Newsroom

Carlson and Neul announce Global Partnership to Produce White Space Radios for Wireless ISPs

Cambridge, UK, 12th October 2011 – Carlson and Neul today announce plans to jointly develop and market a new white space radio networking system aimed at Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs). This technology will bring affordable broadband to millions around the world. This marks the beginning of a significant, global partnership between two established leaders in white space technologies.

The Neul/Carlson system gives WISPs access to more than 100MHz of high quality white space radio spectrum in the UHF band. Carlson and Neul are committed to working closely with Wireless Internet Service Providers to bring affordable broadband connectivity to under-served regions around the globe. Volume shipments of the new system are planned before the end of 2011, with samples and development equipment available before then.

The outstanding propagation characteristics of UHF signals mean that signals can travel through walls and other obstacles: Line of sight is not always needed to the subscriber's home. As a result WISPs using the new system can deliver faster, more reliable service to more customers with the same network infrastructure, driving additional revenue.

“Broadband is a global necessity in today's world, and we see this partnership as a leap forward for rural broadband worldwide,” said Carlson CEO James Carlson. “This is a groundbreaking technology that uses vacated TV channels (TV white spaces) for broadband. It is especially effective in sparsely populated areas and rugged terrain, giving rural communities real-time access to the business opportunities and educational resources the Internet has to offer.”

“Millions of people around the world do not currently have access to decent broadband at affordable prices. In today's world this is not acceptable,” commented Luke D'Arcy, VP of Marketing at Neul, “By now the world recognizes that universal access to the internet is a right, not a privilege. Individuals' access to online services can be linked to their economic prosperity and engagement with the modern world.

“The technology Neul and Carlson are developing together gives ISPs the means to serve even more customers through white space's long range, low cost and excellent propagation characteristics. Neul and Carlson's new product is the first white space radio system designed specifically for WISPs, making the new spectrum easy to use, and allowing WISPs to grow their businesses profitably.”

Carlson and Neul plan to combine their strengths to deliver a high-bandwidth product that offers unrivalled range and signal penetration. This revolutionary product is designed for use in the US, UK and beyond. With approval from both the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Ofcom (the UK's spectrum regulatory entity), the companies plan to introduce the product to the open market by year's end.

White space technology is also applicable to a variety of other use cases, including in low-data-rate, even-longer-range machine-to-machine (M2M) communications.

Both Carlson and Neul have been at the forefront of the white space radio revolution internationally, with active trials in the US and the UK.

Neul was the first company in the world to develop production white space equipment. It currently plays a central role in the white space/'Weightless' Special Interest Group (SIG), defining the future of the technology, its standards and best-practices. Neul has also been involved in several wireless data trials and is talking to forward-thinking US organisations such as Carlson to discuss ways of realizing the huge US white space market opportunity.

Carlson was one of the first to implement successful TV white space-based broadband systems by virtue of experimental licenses, most notably on Native American reservations.

About Carlson

For more than a decade, Carlson has designed and developed products to deliver high-speed Internet and wireline-quality voice connectivity to rural communities and businesses with remote operations. Specializing in hard-to-reach regions, Carlson provides fixed-wireless systems using TV white-space and microwave technology to deliver full voice and data connections no matter how rugged the terrain.

For more information, contact Carlson at 707-822-7000 or email info@carlsonwireless.com

Editorial Contact

Karol Andersson (Carlson)

(+1) 707-822-7000

Send Mail

About Neul

The name Neul is pronounced like 'fuel' and is from the Gaelic word for 'Cloud'.

Neul was formed in Cambridge, UK in 2010 by a group of entrepreneurs with an impressive track record. The core management team was responsible for building Europe's most successful fabless semiconductor company, CSR.

Neul aims to unify the fragmented world of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications, with the world's first white space radio system and a new, open M2M communications standard.

Neul is transforming wireless data communications by slashing the cost of the spectrum, base stations and the terminals needed to set up wide area wireless networks. This will enable our customers to build networks and applications that offer completely new kinds of devices, services and business models.

Neul's grand vision is to bring about a revolution in the way devices and applications communicate. From the predicted 50 billion connected Machine-to-Machine (M2M) devices, through smart metering to local broadband delivery, transportation and beyond, Neul is helping to create 'the internet of everything'.

Editorial Contact

Alex Perryman / Andrea Berghäll (Neul)

EML Wildfire Technology PR

+44 (0) 208 408 8000

Send Mail