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NEWINGTON, CT, May 21, 2003--The FCC has proposed making another 255 MHz of 5-GHz spectrum available for unlicensed use at 5.470 to 5.725 GHz. Amateur Radio has a secondary allocation at 5.650 to 5.925 GHz, which it shares with government and nongovernment radars and--in part of the band--nongovernment fixed satellite uplinks. In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in ET Docket 03-122--approved May 15 but not yet released--the FCC suggested that the additional spectrum be made available for use by unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) devices, including Radio Local Area Networks (RLANs), operating under Part 15 of the FCC's rules.
"Our action today furthers twin goals of the Spectrum Policy Task Force: promoting spectrum access and furthering development of unlicensed technologies," said FCC Chairman Michael Powell in a separate statement. "Once the backwater of baby monitors and cordless telephones, the unlicensed sector has developed into a hotbed of growth and innovation." The other four commissioners echoed Powell's enthusiasm in their own statements attached to the FCC Public Notice.
The FCC's action comes in response to a petition for rule making from the Wi-Fi Alliance--an industry coalition formerly known as the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA). If the FCC goes through with the proposal--and it appears likely that it will--Amateur Radio will be left with a 25-MHz segment at 5 GHz--5.825 to 5.850 GHz--that's not already earmarked for unlicensed services. That band includes a 20-MHz-wide satellite downlink segment, 5.830 to 5.850 GHz. A amateur satellite uplink segment is at 5.650 to 5.670 GHz.
The Commission allocated the first U-NII bands at 5.150 to 5.350 GHz and 5.725 to 5.825 GHz in 1997. Last year, WECA petitioned the FCC to extend the U-NII band for 5.470 to 5.725 GHz, citing a need for more RLAN spectrum. The FCC in 1998 allocated 5.850 to 5.925 GHz for Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC) devices in the Intelligent Transportation System. DSRC has not been widely deployed, however.
In comments opposing WECA's 2002 petition, ARRL said the coalition failed to establish any current need for the additional spectrum. The League also took the opportunity to assert that the Communications Act requires that the higher-powered systems with significant interference potential envisioned by WECA should be licensed. The ARRL also expressed fears that the FCC would be unlikely to enforce the requirement that unlicensed device users cease operation if they cause harmful interference to licensed users.
The ARRL plans to comment on the latest NPRM once the full text has been released.
The FCC says the latest 5 GHz petition was developed in concert with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration--which administers federal government spectrum--and the US Department of Defense.
According to the FCC, the proposal would increase the amount of spectrum available for use by unlicensed devices in the 5-GHz region of the spectrum by nearly 80 percent. The Commission also proposed additional technical requirements for U-NII devices, including transition periods to implement these requirements. The Commission said its action advances the policies set forth in last fall's Spectrum Policy Task Force Report that specifically recommended making available additional spectrum for unlicensed use.
The proposal "aligns the frequency bands used by U-NII devices with those in many other parts of the world, enabling more widespread use of the same digital communications products and decreasing development costs for U.S. manufacturers," the FCC said. RLAN globalization is on the agenda for World Radiocommunication Conference 2003 (WRC-03), which gets under way next month in Geneva. The ARRL suggested in its comments to the FCC that WECA should take its forecasts for future 5-GHz demand for unlicensed RLAN devices to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for consideration at WRC-03.
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