Spectrum Bridge Partners With Carlson Wireless to Deliver Broadband to Rural America Over TV White Space

LAKE MARY, FL and ARCATA, CA, Jun 12, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Spectrum Bridge, Inc. today announced a partnership with Carlson Wireless to expand adoption of TV White Spaces, in order to meet the growing demand for broadband coverage across rural America.

Spectrum Bridge and Carlson are working together to provide wireless Internet service providers (WISPs) with the solutions and services necessary to reach "last mile" customers in areas that are geographically unsuitable for deploying fixed or fiber-based broadband services. Carlson's RuralConnect products are designed to address the specific needs of the WISP, by harnessing the non-line of sight (NLOS) capabilities of TV White Space frequency bands to deliver speeds comparable to traditional wireless networks (up to 16Mbps in the current generation). Spectrum Bridge will provide guidance to Carlson during the FCC-certification process for RuralConnect and future products and services. In addition, Carlson will be distributing a new solution developed by Spectrum Bridge to give network operators unrivaled spectrum management capabilities.

Over the last year, Carlson has deployed this breakthrough technology in the most rugged parts of the U.S., bringing connectivity to remote communities, schools and public safety entities and implementing immediate improvements in the quality of life for residents.

"Many parts of the country and the world lack high-speed broadband access, due to the physical limitations of traditional wireless network technology," said Rod Dir, CEO of Spectrum Bridge. "Carlson has been one of the staunchest advocates for rural broadband deployment in the U.S., and we are proud to partner with them as they pave the way in delivering solutions to this underserved market with TV White Spaces."

The unique propagation of this new frequency spectrum allows NLOS wireless communication and wide geographical coverage, even in remote or rugged terrain. Businesses and agencies will benefit greatly from this new digital infrastructure for mission critical communications, asset tracking, telemetry, traffic control, and smart grid monitoring. Additionally, this technology is the first to use Dynamic Spectrum Sharing, simultaneously overcoming the existing scarcity of spectrum and other pervasive limitations of legacy wireless communication systems.

The FCC and the federal government have recognized that the availability of broadband is a vital component of global competition. The National Broadband Plan was established with the goal of increasing the affordability of and access to broadband Internet and mobile services. Spectrum Bridge is dedicated to working with partners like Carlson to create innovative technology capable of managing and harnessing TV White Space and other wireless frequencies worldwide.

"Spectrum Bridge has been at the forefront of fostering the development of TV White Space technologies," said Jim Carlson, CEO of Carlson. "This strategic partnership fills an acute market need by supplying performance-proven equipment to service providers so that they can deliver affordable TVWS broadband to underserved residential customers, businesses and communities."

About Spectrum Bridge, Inc. Spectrum Bridge, Inc. (SBI) develops technology and intellectual property that virtualizes spectrum by giving wireless devices access to available bandwidth more efficiently. SBI's spectrum sharing platform provides customers with greater network capacity, coverage and utilization through efficient allocation of spectrum resources. The company's platform also enhances service providers and radio manufacturer's solutions by utilizing a database-driven cognitive networking technology designed to promote co-existence. SBI was named a top innovator in the area of technology for its TV White Spaces network by the Andrew Seybold 2010 Choice Awards. The company is privately held and headquartered in Lake Mary, Florida. For more information, contact us at (866) 598-7426 or visit SpectrumBridge.com.

About Carlson For more than a decade, Carlson has led the way in engineering high-speed wireless communications solutions for a broad spectrum of applications using RF technology to deliver full voice and data connections no matter how rugged the terrain. Today, Carlson is considered a pioneer of the revolutionary new TV White Space broadband technology. More than 20 million customers in nearly 200 communities worldwide rely on Carlson radios for their public safety communications and broadband needs. Carlson serves customers in the telecommunications, public safety, military, and energy industries. For more information, contact us at (707) 822-7000 or visit www.CarlsonWireless.com

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Presidential Panel Recommends More Flexible Use of Spectrum

According to this article, it will be officially presented to the President in June.

Presidential Panel Urges More Flexible Use of Spectrum

The authors of the report included Eric E. Schmidt, the chairman of Google, Craig Mundie, Microsoft’s chief research and strategy officer and Silicon Valley venture capitalists Mark P. Gorenberg and David E. Liddle, among others.

"In response to questions after his presentation, Mr. Gorenberg said that foreign competitors were already aware of the potential economic value of the new radio technologies and that the United States was in a contest to develop systems quickly.

"I think this is a worldwide race," he said. "There are people looking at this everywhere. This is something that is very important to the U.S. to lead here to have our vendors out front so they can export their products overseas."

He warned that if the United States failed competitively, the nation would likely see a repeat of the situation in the early 1990s when advanced digital cellular standards were created first in Europe."

Related articles:

PCAST on Spectrum Sharing

How Spectrum Sharing would Work

Latest ecosystem news coming out from Spectrum Bridge and it's Partner...

Spectrum Bridge, Inc. today announced a partnership with Neul to expand the global deployment of TV White Spaces (TVWS) networks for machine-to-machine (M2M) communications.

