Microsoft is under attack in India for its plans to harness ‘white spaces’ for last mile connectivity
Advertisement
Advertisement
Microsoft’s plans of enabling last mile connectivity to 5 lakh villages might seem like a noble cause but the way is not much appreciated in India. After India's top mobile carriers, the Broadband India Forum (BIF) has countered its plan to use the unused television broadcast frequencies or 'white spaces' for delivering low-cost rural broadband connectivity The BIF has urged telecom secretary Rakesh Garg to ensure such broadcast frequencies in TV UHF band, which, typically, lie in the 470-698 MHz range, be only allocated through an open auction and not given away free. BIF represents companies such as
"Since TV UHF spectrum has excellent propagation characteristics, making it ideal for both in-building data services and rural coverage, it must be auctioned, given the limited amount of spectrum available for mobile services in the conventional 800, 900, 1800, 2100 MHz bands," said BIF in a letter to Garg, a copy of which was seen by ET.
BIF president TV Ramachandran told ET that "technology companies like
Microsoft, however, maintains that TV white space is one of the most innovative technologies that the company is fostering.
Advertisement
"In India, we have completed a successful pilot in Srikakulam (in Andhra Pradesh), and the reasons behind undertaking the pilot are to take the technology risk out, to show that this technology works and (can) even help create an economic model that allows affordable WiFi to be delivered successfully," a Microsoft spokeswoman said in written response to ET's queries.
(Image credits: Indiatimes)
Advertisement
- Saudi Arabia wants China to help fund its struggling $500 billion Neom megaproject. Investors may not be too excited.
- I spent $2,000 for 7 nights in a 179-square-foot room on one of the world's largest cruise ships. Take a look inside my cabin.
- One of the world's only 5-star airlines seems to be considering asking business-class passengers to bring their own cutlery
- India's pharma exports rise 10% to $27.9 bn in FY24
- Indian IT sector staring at 2nd straight year of muted revenue growth: Crisil
- Shubman Gill to play 100th IPL game as Gujarat locks horns with Delhi today
- Realme Narzo 70, Narzo 70X 5G smartphones launched in India starting at ₹11,999
- Indian housing sentiment index soars, Ahmedabad emerges as frontrunner