TVWS – ACT | The App Association

What Are “TV White Spaces”?

Television white spaces are unused spectrum bands near and between television broadcast channels.
This resource can help bridge the digital divide by providing wireless broadband to America’s underserved communities.
The ability to travel long distances and through geographic obstacles make television spectrum bands ideal for mobile broadband.
Fast upload and download speeds make television white spaces essential to the future of 5G.

Why White Spaces?

39% of rural Americans lack access to broadband

By contrast, only 4% of Americans in urban areas lack access to broadband.

The Federal Communications Commission defines broadband as connectivity speeds of 25/3 megabits per second or lower.

White Spaces take advantage of underutilized spectrum.

• The Federal Communications Commission designates television white spaces as “unlicensed,” meaning no one can exclude others from using the spectrum.

• Still, valuable television white spaces remain underused in most parts of the country, doing a disservice to the American public.

• The future of 5G networks depends on licensed and unlicensed spectrum – we must put television white spaces to productive use.

What are the Benefits of Television White Spaces?

Television white spaces are already being used across the country, providing benefits to different parts of society.

Agriculture

A driver of the rural economy, agriculture contributed $136.7 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product in 2015. Television white spaces can benefit America’s farmers and ranchers by supporting broadband-connected devices that provide hyper-local, hyper-accurate data about crops and outputs.

Education

Television white spaces are helping to bridge America’s “homework gap.” They’re already supporting home broadband connections for students in rural Virginia, drawing from their local school’s existing broadband connection.

Healthcare

Many rural communities across America do not have easy access to doctors and hospitals – states like Mississippi only have 53 physicians per 100,000 residents. Television white spaces can help support an important virtual avenue between patients and doctors.

Entrepreneurship

For decades, America’s rural communities have led the country in entrepreneurship. Television white spaces can help bolster America’s aspiring entrepreneurs by providing access to the internet to share their ideas, goods, or services with consumers around the globe.