Microsoft India is ready with a plan to provide free last-mile internet connectivity across the country.
It proposes to use the “white space” – the unused spectrum between two
TV channels – to provide free connectivity to large sections of the Indian population.
“Wifi has a range of only about 100 metres, whereas the 200-300 MHz spectrum band available in the white space can reach up to 10 km,” said Bhaskar Pramanik, chairman, Microsoft India. “This spectrum belongs mainly to Doordarshan and the government and is not used at all. We have sought clearance for a pilot project in two districts.”
If the pilots are successful, the project can be quickly rolled out across the country and could give a huge boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India initiative, which proposes to use technology to deliver governance to every citizen of India, even in remote areas.
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Microsoft, which was part of an international consortium that included BT,
Nokia and BBC, conducted the most widespread field trials on white space-based Internet connectivity in Cambridge, US, in 2011. The technology hasn’t been widely adopted anywhere in the world, but experts believe it can lead to a spurt in broadband connectivity in countries such as India. Engineers at Microsoft development centres in India have adapted this unlicenced technology for this country.
