----- Forwarded message from [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2002 11:02:52 +0530 (IST) From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [india-gii] Mahajan Clears The Way For Use Of 802.11 Tech To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: X-Mailer: MIME-tools 4.102 (Entity 4.114) X-Mailer: VSNL, Web based email
Dear All: This is good news! Vickram, I hear that the government is considering unlicensing outdoor use of 802.11 too. As Farhan pointed out, the spectrum is currently reserved for medical and other uses. I think and the govt. wants to examine if unlicensing the spectrum for outdoor use causes too much interference. If results from pilot tests etc show that there is not too much of interference, we can expect to see outdoor usage also being unlicensed soon. Arun has also been quoted in this article which appeared in today's Financial Express. Venky ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mahajan Clears The Way For Use Of 802.11 Tech Vandana Gombar New Delhi: The government has decided to throw open the doors for a wirefree computer environment, at least within a building. It has decided to do away with licensing for indoor use of wireless local area network (LAN) equipment based on IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) 802.11 standards or bluetooth technology, operating in the 2.4 giga hertz (GHz) band. Pramod Mahajan ?We have taken a decision to delicence these, if used under a single roof. A notification to this effect will be issued in the next few days,? communications and information technology minister Pramod Mahajan told eFE. The government?s green signal would make it easier to set up a wireless EPABX and also enable wireless connectivity between computers as well as peripherals. This is the first step to further easing licensing norms on the 2.4 Ghz spectrum, the suggestion for which came from none other than technology guru and founder of Media Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Nicholas Negroponte. It may be mentioned that 2.4 (to 2.48) Ghz is an unlicensed spectrum band in countries like US. Since there are other licensed users in this band in India, it is not possible to free it completely at this point in time. But that is the plan for the future. ?The second stage will be freeing the use of such devices outside buildings across the country,? Mr Mahajan said, indicating that this may happen in the next 6-8 months. ?I want the country to get the fruits of technological progress with minimum hassles and the best possible cost,? he said, explaining the driver for the change in policy. He added that he in fact shot down a proposal from the bureaucracy to charge a registration fee for use of such equipment. Telecom industry welcomed the move for delicensing which would promote wireless Internet, among other things. However, they also felt that the government was bowing to the inevitable. ?Government never allowed cordless phones but people went ahead and bought them. Then they were legalised. The same is happening with 802.11,? the founder and moderator of india-gii, the on-line forum for telecom issues, Dr Arun Mehta, said. -0- _______________________________________________ india-gii mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://ssl.cpsr.org/mailman/listinfo/india-gii ----- End forwarded message ----- -- Sandip Bhattacharya Mindframe Software Work: sandip @ mindsw.com, http://www.mindsw.com Play: sandipb @ bigfoot.com, http://www.sandipb.net ----------------------------------------------- ================================================ To subscribe, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with subscribe in subject header To unsubscribe, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe in subject header Archives are available at http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd%40wpaa.org =================================================
