Commercial
Operation in the ISM Frequency Bands
The
use of ISM bands (2.4G, 5.8G etc) for commercial purposes has been
a hot topic of discussion over the years.
Since taking over the management of commercial spectrum from
Ministry of Communications in January, 2002, NCC has reviewed the
situation and consulted widely and also studied the issue as it
obtains in other countries of the world.
Relevant ITU and FCC publications on the issue have also
been studied.
It as been discovered that users in this band do not keep to
the regulations guiding the use of these bands, such as low transmitter
power, deployment over short distances etc.
Also, there is no protection against interference in this
band, hence it is difficult to monitor or guarantee the quality
of service being offered to subscribers.
This is a regulatory obligation and NCC is committed to
consumer protection.
The Commission therefore wishes to state categorically
that ISM bands cannot be used to provide commercial services.
They are only allowed for private use, self-provision or
for industrial, scientific and medical applications.
However, in order not to disrupt services to several users who
have already subscribed to operators using this frequency; and
to also allow the upcoming FWA operators soon to be licensed for
fixed wireless service in the 3.5G band to settle down and provide
alternative service to customers, the present illegal operators
are hereby given up till the end of February, 2003 to vacate the
band. Subscribers are advised to be careful
about patronizing any service provider offering wireless access
service based on ISM bands as quality cannot be guaranteed and
such operators will not be allowed to operate as from end of February,
2003.
Signed
E.C.A. Ndukwe
Executive Vice Chairman/CEO
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