Spectrum Bridge and Neul are working together to expand the white space ecosystem by enabling innovative partners around the world to develop M2M applications running on Weightless, the first open network standard developed for TVWS communications. The partnership will expand Neul's spectrum management expertise and exposure to the U.S. market and Spectrum Bridge will gain access to developing the global M2M segment. Both companies will be working together to achieve FCC certification of Neul's innovative products. Neul's radio technology together with the Spectrum Bridge platform enables the efficient use of TVWS to create networks for broadband delivery and M2M communications.


See the full press release

Spectrum Bridge introduces Call Sign Monitoring Service...

Call Sign Monitoring

TV Band spectrum holders can now monitor their Call Signs for registration activity.

• Broadcasters
• Public Safety “T-band” network operators
• Incumbent TV spectrum users
• Wireless Microphone & low power auxiliary station users

Our service notifies spectrum holders whenever users register for protection using Call Signs that belong to you. This service helps detect Call Sign use by non-authorized users.

• Easy Call Sign setup & registration
• Continuous monitoring for use of your Call Signs
• Real-time alert notification when your Call Sign is used
• Receive alerts when someone else is trying to use your Call Signs

Broadcasters and primary TV band users are encouraged to register for protection of Call Signs through our web site. Our solution uses proprietary spectrum management technology and protected entity registration data from all White Space database administrators.

Register NOW to protect your Spectrum

Visit us at www.SpectrumBridge.com

Recent Industry News & Developments

FCC Updates White Space Device Rules
TV Technology
The FCC released the Third Memorandum Opinion and Order (FCC 12-36) regarding use of unlicensed "white space" devices in the TV broadcast bands.

How white space brought broadband to a remote Scottish Isle
PC Pro (blog) - Apr 11, 2012 
BT has been for several months running a technical trial of white spacebroadband on the Isle of Bute, west of Glasgow. Ten farmers have been given connections this way, with a mast at Kilchattan Bay spitting out spectrum to five farms to the northeast …

Cambridge stages white space summit
Business Weekly - Apr 11, 2012 
TTP Group's head of wireless, Richard Walker, will talk about the need to serve rural communities with white space capability while Nick Welsh, information assurance & technical adviser to the UK Cabinet Office, will address the implications for Ad hoc ...

Broadcast TV Channel Sharing Moves Forward
TV Technology
The FCC will take another step in preparation for the incentive auction of UHF TV spectrum recently allowed by the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012.

Spectrum Question Colors Broadcasters Convention
National Journal
Congress was still weighing proposals that some broadcasters worried could force them to give up their lifeblood: spectrum.

More Spectrum, Better Health
Daily Yonder
That's why the FCC needs to open up new spectrum now. By Alan Morgan Alan Morgan, Chief Executive Officer for the National Rural Health Association.

Let's work together to keep 'spectrum highway' humming
Great Falls Tribune
Something called "spectrum" is the highway that allows mobile voice and data traffic to move. As more and more people adopt smartphones and tablets that are data-hungry—downloading movies, games and apps, the lanes of the spectrum highway get more and ...

White House Needs to Shake Loose Underutilized Government Spectrum
Huffington Post - Apr 12, 2012
That plan included the essential objective of identifying 500 MHZ of additional mobile spectrumcapacity to support exponential growth in the wireless web.


New TV white-space rules provide more flexibility in rural areas
FierceBroadbandWireless - Apr 8, 2012
Wireless Internet service providers hoping to ply their trade in TV white space are cheering three significant FCC rule changes that will make it easier to use the spectrum to deliver broadband service in remote and rural locations, particularly those …

Here is a very interesting and objective viewpoint for the use of unlicensed spectrum for the shared use of public airwaves from a Mark Cooper paper written in January 2012...

Below is the link to the Mark Cooper paper: Efficiency gains and consumer benefits of unlicensed access to the public airwaves.

http://www.markcooperresearch.com/SharedSpectrumAnalysis.pdf

Get Ready for the Next Evolution beyond WiFi…

Get Ready for the Next Evolution beyond WiFi…

With the most recent regulatory and industry developments in TV White Space, it is the dawn of a new generation of innovative wireless products and services. Spectrum Bridge has received approval from the FCC to operate the TV white space platform which will begin providing service to devices beginning in Wilmington, NC on January 26, 2012.

With the likes of Google and Microsoft advocating the use of white space, the marketplace will soon be filled with millions of devices looking to capitalize on the wireless enhancements this technology enables.

In a recent article with Business Insider, Microsoft’s Dan Reed, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Technology Policy Group said, "If you look at the economic returns that have been accrued by WiFi, it's a multi-billion economic impact. We absolutely believe this has the same potential, given the explosive demand for wireless communications -- perhaps even larger,"

We couldn’t agree more.

Spectrum Bridge is excited about the next evolution beyond WiFi and the major impact it will have on the wireless industry from a global perspective. For more information on TV white spaces, click here.

Link to the referenced article...
FCC press release


-Long Hoang, Product Marketing