Carlson and Neul are to jointly develop a white space radio networking system that will marketed as affordable broadband comms in rural regions of the world.
Volume shipments of the new system are planned before the end of 2011, with samples and development equipment available before then.
“Millions of people around the world do not currently have access to decent broadband at affordable prices. In today’s world this is not acceptable,“ said Luke D’Arcy, v-p marketing at Neul.
The companies claim the system will provide access to more than 100MHz of white space radio spectrum in the UHF band.
The propagation characteristics of UHF signals mean that line of sight is not always needed to the subscriber’s home.
“This is a technology that uses vacated TV channels (TV white spaces) for broadband. It is especially effective in sparsely populated areas and rugged terrain, giving rural communities real-time access to the business opportunities and educational resources the internet has to offer,” said Carlson CEO, James Carlson.
“White space radio technology will allow them to serve even more customers, thanks to its long range and non line of sight capabilities," said D'Arcy.
Carlson and Neul plan to deliver a high-bandwidth product for use in the US, UK and beyond.
With approval from both the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Ofcom (the UK’s spectrum regulatory entity), the companies plan to introduce the product to the open market by year’s end.