The U.S. Federal Communication Commission has decided to enable unlicensed public use of TV white space. This broadcast specturm is between television channels and could provide a means for high-speed wireless data transfer and communication. Google is among many companies that are excited by the business opportunties that this spectrum presents, particularly for devices and services for cheap wireless broadband.
Google is thrilled with the open bandwidth for a whole new class of devices that will provide high bandwidth connection. The FCC has mandated that such devise use geolocation technology, but why not go beyond GPS to incorporate local receivers to triangulate the television signals to the device and provide indoor location?
TV signals go through walls and can cover large spaces. Rosum Corporation, a Trimble-owned company, is one company that makes use of television signal for indoor location that works through walls and can pinpoint location within 3D space. My guess is that this new available spectrum will mean that other providers will jump on this new open bandwidth for similar indoor location applications.
