Map shows possible TV white-space coverage zones for 16,500+ libraries

An interactive online map from the Gigabit Libraries Network (GLN) shows prospective TV white space (TVWS) coverage zones for the more than 16,500 US public libraries, which the GLN is using to make a pitch for including such facilities in upcoming rural broadband experiments authorized by the Federal Communications Commission.

It shows how each facility could be used as a TVWS base station hub, providing expanded wireless broadband coverage areas to "satellite" library Wi-Fi hotspots up to 10 miles away, which would be supported via wireless backhaul using TVWS equipment. Using this design, those patrons who rely on public libraries to provide broadband access would no longer be required to be inside or beside the facilities to get service.

GLN hopes its interactive map will "support planning by anyone from the FCC to commercial providers to individual libraries exploring ways to incorporate TVWS capabilities into their overall connectivity strategies," said Don Means, GLN project director. "Libraries, schools and other anchor institutions deploying TVWS seem to offer a perfect fit with the FCC's upcoming rural broadband trials program," he added.