WLAN frequency de-licensed

Pramod Mahajan, Union Minister for IT & Communications, has signed the

notification from the Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) to de-license the

2.4 GHz spectrum commonly used for WLAN. India was among the few countries in

the world to have licensed the spectrum. The notification, which has been sent

for printing, is expected in the government gazette soon. However, PK Garg,

Wireless Advisor to the Govt of India, cautions that the de-licensing is only

for indoor use which makes sense since it would hardly get in the way of

anybody.

One of the ostensible reasons for licensing the spectrum was that it causes

interference with the communication systems of the Police department which

operates in a frequency band close to 2.4 GHz. Earlier, the Minister had said

that if the first phase of licensing was found to be successful then the next

phase would de-license the spectrum across locations.

BALAKA BARUAH AGGARWAL