CSIRO brings broadband to your TV antenna

CSIRO has found a way to deliver broadband through your TV antenna. Photo: CSIRO

Wireless broadband could be delivered to regional households more reliably and at faster speeds if an emerging technology being developed in Australia is used in the national broadband network.

The CSIRO claims it has found a way to transmit wireless broadband faster and up to four times more efficiently than existing technology.

It says the system, designed for towns of fewer than 1000 people, would enable households to upload and download data at speeds of 12 megabits a second.

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Unlike existing wireless technology, which dilutes download speeds as more people use the service, the new system would deliver consistently high speeds because each household would receive its own signal, according to the director of CSIRO's information and communications technologies centre, Ian Oppermann.

The system would not work in areas with high population densities. ''We have designed something specifically for remote and rural areas,'' Dr Oppermann said. ''If you move to a metropolitan or dense area you do not get the line of sight.''

While the technology is two years off commercial production, he said it would also be cheaper to deploy than existing wireless technology because it would use existing television towers and aerials.
A spokeswoman for NBN Co, which is rolling out the broadband network, said it had spoken to CSIRO. But as the technology was not yet available, it was ''something of interest for the future''.
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said that the federal government welcomed "any efforts to deliver improved broadband to Australians".

Under current plans, up to 93 per cent of households are to be connected by fibre, 4 per cent by wireless and 3 per cent by satellite broadband.