Hi NicoEchániz,
Unfortunately the 2.4 GHz assignment is at the lowest level in the pecking
order in the spectrum coop.
It is called that we can run on a "non-interference, non-protection" basis.
That means that any service allocated in the band can ask to shut you down
when they receive interference from you, and that our devices are not
protected when we receive interference.
In the 5150-5250 MHz, 5250-5350 MHz and 5270-5725 MHz we are having a
co-Primary status. We are there as the lowest Primary service and need to
give priority to higher Primary services. However, there are rules to
minimize interference to them in the 2 lower bands. In the higher band we
need to have special means to detect radar equipment, both static at start
of day as well as dynamic during the day. But that should be available by
the equipment that has received a class approval. The rules have been set by
the World Radio Conference 2003. Because it is a treaty organization, all
countries are obliged to implement the rules. For instance, the US has
published the order in
http://acbcert.com/documents/misc-docs/fcc-03-287a1-UNII-Changes.pdf
The only issue is that licensing is a national attribute and cannot be
prescribed by the ITU or the WRC.
Regarding the "homologation": Refer to the two attached documents regarding
recognition of each other's approval. And see if you could find whether
Argentina made an agreement with the US. If not you could still work on
their consciousness that most of the world recognize each other's approvals.
All equipment have the code of the US approval on them.
So in conclusion,
- see whether the equipment carries the US approval and convince CNC to
recognize the US approval in the spirit of mutual recognition of approvals;
- Do not accept confiscation, shutting down is as far as they can go as far
as I know;
- Find out (and tell us) if Argentina has regulation in place regarding
Resolution WRC03-229 (attached) and find out whether they have allocated
under class-license or license-exempt regimes.
Keep up the good work, let us know when you need more ammunition and please
give feedback.
Vic
-----Original Message-----
From: NicoEchániz [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: maandag 26 november 2012 16:22
To: Vic Hayes
Cc: 'Ramon Roca'; [email protected]; [email protected];
'juridic guifi'; [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Office] Pre-alert situation in Argentina, please help & advice
On 11/26/2012 10:28 AM, Vic Hayes wrote:
Hi Ramon and Nicolas,
Please look at Bob Horvitz website at
http://www.volny.cz/horvitz/os-info/argentina.html
The regulations seem favorable, even to the maximum of 4 W e.i.r.p!
Here is the English translation of the relevant resolution:
"Resolution No. 213/2004 was published in the Official Journal of
Argentina on September 27th, 2004. This resolution Allows the use of
802.11g devices in Argentina for private (all the territory) and
public (restricted to some
areas) use. Besides, some technical conditions have been set, Such as
maximum EIRP limited to 4 W. " (Approval News, December 2004, Center
for Communications Technology, Spain)
Vic, thanks for the link. I've been re-reading the original text of
Resolution 213/2004 [1] and although it allows for the private use of these
technologies in the 2.4Ghz band:
Art. 5 - Private use of the systems described in Article 1 will also be
allowed in the national territory.
The problem is with article 7:
Art. 7° — Radioelectric systems authorization [...] will be subject to the
presentation of descriptive information on every traffic concentration
station [...]
which in fact gives the CNC the power to declare illegal almost any wireless
router whenever they see fit. This information presentation is the key
problem because the hardware used must be approved by the CNC itself and
their list of approved hardware is always outdated in relation to what's
available on the market. To make it worse, only those who produce or import
the hardware are entitled to "homologation" (get new hardware approved).
So... in the letter it would seem that the use of the 2.4Ghz band is quite
permissive but in reality it's not and almost every wifi router installed in
Argentina can be considered to be violating these regulations, thus making
it's enforcement completely arbitrary.
I'll keep in touch with Ramón and let you all know of any news on this
matter. Thanks for the support :)
Cheers,
NicoEchániz
[1] http://www.copitec.org.ar/revista/doc_download/509-resolucion-nd-2132004
So long,
Vic
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]
On Behalf Of Vic Hayes
Sent: maandag 26 november 2012 11:57
To: 'Ramon Roca'; [email protected];
[email protected]; 'juridic guifi'; [email protected]
Cc: 'Nicolas Echaniz'
Subject: Re: [Office] Pre-alert situation in Argentina, please help &
advice
Hello Ramon,
I have contacted a Profesor at the Univesidad de SanAndrés who may be
familiar with the Argentinian regulations.
The only problem seems to be that the point-to-point service of the
telephone people have been officially allocated in the 2.4 GHz band.
Depending on the response I will take the next step.
Kind regards,
Vic
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]
On Behalf Of Ramon Roca
Sent: zondag 25 november 2012 17:43
To: [email protected]; [email protected]; juridic
guifi; [email protected]
Cc: Nicolas Echaniz
Subject: [Office] Pre-alert situation in Argentina, please help &
advice
Sorry for cross-posting, and in English for a wider audience.
Last friday, colleagues from a community wireless which is cooperating
with us in a small village in Argentina got a visit from
representatives of the CNC (Comisión Nacional de las Comunicaciones).
Seems that the inspection was caused by a claim from Telecom, a local
mobile operator affiliated to Movistar (Telefonica), arguing that was
interfering to their backbone links.
The inspected nodes are actually composed by low cost wifi routers,
working al 2.4 band, using the Argentinian regulatory domain, which is
region 2 of the UIT (same as in the US), with a power between 50mW and
100mW and serving Internet to a primary school, and some families in a
low-income neighborhood.
Our colleagues are very much concerned because of the lack of
regulations in Argentina. Looks like those CNC officials will come
back next Thursday asking for shutting down the nodes, or even
confiscation of the equipment.
Although wifi equipment has been widely extended in Argentina, the
concern is that looks like there are some old regulations which
require discretionary legalization for any radio equipment, and CNC
can invoke those regulations for this purpose.
That's why IMHO we are facing a pre-alert situation in Argentina that
requires to stay tuned on how evolves.
My first impression is that this kind of equipment and and this band
is very unlikely the cause for any disturbance for mobile operators,
therefore my first advice to them has been to cooperate with the
authorities for any technical assessments on site related to the
spectrum analysis, with the hope that the story will finish here.
But in the meantime and just in case:
1. Please stay tuned in what happens next Thursday. In case of the
network being forced for shutdown or being confiscated, we plan to
release a press note reporting those facts, which we believe that
might be a serious injury of fundamental rights from citizens from
governments and large-corporations, so we will ask for you
cooperation disseminating though blogs and social networks worldwide.
2. Does anybody know from a local legal contact from Argentina who may
assist this wireless community? If someone has a contact, please let
me know.
3. Any other advice/idea?
Thanks,
Ramon.
