The world of Sadako - who frequently crawls off the TV through "white spaces" - is about to get claimed! [see original story at the bottom]

This, as we've successfully completed trials to use TV white spaces to offer broadband internet to our customers! Score another innovation for us!

“The TV White Space provides us with another means to bridge the Digital Divide in remote rural areas where traditional means of backhaul such as fiber or multi-hop microwave terrestrial backhaul does not make it economically viable for telecommunication providers to deploy broadband facilities,” Manny Estrada (Senior Vice President for Network Technologies Strategy) says.

The trials were undertaken in partnership with the Information and Communications Technology Office (ICTO) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) over the last 8 months in several areas in the country including Cebu and Bohol, in support of our bid to maximize available spectrum given rapid increases in data consumption.

And! We are first Philippine telecommunications company to adopt the TV white space frequency for broadband use!

The trial run was undertaken by Globe in partnership with NuRAN Wireless Inc., a Canadian-based leading supplier of mobile and broadband wireless solutions. During the trials, NuRAN’s equipment generated up to 10 Mbps over distances of 7 and 12 kilometers. With the achievement of this important milestone, NuRAN will begin rolling out units in 2016 for broadband public access.

WHITE SPACES NO LONGER SADAKO'S

TV White Space refers to the unused TV channels between the active ones in the VHF and UHF spectrum. These are typically referred to as the “buffer” channels. In the past, these buffers were placed between active TV channels to protect broadcasting interference. It has since been researched and proven that this unused spectrum can be used to provide broadband Internet access while operating harmoniously with surrounding TV channels.

Oh, and yes, if you watched The Ring series of horror films, it's where Sadako crawls out from.

Utilizing TV white space for propagation of internet service is a relatively new technology as TV broadcast began transitioning from analog to digital, which paved the way for the availability of more TV channels or frequencies that could be utilized for broadband use. NuRAN’s technology focuses on UHF bands from 470 to 698 MHz.

Once in place, the technology is expected to provide an alternative wireless network that will provide data connectivity in far flung areas in Visayas and Mindanao.

Manny said increasing demand for wireless data traffic and growing pressure to network capacity has spurred an interest to utilize these unallocated portions of the radio spectrum. The TV white space’s long range of reach means utilization of this frequency for broadband use would require less number of cell sites to provide coverage for a given geographic location compared with existing wireless technologies. This means that the use of the TV white space spectrum for propagation of broadband technologies is more cost efficient for telco providers.

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[Original story]

Remember when TV screens would display that grainy white static thing? It meant that there was no reception. And we all know who loves to come out when there is no reception:

Actually, that was what white space looked like before the advent of cable TV. Sadako may ultimately get stuck in old tech as Globe begins adopting white space for broadband use.

Globe is the first PH telco to tap TV white space for broadband internet. Our ongoing pilot-testing, in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology’s Information and Communications Technology Office (DOTC-ICTO), is currently the most extensive in the Asian region. 

WTH is White Space? 

White spaces are gaps between channels, broadcasting frequencies that are unused or were deliberately left unassigned to serve as buffers to prevent interference. Think of it as the channel skips you get in between the channels 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11… and so on.

Now, the shift from analog to digital television has even left more white spaces available for use. As luck would have it, these spaces in the wireless spectrum are similar to what is used for 4G, and can be used to deliver widespread broadband internet!

Spectrum is a Finite Resource

Remember how we’re still battling to get a fair share of that 700 mhz spectrum? It's because spectrum is a finite resource -- it's a range of frequencies that is just out there. And while more communication devices are being invented, and more and more people are getting on them, the amount of spectrum remains the same. Adopting TV white space for internet then, will maximize the use of this critical resource.

The use of white space for broadband is currently gaining traction. Several countries are presently holding trials, but so far, only the United States has commercially deployed white space for broadband internet.

White space frequencies have great propagation characteristics and can travel up to 10 kilometers, making it great for remote and off-the-grid areas that are otherwise inaccessible. 

So, bye bye Sadako! Unless, of course you have a copy of the tape. But good luck playing that on your cellphone.

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About our ICONtributor

Portia Carlos is obsessed with dogs. She has six. She loves to cook - if she falls in love with a dish, she will learn how to make it so she can have it even at 2 am. This self-confessed non-sporty "lampa" girl plays flag football (sometimes), surfs (sometimes), and does yoga (sometimes, too). She loves the beach, politics, oysters, wine, beer, and bad food (chicharon bulaklak and isaw on top of the list).

Portia is part of the Corporate Communications Group (CCG) and you can catch her at the 26F of TGT (or at her second office - Niner Ichi Nana)