Is wireless broadband provision to rural communities in TV whitespaces viable? A UK case study and analysis

In this paper we quantitatively investigate the feasibility of rural broadband provisioning TV whitespaces from the perspective of a fixed-line operator. We consider a hybrid architecture where wireless broadband to not-spots is provided using point-to-multipoint whitespace links at the end of the existing fixed-line infrastructure connectivity points, such as an Exchange or a Cabinet. Our techno-economical studies incorporate real whitespace availability; population density and the location of Exchanges in the UK, along with costs related to infrastructure, backhaul, and sites, which were often overlooked in previous studies. The study findings indicate the provision of rural broadband in TVWS spectrum is a technically and commercially highly feasible solution. This is because our proposed solution not only eliminates the cost of the spectrum, by using whitespaces, but also other dominant costs, i.e. site procurement, build and backhaul costs can be greatly reduced by reusing existing infrastructure. Our modeling and analysis methodology is applied to UK but could be extended elsewhere.