Should Television Airwaves Provide Free WiFi?

By Chuck Seegert, Ph.D.

As television usage shrinks, some researchers suggest turning the bandwidths traditionally used for television into common property for a free public WiFi service. Broadcasting over long distances and through walls could have far-reaching consequences and a positive economic impact. 

Currently, wireless data transmission is largely confined to WLAN networks like WiFi. Unfortunately, the frequency ranges used for these services are around 2 GHz and are limited in the distances they can cover. With the increase of web-based entertainment and news, the use of television airwaves has decreased markedly. Much discussion has centered on using the airwaves traditionally used for television for increased wireless phone access.

Researchers from the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have a novel idea, according to a recent press release. They propose making television frequencies available for free communication and perhaps even increasing the transmission power. This would allow wireless communication that could go distances of up to several kilometers.

“Implementation of our approach would have far-reaching consequences,” said Arnd Weber of ITAS in the press release. “Individuals, institutions, and companies would be far less dependent on expensive mobile communications networks in conducting their digital communication. This would also be of great economic benefit.”

One difference this approach may require compared to existing services would be to have receivers and transmitters regulated, according to a recent paper published by the researchers in Telecommunications Policy. Currently, only transmitters are regulated, but including receivers would better allow interference prediction.

Certain economic theorists argue that the best use of the television airwaves, which are limited resources, is to sell them on the open market so they will achieve their optimal use, according to the press release. This is being entertained in the United States as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has planned an auction of these frequencies that is likely to include cellphone providers in the bidding, according to a recent article from RF Globalnet.

If these airwaves were to be made public, however, some people, like economist and political consultant Martin Cave, feel that they would become congested with traffic, according to the press release. According to the study, though, these concerns could be laid to rest with innovative technical solutions.

Image Credit: KIT