Roll out of devices designed to use the...

Roll out of devices designed to use the unlicensed spectrum in the unused TV bands known as the TV white spaces may ramp up beginning in 2015, said Microsoft Principal Group Program Manager Amer Hassan at a Microsoft panel on unlicensed spectrum Tuesday. Silicon vendors are already starting to design microchips to take advantage of the spectrum, Hassan said. The TV white spaces will become increasingly important as more devices become available that use Wi-Fi connectivity, said several panelists. The Internet of Things, in which everyday devices such as refrigerators and toothbrushes will share data and applications over the Internet, “will be dominated by unlicensed spectrum,” said Richard Thanki of the University of Southampton Institute of Complex Systems Simulation. Thanki said such technology will also have industrial applications, leading to manufacturing equipment and warehouses that take advantage of wireless connectivity. Since the devices don’t need to exchange huge amounts of data, the TV white spaces are particularly suited to their use, Thanki said. All the panelists said the number of devices that take advantage of the white spaces is on the rise. It’s possible that the incentive auction could reduce the amount of available unlicensed spectrum, said New America Foundation’s Wireless Future Project Director Michael Calabrese. The incentive auction has created “uncertainty” about how much of the white spaces will be left in the wake of the repacking process, Calabrese said.