Researchers in Germany say the reassignment of vacant and unused television frequencies as “common property” could relieve pressure on cellular infrastructure by enabling ‘Super Wi-Fi’ networks capable of transmitting a signal over several kilometres.

Currently, Wi-Fi networks use high frequencies of 2GHz or above, with lower bands reserved for other uses, such as Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) and mobile networks, due to their longer range and because of fears of congestion.

However Arnd Weber and Jens Elsner of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) believe they have devised a technique that prevents such congestion and suggests that governments should release sub-2GHz frequencies for public use, rather than auctioning them off to mobile operators.