TELEVISION WHITE SPACES – GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS AND REGULATORY ISSUES IN INDIA Submitted as part of the course Infrastructure Development and Financing of the Post Graduate Program in Management at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad Submitted to PROFESSOR REKHA JAIN By Arpit Maheshwari Ashwin Gopalakrishnan Harini A Nupur Mangla Pallavi Bhagavatula Richa Goyat Group 10 – IDF B IDFB Course Project Submission by G10 – Arpit | Ashwin | Harini | Nupur |Pallavi | Richa Page 1 Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. 4 List of Figures and Exhibits ...................................................................................................................... 6 1. Technology ...................................................................................................................................... 8 1.1 How does TVWS work? ................................................................................................................. 8 1.2 Advantages of TVWS ..................................................................................................................... 9 Long Range ...................................................................................................................................... 9 Better Speeds .................................................................................................................................. 9 In-Building Penetration ................................................................................................................... 9 Free, Unlicensed Spectrum ........................................................................................................... 10 Globally harmonised spectrum ..................................................................................................... 10 Abundant Bandwidth .................................................................................................................... 10 1.3 Enabling Ecosystem ..................................................................................................................... 11 Standards ...................................................................................................................................... 11 Devices .......................................................................................................................................... 11 Spectrum Databases ..................................................................................................................... 12 1.4 Applications of TVWS .................................................................................................................. 13 1.5 Adoption of TVWS ....................................................................................................................... 14 United Kingdom ............................................................................................................................ 15 United States ................................................................................................................................. 15 Kenya ............................................................................................................................................. 15 South Africa ................................................................................................................................... 16 2. Regulation across the world ......................................................................................................... 17 2.1 Regulation in the USA ................................................................................................................. 17 Regulatory body: Federal Communications Commission (FCC) .................................................... 17 2.2 Regulation in the UK ................................................................................................................... 17 Regulatory Body: The Office of Communications (Ofcom) ........................................................... 17 2.3 Regulation in Canada .................................................................................................................. 19 Regulatory Body: Industry Canada (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission).................................................................................................................................. 19 Other Countries ................................................................................................................................ 19 3. Internet access in India ................................................................................................................. 21 4. Potential Applications of TVWS in India ....................................................................................... 22 5. Status of TVWS in India ................................................................................................................. 23 IDFB Course Project Submission by G10 – Arpit | Ashwin | Harini | Nupur |Pallavi | Richa Page 2 5.1 Current Spectrum Allocation for TV in India ............................................................................... 23 5.2 TV White Spaces in India ............................................................................................................. 23 5.3 Existing Policy Stance .................................................................................................................. 24 6. What should the regulator do? ..................................................................................................... 25 6.1 Licensing ...................................................................................................................................... 25 6.2 Interference ................................................................................................................................ 26 6.3 Standards .................................................................................................................................... 27 7. A Framework for India .................................................................................................................. 28 8. Exhibits .......................................................................................................................................... 30 Exhibit A: TVWS Sensing By IIT Delhi ................................................................................................ 30 Exhibit B: TVWS Sensing By IIT Bombay ............................................................................................ 31 9. References ........................................................................................................................................ 32 IDFB Course Project Submission by G10 – Arpit | Ashwin | Harini | Nupur |Pallavi | Richa Page 3 Executive Summary Television White Spaces (TVWS) refers to unused portions of spectrum in the television (TV) bands, such as guard bands between broadcasting channels and channels freed up by the transition from analogue to digital TV broadcasting. TVWS signals have longer range, better speeds and robust non-line-of-sight performance. This coupled with abundant bandwidth allow these channels to be used for delivering broadband internet access in areas that aren’t easily accessible by cable at much lower costs than optical fibre or conventional wireless networks. In addition, TVWS can be used for machine to machine communication and to cheaply provide wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) access in university campuses and public spaces. TV bands are harmonized worldwide, and this raises the expectation that TVWS will be available globally. Protection of incumbent users of the TV band is the most important consideration while deploying TVWS networks. In South Africa, Google has launched a trial TVWS program that will attempt to show that broadband can be offered over white spaces without interfering with licensed spectrum holders. Similar trials have been completed in the UK and the world’s first commercial TVWS network has been launched in the US. Some countries have also begun efforts to regulate the sector. In the United States of America (US), a TVWS database developed by Google has received certification from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This is expected to help determine white space availability and in developing certified devices to bring new technologies and services to market. In the United Kingdom (UK), regulator Ofcom is working on a model regulatory framework based on a license-exempt use of television white spaces spectrum. India’s poor rate of broadband penetration makes it a prime candidate for utilizing TVWS networks to provide high-speed and reliable internet access in rural areas. This will help bridge the divide between rural and urban India, while increasing the contribution of internet to the gross domestic product (GDP). Stable internet access to rural India will bring ~70% of the population under the ambit of internet enabled services like e-commerce, railway reservations, e-governance services, weather and crop information, online courses and education, banking and other financial services etc. IDFB Course Project Submission by G10 – Arpit | Ashwin | Harini | Nupur |Pallavi | Richa Page 4 Multiple studies have shown that there is a vast amount of unused TV spectrum currently in