DTI broadens wireless broadband options

By Matt Whipp

Posted on 21 Jan 2003 at 17:41

The DTI is forging ahead with its vision for a Broadband Britain, announcing the deregulation of more areas of the radio spectrum.

The new rules will open up the 5GHz and 58GHz parts of the radio spectrum to commercial networks and other users from 12 February.

E-Commerce Minister Stephen Timms said: 'Broadband is surging ahead in the UK, and this initiative will make it more widely available. We need to keep the momentum going and encourage greater use... Opening up this radio spectrum will encourage telecoms operators to deliver new and innovative public services. It will offer the possibility of 'broadband on the go', with services based in public places.'

Quite what these new services might be is unclear. A spokesperson from the DTI said that commercial operators and public bodies, such as schools and hospitals, would be free to use them as they saw fit.

The announcement follows the deregulation last June of the 2.4Ghz spectrum, used by the 802.11b (and g) wireless standard. BT said at the same time that it would create 400 public hot-spots for wireless access over the succeeding months, rising to 4,500 within three years.

The new 5GHz and 58Ghz spectrums allow greater bandwidth for data transfer than the theoretical maximum of 11Mbits/sec for 802.11b.

The 58GHz band is open spectrum around the world and is capable of supporting systems running 10Mb/sec to a 1Gbit/sec, and with a range of up to a mile.

However there is not as yet any technology standard using this frequency range, and a spokesperson from the DTI told us that the deregulation of the spectrum was simply in line with the department's strategy to free up spectrum.

The 5GHz frequencies are used by the IEEE 802.11a standard, although some parts of this spectrum are currently being used by Government and Civil bodies, such as the MOD. The DTI is still researching this area to iron out any potential interference or conflicts.