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Australian Researchers Push Near-Broadband IP Over VHF

Posted by timothy on from the verified-horse-feathers dept.

Curmudgeon Rick writes "A research group at the Australian National University is getting symmetrical 250K bps at 20km, using "empty" 7MHz-wide broadcast TV allocations in the 45MHz band. Story here, project homepage here. Aim is to put some bandwidth out beyond the reach of the wires, where users are few and far between."

4 of 211 comments (clear)

  1. near-broadband? by slavitos · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Interesting term, "near-broadband".... If I am not mistaken, broadband is defined as a communications medium that can be divided into multiple segments that can be used for different purposes (e.g. voice, data, video, etc).

    Isn't "nearbroadband" almost the same concept as being "almost pregnant"?

  2. Could be a nice alternative.. by iantri · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This could be a nice alternative for those of us who still aren't able to get broadband (No DSL where I am and Rogers Cable never bothered to run cable to the last three houses. Guess where I am! GRR), without all the potential problems with broadband over power lines (signal leakage, interfering with ham radio).

  3. Yeah... by mindstrm · · Score: 5, Interesting

    But the term "broadband" has come to mean "fast" in the common language. Thank the media for that.

    In the olden days, the highest speed things tended to be broadband, so the meaning just got twisted.

    I'd say, considering speeds and waht is noramlly known as broadband in the US... 250kbps qualifies as "near broadband"... people usually think 1mbps is broadband.

  4. Re:broadband ? by Crypto+Gnome · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I believe than in Australia Telstra urged the government to defind broadband as "128Kbps and up" so that they (Telstra) could then claim that (whatever the exact statistic is) the vast majority of Australians have access to internet at broadband speeds.

    Something to do with Telstra being legally required to provide said "broadband" coverage, by a certain date, or be subject to fines/limitations on expansion into other markets/or something.

    No surprises here, just Yet Another Big Business redefining reality so that they can wipe their hands of their legally bound responsibilities and rape their customers for further profits.

    --
    Visit CryptoGnome in his home.