Do you remember where you were when Obama was elected president? Probably. Or when Europe won the 2010 Ryder Cup? Maybe. Well how about when the FCC ruled to open up the white space for high-speed wireless access? I doubt it, and yet this could be one of the most critical events to impact upon US communications in decades.

The FCC’s recent ruling represents the first significant block of unlicensed spectrum to be made available in over 20 years and is the first step towards redefining the country’s spectrum policy. As I mentioned in a recent post, the opportunity for the development of white space networks in both rural and urban environments is immense. However, many are quick to highlight some of the technical challenges involved here and the work that will have to be done to successfully implement these WiFi blankets.

However, what I find most tantalising is the hope of what is to come. White space networks will be operating at spectrum levels of less than 2.1 GHz, most often below even 700MHz. The challenges associated with this are well documented and there will need to be significant advances to ensure that WiFi signals can carry more data. Yet this becomes less of a problem when we move to frequencies above 2.1GHz. Once we start to operate in the 2-10GHz range, the opportunity to transport more data becomes a reality. Current WiFi transportation is limited to around 300Mbit/s, yet with access to higher frequencies we could be transporting data in excess of 10Gbit/s.

Once this is achieved, the challenge then becomes the backhaul network. Mobile backhaul is a topic that has been much discussed in recent months. The launch of the iPad and the iPhone 4, and the consequent demand to access data-intensive applications on the move is growing at phenomenal levels. One can only imagine the additional pressure that increased WiFi demands would place on the current backhaul network.

Regardless of this, it cannot be denied that the FCC has taken the first step to driving WiFi innovation forward and potentially providing many with new means to access broadband. Although there are many years of work ahead, it will be interesting to see how this develops, particularly as 4G technologies continue to be deployed. Recent announcements regarding Verizon’s LTE roll-out and Sprint’s continued WiMAX push show that mobile broadband is very much in its ascendancy.

What are your thoughts on the FCC’s announcement? Will it be the first step in overhauling the country’s spectrum policy? And is high-speed mobile broadband moving ever closer to reality? Let me know what you think.