WASHINGTON-A coalition that has consistently fought against rules allowing for ultra-wideband technologies has fired another salvo in the debate just as the Federal Communications Commission is considering whether to relax rules it adopted a year ago.
“It would be most unfortunate for the United States, and particularly the [Federal Communications Commission], under these circumstances, to use the pending reconsideration process to relax the restrictions and emissions below 3.1 GHz. The objective evidence to support the conclusion that such a change will not interfere with critical safety-of-life systems and existing digital services has not been provided to the FCC. Consequently, we strongly urge no change in the existing UWB rules,” reads a letter signed by 31 entities including AT&T Wireless Services Inc., Nortel Networks Inc., Qualcomm Inc., SiRF Technology Inc. and Sprint Corp.
While this general argument is not new for the group, it added fuel by citing a recent meeting of the International Telecommunication Union, which has recently begun studying the UWB issue.
At the ITU meeting, it was learned that the Conference of Postal & Telecom Administrations (CEPT)-a forum of European telecommunications policy-makers-is studying whether a slope mask would better protect incumbent systems from UWB emissions than the staircase approach adopted by the FCC.
“Although these CEPT emission limits have only recently been introduced into ITU [discussions], the CEPT approach evidences both prudence and support for introducing UWB technology. This approach protects public safety and a variety of commercial and government applications while preserving the potential of existing digital services and technologies to continue to innovate,” reads the letter.
The letter was sent to Michael Gallagher, deputy assistant secretary of commerce for communications and information, and filed at the FCC.
