BT is testing ‘white space technology’ (unused TV signals) in Cornwall in a bid to speed up broadband access in remote parts of the UK.
The trial, in association with partners including the BBC and the University of Strathclyde, is also backed by funding from the government’s Technology Strategy Board.
“White spaces” – geographically specific bits of unused spectrum – are increasingly becoming available as TV services are switched from analogue to digital.
The firm has already trialled the technology on the Isle of Bute in Scotland, providing around a dozen homes with internet access where previously none was available.
BT will now run the trial in Cornwall in the same area as its previous 4G trials with Everything Everywhere.
BT said that by running the trial in the same area as the LTE trials it could compare the two services to see which is a more viable system for remote regions.
“The Bute trial has generated some encouraging results and so it is time to extend it to a larger audience and to test the technology further,” it said.
“The new trial will take place in the same area in which we have been testing LTE. Tests produced encouraging results and so the new trial will give us the chance to make a direct comparison between the two technologies.”
It also said it would help it consider how it could turn the use of white space technology into a commercial service.
BT has also announced the locations of a further 66 exchanges where it will make ‘fibre-based infrastructure’ available.
The company now says that it passes more than 5 million premises with its high-speed services, which are then sold to customers by internet service providers.
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