When Will We Need New TV White Spaces Standard?

A new IEEE standard designated 802.19.1 aims to fix what for now is a minor flaw in TV white spaces broadband technology, but which could become more problematic in the future as the technology is more widely deployed.

When technologists figured out how to use database technology to keep track of where TV broadcast spectrum was in use by licensed broadcasters, it paved the way for wireless Internet service providers and others to use vacant broadcast spectrum to support broadband wireless connectivity. But as deployed today, the database technology doesn’t keep track of where other unlicensed users are using vacant spectrum. And considering that most, if not all, TV white spaces equipment requires at least one TV channel and that signals can travel as far as 100 kilometers, it’s easy to see how that limitation could eventually be a problem.