Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Agreement to spark more Wi-Fi

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2003 00:46:23 -0500

Agreement to spark more Wi-Fi

 BY Dan Caterinicchia
 Feb. 5, 2003

 The Federal Communications Commission and the Commerce
 Department's National Telecommunications and Information
 Administration (NTIA) last week signed a memorandum of
 understanding on spectrum coordination.

 The agreement enables the wireless industry to produce more
 Wi-Fi products, as long as they do not interfere with military
 radars.

 The FCC manages the nation's nonfederal telecommunications
 spectrum, including users in the commercial broadcast, public
 safety, and state and local government sectors. NTIA is
 responsible for the federal space -- including the Defense
 Department, which is the federal government's largest user. The
 majority of the telecommunications spectrum is shared between
 federal and nonfederal users, which requires the FCC and NTIA
 to coordinate spectrum policy.

 The Pentagon had repeatedly expressed concerns that Wi-Fi, or 802.11b wireless network
 devices, which provide connectivity up to about 300 feet, could interfere with DOD radar
 systems. But after months of technical discussions and analyses with wireless industry
vendors,
 the Pentagon fully supports the new agreement, said Badri Younes, DOD's director for
 spectrum management.

 "There are a little more relaxed constraints on Wi-Fi, and we've been assured full
protection of
 our radars," Younes said in a Feb. 4 interview. "The technical experts converged on a
solution
 that provides full protection of military radars while allowing Wi-fi technology to move
forward."

 The memorandum, which was signed Jan. 31 by FCC Chairman Michael Powell and NTIA
 Administrator Nancy Victory, will apply to coordination of spectrum issues involving
federal and
 nonfederal users.

 "Ultimately, this partnership will mean more efficient regulatory processes that will
speed the
 deployment of new innovative spectrum-based services to consumers," Powell said in a
 statement.

 Victory agreed and said that the U.S. government must work together as "one spectrum
team"
 to deal with critical spectrum management issues.

 The FCC and NTIA have been operating under a previous memorandum of understanding from
 October 1940. The new agreement establishes procedures relating to frequency
coordination,
 and also includes spectrum-planning provisions.

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2003/0203/web-fcc-02-05-03.asp
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