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 NEWS  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974).  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE  News  Media  Contact:  November  13,  2003  Lauren  M.  Van  Wazer 
 (202)  418-  0030 


 FCC  MAKES  ADDITIONAL  SPECTRUM  AVAILABLE  FOR  UNLICENSED  USE 
 Washington,  DC  -  As  part  of  its  ongoing  effort  to  promote  more  flexible,  innovative,  and  market  driven  uses  of  the  radio  spectrum,  the  FCC  today  made  available  an  additional  255 
 megahertz  of  spectrum  in  the  5.470-  5.725  GHz  band  for  unlicensed  devices. 
 In  the  Report  and  Order  approved  yesterday,  the  Commission  made  the  spectrum  available  for  use  by  unlicensed  National  Information  Infrastructure  (U-  NII)  devices,  including 
 Radio  Local  Area  Networks  (RLANs),  operating  under  Part  15  of  the  FCC’s  rules.  This  increases  the  spectrum  available  for  use  by  unlicensed  devices  in  the  5  GHz  region  of  the 
 spectrum  by  nearly  80%  --  and  is  a  significant  increase  in  the  spectrum  available  for  unlicensed  devices  across  the  overall  radio  spectrum.  This  action  will  also  harmonize  the  spectrum 
 available  for  these  U-  NII  devices  throughout  the  world,  enabling  manufacturers  to  reduce  product  development  costs  by  allowing  the  same  products  to  be  used  in  many  parts  of  the  world. 


 The  additional  available  spectrum  for  U-  NII  devices  will  enable  continued  growth  and  innovation  in  wireless  broadband  services,  including  services  offered  by  wireless  internet  service 
 providers  (WISPs).  WISPs  use  unlicensed  devices  to  provide  a  broadband  alternative  for  rural  and  underserved  areas.  Although  they  are  a  relatively  nascent  industry,  their  deployment  rates 
 have  been  increasing  rapidly. 
 In  addition  to  making  additional  spectrum  available  for  U-  NII  devices,  the  Commission  also  adopted  several  allocation  changes  consistent  with  the  results  of  the  2003  World  Radio 
 Conference  and  an  agreement  reached  with  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Defense,  the  National  Telecommunications  and  Information  Administration  (NTIA).  These  changes  will  ensure  that 
 critical  Federal  Government  operations  are  protected  from  harmful  interference.  In  addition  to  the  allocation  changes,  to  provide  federal  users  with  additional  protection  from  harmful 
 interference,  the  Order  requires  that  U-  NII  devices  operating  in  the  5.250-  5.350  GHz  and  the  5.470-  5.725  GHz  bands  employ  dynamic  frequency  selection  (DFS)  –  a  listen-  before-  talk 
 mechanism  --  and  transmit  power  control  (TPC). 
 Action  by  the  Commission  November  12,  2003,  by  Report  and  Order  (FCC  03-  287).  Chairman  Powell,  Commissioners  Abernathy,  Copps,  Martin,  and  Adelstein.  Chairman  Powell 
 issuing  a  statement  and  Commissioner  Abernathy  issuing  a  separate  statement. 
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 Office  of  Engineering  and  Technology  contact:  Ahmed  Lahjouji  at  (202)  418-  2061 
 ET  Docket  No.  03  –  122 


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