On Friday morning in a Cambridge meeting room, the future of free Wi-Fi will quietly be plotted. The first meeting of the "white space special interest group" will change the way we communicate wirelessly. To you and I that means saying farewell to 3G and Wi-Fi, its bank-breakingly high fees and sketchy, unpredictable coverage. In short, it's a communications revolution and the UK's leading the way.
White space technology works by searching for unused areas of the airwave bands used for TV broadcasts. The bandwidth is seamless, unused and extremely reliable according to Cambridge Consultants and Neul, who ran the first test of the technology. The service will also be free, much like bluetooth, and in June was designated license-free by Ofcom. Once it is rolled out, it could boost rural broadband access, improve machine to machine communication and save lives by changing the way out-patients are monitored.
Ed Richards, Ofcom Chief Executive, said: “At an early stage Ofcom identified the potential of White Spaces, which are currently lying vacant all around us. Within Europe, we have been leading the way to try to harness this capacity without causing harmful interference to existing users of the spectrum. The solution we have devised creates the opportunity to maximise the efficient use of spectrum and open the door to the development of a new and exciting range of consumer and business applications.”
Cambridge Consultants believe the the UK is leading the world in white space innovation. "It is important to remember that initially the US was leading development and sowed the seed for white space development. Crucially Ofcom has played an important role in setting the scene for innovation. Ofcom's remit is to make use of spectrum for the good of the UK's population."
Besides reduced broadband costs, which should make everyone living in a not-spot happy, it's the "telehealth" or medical use of white space technology that could be most meaningful. Wi-Fi's weakness in hospital environments are the reason you have to turn your phone off during visits, as any additional device trying to access that bandwidth affects the ability of important medical machines to use it. White space could mean that patients currently monitored by Wi-Fi in their homes for health issues like diabetic blood glucose levels would have a seamless service using white space.
A spokesman for the Department for Health said: DH spokesperson said: "Assistive technology such as telehealth and telecare provide opportunities for remote monitoring by health professionals of their patients. This in turn can improve independence, provide better personalised care and improve outcomes. So we welcome any interesting new ideas to help improve this further."
Everyone involved in the project to bring white space technology to the UK has emphasised that it is very early days, and the list of project partners has not yet been confirmed. But by the time your children sign up for an internet connection, and your health is being monitored remotely in your dotage, there will be no more Wi-Fi or 3G details on your bill. The future lies in the mysterious spaces in between.