WASHINGTON-U.S. officials in Geneva said they are confident about securing a huge swath of global 5 GHz airwaves for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed wireless technologies, but cautioned that final approval cannot be guaranteed until after the World Radiocommunication Conference closes later this week.
“Nothing is over until it’s over,” U.S. Ambassador Janice Obuchowski told reporters by phone last Thursday. WRC-03, involving numerous technical assessments and political horse-trading over a month’s time by telecom representatives from around the world, ends July 4.
U.S. officials said they succeeded in securing support for flexibility for 5 GHz applications. A global spectrum allocation enables economies of scale that help keep manufacturing costs down. Officials said they managed to avoid having a specific frequency assigned to the United States for public protection and disaster communications.
On Wednesday, a tentative agreement was reached to earmark nearly 500 megahertz of additional spectrum at 5 GHz, which is expected to be deployed in the United States for unlicensed broadband wireless services.
The 5 GHz accord, subject to final approval at the WRC-03 plenary session next week, apparently resolves a key issue raised by Europeans about whether a chunk of 5 GHz spectrum-the 5250-5350 MHz band-should be limited to indoor use. The interim agreement permits outdoor operation of radio local area networks in the 5 GHz band, but allows countries worried about interference to restrict use of the 5250-5350 MHz band to indoor use. The United States plans outdoor use of the band.
Progress on unlicensed spectrum at WRC-03 complements efforts in Congress and at the Federal Communications Commission to open more airwaves for unlicensed wireless technologies. Months prior to WRC-03, the Pentagon and high-tech industry negotiated a plan to prevent 5 GHz Wi-Fi interference to military radar.
“If we had not done that, it would have been a different process” at WRC-03, said John Stenbit, assistant secretary of defense.
