‘Wonder’ spectrum is largely vacant

BENGALURU:  The TV White Space spectrum is between 480 to 598 Mhz. It is owned by Doordarshan but is being partially utilised with respect to academic experiments. Since TV transmissions is shifting from analog to digital, lesser frequency is used. In order to study the spectral occupancy in Bengaluru, data from three different locations namely - IIITB campus, a public park at Malleswaram and a residential area near a TV station in the city. It was confirmed that most of the allocated spectral band is empty, says a feasibility study done by the team. 

Dr. Jyotsna Bapat, professor and dean (faculty), IIITB, says, “We got the licence to test our project however since we did not have the required equipment to test our study in the TV White Space frequency, we simulated the same conditions in a different frequency. It is the same type of signal and only the modulation technique was tweaked. We were able to transmit data and have a digital video transmission without affecting either of the signals,” she says.

While this plan to provide digital access in mofussil (village) areas sounds simple and doable, hurdles to get licenses and a lack of funding has ensured that this plan has not gone beyond the project stage. IIITB’s project has run out of funds and needs the government’s support.