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News+: WhiteSpace Project Could Grow Rural Broadband Five libraries will receive funds to implement TVWS networks Leveraging TV white space (TVWS)--unused, license-exempt portions of the radio spectrum that have been traditionally allocated to television broadcasters--could expand broadband Internet access in rural areas. The final phase of the project will involve evaluating and processing the impact of the five subaward implementations, including an analysis of how these TVWS networks can help "improve Internet access/inclusion, models for...
Five libraries will receive funds to implement TVWS networks
Leveraging TV white space (TVWS)--unused, license-exempt portions of the radio spectrum that have been traditionally allocated to television broadcasters--could expand broadband Internet access in rural areas. The School of Information, San José State University (SJSU), CA, in partnership with the Gigabit Libraries Network (GLN), has been assessing ways to do so through the Libraries WhiteSpace Project.
As a secondary goal, the project, which recently was awarded a National Leadership Grant of nearly $250,000 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), also aims to evaluate how public libraries and other Community Anchor Institutions (CAIs), such as schools and hospitals, might provide TVWS-based Wi-Fi access as a component of local disaster response. Additional partners include the Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition (SHLB), National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), and Information Technology Disaster Resource Center (ITDRC).
Regular Wi-Fi routers have an indoor range of 30 to 50 meters. By contrast, the Libraries WhiteSpace Project estimates that an outdoor omnidirectional TVWS base station antenna can broadcast to a radius of ten kilometers, or more than six miles, mostly unimpeded by surrounding terrain, buildings, or tree cover. To provide access, a central or strategically located library branch connected to the library's Internet access point would install a base station antenna. Other branches and partner CAIs within that six-mile radius would then receive the signal with remote client radios connected to local Wi-Fi routers, creating broadband hot spots throughout the community. In the event of a disaster, these hot spots could be relocated to areas with the most need.
Rural areas are particularly well suited for this use of TVWS. While urban and suburban areas with robust media and wireless markets will have fewer unused frequencies available for this type of network, rural areas are less likely to encounter conflicts, Kristen Rebmann, associate professor for the SJSU iSchool and codirector of the Libraries WhiteSpace Project, told LJ. The Libraries WhiteSpace Project will examine how rural libraries in the United States could provide fixed wireless broadband in public spaces and potentially, in some cases, directly to homes.
The project will build on information gleaned from TVWS pilots that GLN helped develop beginning in late 2013 in the Paonia branch of the Delta County Library District, CO; the Manhattan Public Library (MPL), KS, in conjunction with the Kansas State Library; the school district of Pascagoula, MS; and Delaware's Greenwood and Laurel public libraries in conjunction with the Delaware Division of Libraries. In January 2015, GLN and the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) were awarded funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation News Challenge to help continue the effort.
Based on usage statistics from MPL and other pilot libraries, the Libraries WhiteSpace Project's grant proposal estimates that adding TVWS to a rural library's network will boost usage by more than 20 percent. The cost for a base station and three to five hot spots from North American manufacturers can run to $6,000--a price that, when combined with any concerns about locally maintaining an emerging technology, might deter the same small, rural libraries that could benefit their communities most. Studying and addressing those concerns is one of the goals of the Libraries WhiteSpace Project, Rebmann noted.
The two-year project's first phase involves building a multipart, open online course scheduled to go live this month.
In phase two, the project will author program guidelines and develop specific criteria for subawards that will infuse five libraries with $15,000 in funds to support TVWS implementation, according to the grant proposal. Once those networks are deployed, the third phase will involve collecting from these subaward recipients quantitative data such as usage statistics and qualitative data including reports, planning documents, and surveys.
The final phase of the project will involve evaluating and processing the impact of the five subaward implementations, including an analysis of how these TVWS networks can help "improve Internet access/inclusion, models for crisis response collaboration among CAIs, and the role TVWS might play as a sustainable, resilient wireless infrastructure," the proposal states.
COSLA has remained an affiliate of this new phase of the project, along with other organizations including the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, the National Association of Telecommunications Officials, the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance, OTI/New America Foundation, IREX/Beyond Access, Public Knowledge, the Wireless ISP Association, Internet2, and the WhiteSpace Alliance.
Copyright Media Source, Inc. Feb 15, 2017