WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission approved final 5 GHz equipment rules, paving the way for vendors to seek government approval of new Wi-Fi gear designed to operate on an additional 255 megahertz and some existing frequencies in the 5 GHz band.
New equipment must include technological features to avoid interference with military radar at 5 GHz, with manufacturers required to follow certain testing and measurement procedures. The implementation date is July 10.
The FCC decision is the culmination of a tortuous initiative dating back to 2003, when U.S. telecom policy-makers realized after getting international approval for expanded 5 GHz unlicensed wireless allocation that much more work was needed to prevent potential disruption to military radar systems.
“The commission reaches its best results in highly complex areas like this one when it can draw on the widest body of technical expertise, and I hope that this proceeding can be a model for future spectrum rulemakings,” said Commissioner Michael Copps.
Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Robert McDowell agreed.
Adelstein said he is “hopeful that their [a government-industry project team’s] ground breaking work on DFS and measurement procedures will allow us to develop innovative and creative spectrum policies in the future.”
“This government-industry partnership is a wonderful example of the myriad benefits that can result from cooperative collaboration, such as: protection to government users, certainty to manufacturers seeking to design and market new equipment, more robust use of the spectrum band, and delivery of new wireless broadband services to American consumers,” said McDowell.
