Nation’s first Super Wi-Fi network arrives

New Hanover County in North Carolina became the first county in the United States to deploy a Super Wi-Fi network, but the real question is will it also be the last?

The technology, which uses the unlicensed spectrum between the digital TV broadcasting airwaves to deliver a wireless broadband signal, is not as healthy as the pomp and circumstance surrounding the launch may indicate. And as of now it’s fate as a mainstream technology is in doubt. The current spectrum bill wending its way through Congress makes delivering Wi-Fi in the digital TV spectrum an iffy proposition, and the tech firms that so ardently supported the technology have fallen silent on the importance of using this spectrum for unlicensed broadband. The spectrum bill, that is part of an effort to take some of the digital TV airwaves away for cellular use, will make it hard for crowded urban markets to find enough channels to deliver plentiful Super Wi-Fi service.