ARCATA-- TV White Space is making big news.  It is an untapped resource that offers abundant amounts of unlicensed spectrum whose signal can penetrate almost any obstacle, from trees to walls, which is especially important in rural areas.

Carlson Wireless is one of the first to introduce a multi-point radio that operates in the TV white space. Carlson’s RuralConnect IP is designed to bring high-speed wireless broadband to rural communities that desperately need it.

This technology could dramatically affect the future of critical infrastructure industries (CII) such as utilities, power generation, petroleum, pipeline, water and gas industries.

 These industries need the support of advanced communications technologies that enable automation, control and data acquisition. For example, managing the supply and demand of electricity, accessing critical data remotely, and monitoring remote equipment, water reservoirs and substations.

Using the unlicensed broadband spectrum of TV white space, SCADA applications can be vastly improved and upgrades deployed very economically. RuralConnect IP has the capacity and reliability that utility smart grid networks require. It can also help interstate pipelines implement IP-based technologies throughout their operations.

The fact that many of these CII entities cover miles of rural and rugged territory is all the more reason why Carlson’s TV White Space Radio, the RuralConnect IP, could be a key component in deploying all these advanced systems. It gives users the “Super Wi-Fi” advantage for broadband connectivity, particularly in non-line-of-sight areas.

A rural electric co-op, whose users were spread throughout three remote mountainous counties in Northern California, participated in a trial using this technology with excellent results. The co-op deployed a cost-effective smart grid upgrade to manage its supply-and-demand of electricity and to improve SCADA with its substations.

TV White Space is the ideal spectrum for rural smart grid as it will support many devices such as digital electricity meters for homes and businesses, and home energy management systems. Utilities could automate meter reading and send outage notifications more efficiently. Better still, it will help support the movement toward a more sustainable energy path.

CEO Jim Carlson has been developing his groundbreaking RuralConnect IP product for two years and was integral in encouraging the FCC to approve the use of the unlicensed TV White Space spectrum. 

Carlson, who is becoming widely known as an expert in the field of TV white space, has been a featured speaker at many important conferences, including UTC Telecom 2011, where he participated on the panel discussion: "TV White Spaces - Are There Opportunities for Utilities?"

“Mission-critical industries need reliable wireless technology and plenty of spectrum,” noted Carlson. “TV white space is abundant spectrum, especially in rural areas.”

As further proof of Carlson’s commitment to support the utilities, oil-gas-petro and water/wastewater sectors, he recently added a new sales executive who specializes in SCADA. Michael Tuel was on a committee for the Water Environment Federation for 11 years. Tuel joins Carlson with pre-existing experience in white-space technologies as well as a mutual drive to serve the CII industries.

For more information, Carlson provides an educational link to a RuralConnect IP demo video: http://www.carlsonwireless.com/tvws/tv-white-space.php