Wireless brings hope for extending broadband in India

Much attention over the last year has been paid to extending broadband coverage in Africa. Given that three quarters of the population of Africa live in rural areas, the technical and commercial challenges of achieving universal access are great. Microsoft's 4Afrika projects have been showing how new wireless technology, based on dynamic spectrum access (DSA) and the TV white spaces, can enable broadband coverage to be provided more affordably than before.

Now a report in the Times of India refers to a proposal by Microsoft to bring the DSA/white spaces technology to help tackle rural broadband challenges in India. Apparently the proposal was made during a recent visit to India by Microsoft's CEO - whose roots are in Hyderabad.

The results of study of white space availability in India was published by Gaurang Naik et al from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay...., in 2013. It concluded that an average of 100 MHz is available, across India. - and that only 4 UHF channels (32 MHz) would be needed to provide comprehensive terrestrial TV coverage, if the networks were replanned more efficiently.