Just as a new international trade group has formed to promote untapped television spectrum – known as “white space” – for wireless broadband, Carlson has been successfully demonstrating a promising new product in the sector.
Carlson Wireless is now unveiling “RuralConnect IP Version II,” which will be available for purchase during the first quarter of 2012. The device is a TV white space radio which has speeds up to 16 Mb/s. RuralConnect IP Version II offers additional benefits because of its frequency division duplexing, the company says on its website.
Neul partnered with Carlson in the product’s development. Electronic Design Magazine named RuralConnect IP as “the Best Wireless Device of 2011.”
“We are honored that Electronic Design recognizes our work and that this pioneering product is listed among all the other innovative designs,” Carlson Wireless CEO Jim Carlson said in a recent company statement.
The product was shown off at recent conferences. The demonstrations included Carlson, Telcordia and Spectrum Bridge. Wireless Internet service providers have ordered the first 1,000 units of RuralConnect IP Version II.
Meanwhile, the newly formed international WhiteSpace Alliance includes: AmeriSys, BAE Systems, ETRI, NICT and Relay Services, according to a report from CED Magazine.
“Notably missing from the group’s membership are the companies that have been trying, so far without much success, to establish white space services in the U.S.,” says CED Magazine. “These include Dell, Google, Microsoft, Spectrum Bridge, Carlson and Aviacomm – all members of the Wireless Innovation Alliance.”
The new, international alliance is aiming to meet the needs of “unserved and underserved markets around the world with this technology,” CED adds. It will use the IEEE 802.22 standard and possibly 4G/LTE, CED adds.
Overall, the sector is looking at lots of opportunities from TV white space.
“TV white space promises to be the ultimate solution to spectrum shortage and current rural broadband limitations,” according to the Carlson Wireless press release. “Due to the strong propagation of UHF signal, it is the first wireless broadband technology that can be effectively and affordably deployed in rugged, forested terrain.”
Carlson develops products to provide high-speed Internet and connectivity to rural areas and to businesses which have remote operations, the company explains in the press release. Close to 20 million customers in almost 200 communities benefit from Carlson radios for broadband, according to information posted on Carlson’s website. The regions served range from the Arctic Circle to the jungles of Peru.
In a related matter, in a recent survey from the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association, it was revealed that local exchange carriers that provide wireless services to their customers serve an average of 4,400 wireless subscribers with an average of 35 cell sites, according to a report from Peter Bernstein on MobilityTechzone.
“This may not seem like a lot, but that is not to negate their criticality to the nation’s economy, especially in terms of their challenges of bridging the historic digital divide between areas and individuals with affordable access to things like wired and now wireless broadband,” Bernstein adds.
Ed Silverstein is a MobilityTechzone contributor. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.Edited by
Rich Steeves 
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