What are “White Spaces” and how will they affect you?

Cutting edge technology is on its way to Wilmington that could turn the Port City into America’s first “Smart City.” Its called “White Space” technology, which uses the void in the airwaves from the digital TV switch for different purposes altogether.

WiFi access throughout the city, intelligent traffic systems, water systems, power systems are all possible with this white space technology. Wilmington is going to be the first test market in the country.

How does it work? As TV switched to digital here in Wilmington in September 2008 and the rest of the country last June and the analog signals were turned off, a void, or white space, was created in the broadcasting spectrum. In other words, frequencies that were used before are now freed up.

The main question is how to use this white space. The possibilities are endless, but the most attractive one is citywide WiFi.

“It is very possible for somebody to wake up, walk out of their house, drive to work, and never lose their internet connection and have data the whole way,” said Chip Bobbert of UNCW Productions.

From a city and county perspective, this could allow for smart monitoring of the power grid, water quality, and traffic flow all in real time.

“Places where we could not traditionally reach with a wire, you can put one of these white spaces radios on and transmit that signal back to a point on the ground,” said New Hanover County IT Director Leslie Stanfield.

With all this new information, the city expects to learn the strength and weaknesses of the system. With Wilmington being a national test market for this type of technology it will be a learn-as-we-go process.