The French telecommunication regulator will allow the creation of public wireless LAN "hot spots" in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands before the end of the year, it announced Tuesday.
Until now, rules have restricted use of wireless LAN technology to private networks, but the Autorité de Régulation des Télécommunications (ART) plans to change these to allow companies, local governments and individuals to offer both indoor and outdoor coverage in public spaces with high traffic such as airports.
On Monday, the U.K. Department of Trade and Industry announced a similar relaxation of rules, due to take effect on July 31.
In France, ART will also introduce guidelines for the use of public wireless LANs as a means to provide broadband Internet access in areas where technologies such as DSL or cable are impractical or unavailable, and expects the first experiments with this technology to begin this summer, according to Jean-François Hernandez, ART's communication manager.
Before the French rules on use of wireless LANs for public networks can be relaxed, ART must present its proposals to a meeting of the Radiocommunication Consultative Commission later this week, Hernandez said. ART must also seek the opinion of the European Commission and of the 14 other member states of the European Union, a process which will take three months. The proposals are also subject to the approval of the Minister of Telecommunications.
The French Ministry of Defense has also changed its restrictions on use of the 2.4 GHz frequency band, which is used by the French armed forces. In most départements (administrative regions) of France, the Ministry of Defense limits wireless LANs transmitting in the band 2.4 GHz to 2.4465 GHz to 10 milliwatt output power indoors and 100 milliwatt outdoors, and from 2.4465 GHz to 2.4835 GHz to 100 milliwatt output power indoors and out, according to ART. The 10 milliwatt restriction limits the bandwidth available to indoor wireless LANs, where the higher power is needed to reach through internal walls and other obstacles.
On Monday, the Ministry of Defense published a list of 39 départements where the restrictions are now 100 milliwatt output power throughout the whole 2.4 GHz to 2.4835 GHz band indoors, and 10 milliwatt outdoors, ART said. Further departments will be added to the list early next year, and all parts of France will be subject to the new regulations from 2004. ART is also pursuing discussions with the Ministry of Defense to raise the output power limit for outdoor use to 100 milliwatt, as in other countries in the European Union.
Harmonization of such regulations would permit equipment manufacturers to ship a single model to all European Union member states. Currently, wireless LAN equipment shipped in France must be specially configured to conform with the output power restrictions.
The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.
RELATED LINKS
