WhiteHaul, a spinout from the University of Edinburgh, has developed a platform that will enable Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to provide users with gigabit-capable broadband speeds over long distances and challenging terrain, at significantly lower costs than current network technologies.

Gigabit, for those unfamiliar, means speeds of 1000 megabits per second or one gigabit, the kinds of speeds typically only achieved in cities through ‘full fibre’ networks.

WhiteHaul’s novel spectrum aggregation technology enables high speed long-distance ‘backhaul’ links that cannot currently be commercially achieved by existing fibre or wireless technologies.

Currently, long distance performance suffers due to high levels of radio interference affecting existing wireless technologies.

WhiteHaul’s technology, however, manages these radio interferences, resulting in reliable network connectivity.

The technology was developed as part of Dr Mohamed Kassem’s PhD at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Informatics, supervised by Professor Mahesh Marina, and the team is being supported to spin out by Edinburgh Innovations, the University’s commercialisation service.

Professor Marina said: “WhiteHaul will play an important role in supporting the UK Government’s ambition to bring gigabit-capable coverage to 85% of the UK by 2025, and close to 100% as soon as possible thereafter. We have seen from previous work the vital importance of rural connectivity for agriculture, businesses, healthcare and education.”

Dr Kassem, chief technology officer, said: “In addition, as a home-grown company, WhiteHaul will help diversify the telecommunications network supply chain – another key policy objective. And by reducing the need to travel to work, and the associated carbon emissions, gigabit broadband in rural areas also supports the transition to net zero.”

The funding, from the Scottish Enterprise High Growth Spin-Out Programme (HGSP), will be used to enhance the performance of WhiteHaul’s hardware and software platform and to speed up the commercialisation of the technology.

Other users for the technology – including connecting offshore windfarms and enabling connected farms and the Internet of Things – are also being investigated.

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Jane Martin, Scottish Enterprise managing director of innovation and investment, said: “Our high growth spin out programme continues to support exciting and ambitious new companies from the innovation that exists across Scotland’s universities through start-up advice, investment and commercialisation.

“WhiteHaul has created a novel solution for connecting rural areas with the potential to bring benefits across Scotland and boost rural economies and it will be exciting to see the team take the company to the next stage as it spins out from Edinburgh Innovations.”

Led by interim CEO Iqbal Bedi Singh of Intelligens Consulting, WhiteHaul’s future focus will be on attracting seed investment, building its customer pipeline, and developing the operational strategy to take it forward into manufacturing.