GOOGLE USING ‘WHITE SPACES’ SPECTRUM TO DELIVER WI-FI TO SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLS

We’ve already seen the potential to deploy so-called “Super Wi-Fi” networks over white spaces spectrum in the United States and now Google (GOOG) is working to use the same technology to deliver Internet connectivity to ten schools in South Africa. The Verge reports that “launching the test network is Google’s most direct effort yet to demonstrate the potential of white spaces… as a means of delivering faster internet connectivity to the developing world and other rural areas.” For those unfamiliar with spectrum jargon, “white spaces” are bands of unused television spectrum that let signals travel farther and penetrate more deeply into buildings than the standard 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi spectrum bands. In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission first authorized the spectrum for unlicensed use on wireless devices back in 2008.