Post date: Dec 10, 2012 3:54:51 AM
From IEEE 802.22TM-2011 Standard for Wireless Regional Area Networks in TV Whitespaces Completed (link)
"This new standard for Wireless Regional Area Networks (WRANs) takes advantage of the favorable transmission characteristics of the VHF and UHF TV bands to provide broadband wireless access over a large area up to 100 km from the transmitter. Each WRAN will deliver up to 22 Mbps per channel without interfering with reception of existing TV broadcast stations, using the so-called white spaces between the occupied TV channels. This technology is especially useful for serving less densely populated areas, such as rural areas, and developing countries where most vacant TV channels can be found."
Some highlights: unlicensed TV spectrum band, operating based on P2MP, cognitive radio to allow sharing with incumbent technologies (TV channel and wireless microphone) and support max 22 Mbps per channel for 100 km radius. So this is where the rural area can reap the benefits of this standard due to low population density. Ideally allow max 12 users to get approx. 1.5 Mbps. But, the priority is not the speed, it’s the coverage, which might be useful at the other part of the world.
Note: it should be emphasize that the achievable data rate is 22 Mbps per channel, and not per user. For example, 12 simultaneous users can offer 1.5 Mbps (DL) with 384 kbps (UL) [reference]. As such, this is relevant to less populated areas.
Technical presentation from the working group: IEEE 802.22 Wireless Regional Area Networks
While this guy wrote an excellent article about the future challenges on the technology