farmhouse to the Internet or a cell phone to the phone network. The ability to have the network also support cell phone calls is particularly appealing to Townes, which like every older phone company has been losing landline customers to cellular competitors. Until now, there hasn't been a cost effective way to fight back. "Wireless [over white spaces] is far more reasonable than putting fiber in the ground," says Ben Dickens, general counsel for Townes Telecommunications.