WASHINGTON-World Radiocommunication Conference delegates in Geneva today gave final approval to a global allocation of 455 megahertz at 5 GHz for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed wireless broadband technologies, according to U.S. officials.
The U.S. delegation, headed by Ambassador Janice Obuchowski, said making the frequencies available around the world for radio local area networks will enable manufacturers to achieve economies of scale and lower deployment costs for networks. While the United States and Europe are pursing wireless Internet solutions, developing countries-which have poor telecom infrastructure-could be the biggest beneficiaries of the WRC-03 action.
All told, the conference allocated the 5150-5250 MHz, 5250-5350 MHz and 5470-5725 MHz bands for license-exempt wireless applications. Outdoor use of 5250-5350 MHz band is subject to conditions to prevent Wi-Fi interference to satellite operations.
WRC delegates will vote on remaining items tomorrow. WRC-03 ends on Friday, with a signing ceremony finalizing the treaty-level conference.
