Google and Spectrum Bridge, in collaboration with the Hocking Valley Community Hospital, have announced the deployment of the first TV White Spaces broadband trial network for healthcare providers in the region of Logan, Ohio. This TV White Spaces solution has excellent propagation and building penetration characteristics, enabling the community and supporting healthcare providers in utilizing affordable broadband and at the same time providing data transmission for telemedicine applications.
In a release, Ohio Congressman Zack Space said, “I’m excited about working with Google, Spectrum Bridge and the Hocking Valley Community Hospital to bring this new technology to our region. I’m committed to always looking for new economic opportunities that will put Appalachian Ohio on the growth track. This new technology will mean better healthcare and a better quality of life for the Logan community.”
The Hocking Valley Community Hospital will be the first hospital that will utilize the TV White Spaces technology for all their new applications.
In a release, LeeAnn Lucas-Helber, the President and CEO of the Hocking Valley Community Hospital, said, “We are pleased to be part of an exciting new technology that can dramatically improve medical and healthcare services to the people of the Logan, Ohio community.”
TV White Spaces are actually the unused TV broadcast channels which were made available by the June 2009 transition from Analog to Digital TV. They are very well suited for wireless data networks. For improving the broadband connectivity throughout the Logan, Ohio community, a wireless data link was established between a local ISP and the Logan-Hocking County Health Department, along with other public areas to provide improved and better broadband access.
In a release, Richard Licursi the CEO of Spectrum Bridge said,”We are pleased to have worked closely with Google and the Hocking Valley Community Hospital to demonstrate the high value impact that TV White Spaces can bring to our daily lives. We look forward to continuing to deploy these networks with strong industry partners.”
To make sure that the TV White Spaces network does not interfere with licensed television broadcasts and other protected TV band users, the system is operated under the control of Spectrum Bridge’s intelligent TV White Spaces Database.
Calvin Azuri is a contributing editor for HealthTechZone. To read more of Calvin’s articles, please visit his columnist page.Edited by
Beecher Tuttle
