TV White Space and Spectrum Matters

In my last blog on " What is TV White Space? Myth and Truth Explained ", I posted a question: " For TV bands / channels totally freed up (i.e., no primary user) after digital switchover, do / can they be considered as TVWS or unlicensed spectrum or they should be licensed out to individual organizations? Which part of the figure above should they belong to? Blue, green or yellow? " Just to recap, Blue is licensed spectrum, Yellow is unlicensed spectrum and Green is in between which refers to White Space. Theoretically, for spectrum that is totally free (unoccupied), it falls in neither of the above or it could be either of them. Based on cost-benefit analysis of different countries, the respective administration may decide to auction off the spectrum, craft them out as unlicensed spectrum or assign them as white space. Let me share why assigning them as white space is the best option if there are opposing views from different stakeholders or the r...

“ TV White Spaces (TVWS) are wireless spectrums in the TV bands that are not being fully utilized by licensed services, such as TV broadcasting, and are made available for other users on secondary basis provided the secondary users do not interfere with the licensed services. ” I’ll elaborate more below. First, let’s start with many questions people typically ask: ·          Is it an unlicensed spectrum? – not quite ·          Is it spectrum left over after analog to digital TV switchover? – not quite ·          Is it a technology making use of broadcasting for communication? – no ·          Is it allocated to somebody and only they could offer TVWS services? – no During my 11-year involvement in TVWS developments, I encountered many people trying to define TVWS differently. Even some so-called TVWS ex...