802.11a kit may fall foul of law

A number of vendors have started selling 54Mbit/s 802.11a-based WLAN equipment in the UK, but it is not clear whether firms can use it without first acquiring a licence.

Because 802.11a kit uses the 5.15 to 5.35GHz radio waveband, it risks interference with government communications, and its use is technically illegal. Some vendors, including Intel and Proxim, have sought individual agreements with the Radiocommunications Authority (RA) to allow the use of their 802.11a products before the ratification of the revised 802.11h standard, which will legalise properly modified 802.11a equipment from early next year.

UK firms must apply for a site licence from the RA before they can use Intel's Pro/Wireless 5000 hardware. A licence takes four to six weeks to be granted and may be refused if a site is near to military installations.

The situation with Proxim is less clear. The firm says it has already implemented dynamic frequency selection/ dynamic channel selection (DFS/DCS) functions in its Harmony WLAN products, and no licenses are required. "We have implemented TPC and DFS ahead of the [802.11h] standard and ahead of all other vendors. So we can begin selling to UK customers," said Scot Ruck, Proxim's enterprise product manager.

The RA seems just as confused as everyone else. "The situation is in flux as the ETSI [the European Telecommunications Standards Institute] hasn't finished a technical standard and until that's cast in stone, we won't be issuing any licences [for 802.11a equipment]," stated Steve O'Fee, head of conformity assessment for the RA.

UK firms may evaluate 802.11a products now, but any significant rollout should wait for the ETSI to ratify the 802.11h standard. That way, firms can be certain they are implementing approved solutions, and backwards compatibility problems between 802.11a and 802.11h products will be avoided.

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