India's plan for whitespace broadband internet

The WhiteSpace Alliance (WSA) in partnership with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, has released a roadmap that describes how underutilised broadcast spectrum (whitespace) can be used to deliver reliable, cost-effective broadband internet services to India’s rural areas.

The roadmap includes technical, regulatory and pilot program recommendations to support widespread deployment of solutions using shared spectrum techniques.

The plan was introduced at the CMAI Association of India - Communications Multimedia Applications and Infrastructure (CMAI ICT) World Communications Summit and Awards event on 11 December by Dr Malcolm Johnson, Director (Deputy Secretary General elect) of the ITU.

“Release of the WhiteSpace Alliance plan is a significant step forward in realising our national vision of Digital India,” said NK Goyal, chairman emeritus, Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association of India, and president, Association of India Communications Multimedia and Infrastructure. “We believe spectrum sharing holds great promise for broad delivery of internet-based health, education and administrative services, as well as commercial opportunities.”

Utilising dormant TV band spectrum will complement and expand the value of India’s investment in its National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN). Currently, NOFN can provide backhaul connectivity, but has limited ability to connect to access networks such as Wi-Fi access points.

Whitespace solutions can provide multi-kilometre, middle-mile connections between access networks and the NOFN without expensive investments in line-of-sight infrastructure.

“IIT Bombay is conducting state-of-the-art research on TV band whitespace and how it can provide solutions to meet the needs of Digital India. This roadmap paper is expected to provide guidelines to the regulators and industry alike,” said Prof Abhay Karandikar of IIT Bombay.

“The alliance is working actively with commercial, academic and government organisations to make spectrum sharing a reality in India,” said Dr Apurva N Mody, chairman of WhiteSpace Alliance. “We are confident that improved utilisation of whitespace bands can be used to rapidly deploy broadband services throughout the country.”