Page 8 - EngineerIT April 2022

ICT CONNECTIVITY

Is there a future for TV White Spaces?

ith so much focus on the broadband spectrum auctions and the TV digital
migration making more spectrum available, the question that arises is: “Is TV
WWhite Spaces (TVWS) technology still worth considering as an option to provide
more people with affordable access to the internet?”
WAPA believes it is a viable and economic option, but rapid action is required from ICASA
to publish the access fee as during the state of disaster the access was made free.
South Africa was an early innovator in piloting internet access on the unused frequencies
between TV channels but while technical trials have been carried out in the Western Cape
and Limpopo, the commercial and economic aspects were not investigated until two years
ago, when the Wireless Access Providers Association (WAPA) embarked on a large-scale
commercial trial in association with a consortium. The consortium of South African and US
partners included Stadia Capital, Adaptrum, International Data Corporation (IDC), Microsoft,
Project Isizwe and the United States Trade Development Agency (USTDA).
The project, which was aimed at demonstrating the technical, socio-economic and
commercial benefits of TVWS, ended recently and a detailed report is expected to
be published soon. The report will be made available to WAPA members via a secure Paul Colmer
members’ portal.
Technologically speaking, internet connectivity on TV White Spaces is not much with a total of 30 Wi-Fi hotspots. The
of a challenge. Using TVWS in the 470-694 MHz frequency band on a secondary basis, hotspots are scattered within walking
(excluding radio astronomy sub-band 606 MHz to 614 MHz) has proven to be an excellent distance of each citizen of the trial area.
technical solution. After the trial, wireless internet service
providers (WISPS) in South Africa may
The USTDA provided $1 million to kick-start the research project. The purpose of the study have the opportunity to deploy as many as
was to demonstrate TVWS as a commercially relevant and optimal solution for connecting 1600 such base stations, reaching 50 000
rural South Africa. The end result of the feasibility study will be documented into a technical hotspots servicing a potential
analysis, a financial feasibility study and an executive paper which will show the following 13 million rural citizens.
findings of the main elements of the commercial trial and study:
• the population density TVWS is best suited to serve; Expected development impacts
• the topology best suited to using TVWS; “We live in an unjust and unfair society,”
• the average revenue per user which can be safely assumed once connectivity is in place; and said Paul Colmer of WAPA, who was
• the predicted return on investment periods. intimately involved. “Low-income groups
pay the highest price for data because
TVWS have many advantages over the 2 and 5 GHZ bands they can only afford to buy small pay-as-
The key advantage of TVWS deployment is that the signal coverage can reach up to a 10 km you-go packages, yet they need it most.
radius from the base station without the requirement of line-of-sight. This makes it ideal for Their average cost of data is astronomical
connecting people living in the rural undulating hills of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, compared with higher income groups
as well as areas in other provinces where there is poor existing backhaul infrastructure. which pay as little as R2 – R3 per Gig.
For the trial, each TVWS base station was connected at a bandwidth of 20 Mbps “We are a long way off the ITU call
for bridging the digital divide and the
creation of a digitally inclusive society. I
believe that with the implementation of
TVWS, rural communities will get access
to affordable internet within walking
distance of their homes”.
The initial commercial feasibility study
used leased and loaned equipment from
Adaptrum, Isizwe and Microsoft. Three
WAPA WISPS who supported the project
are Airband (part of Herotel), Letaba
Wireless and Mia Voice and Data.

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