[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 6, 2005)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 17328-17330]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-6813]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 15

[ET Docket No. 03-122; FCC 05-43]


Unlicensed Devices in the 5 GHz Band

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This document extends for one year the transition periods for 
unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) equipment 
operating in the 5.250-5.350 GHz band. This action will allow devices 
to continue to obtain equipment authorizations and to be marketed under 
the rules in effect prior to the adoption of the 5 GHz U-NII Report and 
Order pending the development of measurement procedures for evaluating 
such devices for compliance with the new rules.

DATES: Effective February 23, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Priya Shrinivasan, 418-7005 or Karen 
Rackley, 418-2431, Policy and Rules Division, Office of Engineering & 
Technology.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's Order, 
ET Docket No. 03-122, FCC 05-43, adopted February 18, 2005, and 
released February 23, 2005. The full text of this document is available 
on the Commission's Internet site at http://www.fcc.gov. It is also 
available for inspection and copying during regular business hours in 
the FCC Reference Center (Room CY-A257), 445 12th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20554. The full text of this document also may be 
purchased from the Commission's duplication contractor, Best Copy and 
Printing Inc., Portals II, 445 12th St., SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, 
DC 20554; telephone (202) 488-5300; fax (202) 488-5563; e-mail 
[email protected].

[[Page 17329]]

Summary of the Order

    1. In the 5 GHz U-NII Report and Order, 69 FR 2677, January 20, 
2004, the Commission required that any product with the capability to 
operate in the new spectrum at the 5.470-5.725 GHz band, including 
equipment designed to operate in both the 5.250-5.350 GHz and 5.470-
5.725 GHz bands, must meet all the rules, including the new dynamic 
frequency selection (DFS) and transmit power control (TPC) 
requirements, contained in the 5 GHz U-NII Report and Order in 
accordance with the specified measurement procedures to obtain 
equipment certification. DFS is a feature that dynamically instructs a 
transmitter to switch to another channel whenever a particular 
condition (such as, for example, a threshold value of the prevailing 
ambient interference level on a channel) is met. Prior to initiating 
and during a transmission, a U-NII device's DFS feature would monitor 
the available spectrum in which it could operate for a radar signal. If 
a signal is detected, the channel associated with the radar signal 
would either be vacated and/or flagged as unavailable for use by the U-
NII device. TPC can generally be defined as a mechanism that regulates 
a device's transmit power in response to an input signal or a condition 
(e.g., a command signal is issued by a controller when the received 
signal falls below a predetermined threshold). In addition, the 
Commission required that products that operate only in the 5.250-5.350 
GHz band also comply with these rules.
    2. Transition Period. For devices operating in the 5.250-5.350 GHz 
band, the Commission provided for a transition period in order to 
minimize economic hardships on manufacturers. During the transition 
period, manufacturers are allowed to continue producing and selling 
existing equipment while modifying their products to meet the new 
requirements. TheCommission adopted a cut-off date of one year from the 
date of publication of the 5 GHz U-NII Report and Order in the Federal 
Register (i.e., January 20, 2005) for applications for equipment 
certification of products that operate only in the 5.250-5.350 GHz band 
(i.e., equipment designed to operate in only the 5.250-5.350 GHz band 
could continue to obtain certification without having DFS and TPC, so 
long as the application for equipment certification was filed prior to 
the cut-off date of one year). After that time, all devices for which 
an initial application for equipment certification are filed for U-NII 
equipment operating in the 5.250-5.350 GHz band must meet the rules 
adopted in the 5 GHz U-NII Report and Order. In addition, to prevent 
equipment without DFS and TPC requirements from being imported and 
marketed indefinitely, the Commission adopted a two-year cut-off date 
(i.e., January 20, 2006) for the marketing and importation of equipment 
designed to operate in only the 5.250-5.350 GHz band. Finally, the 
Commission noted that users who obtained equipment prior to any of the 
cut-off dates would be able to continue to use that equipment 
indefinitely.
    3. In the Order, the Commission noted that the cut-off date for 
applications for equipment certification of products without DFS and 
TPC that operate in only the 5.250-5.350 GHz band is January 20, 2005, 
one year from the date of publication of the 5 GHz U-NII Report and 
Order in the Federal Register. However, the industry and the Federal 
Government have found the implementation of DFS to be more complex than 
originally envisioned and, as a result, measurement procedures for 
certifying U-NII devices containing DFS capabilities have not yet been 
finalized. Further, the Federal Government agencies will likely conduct 
tests to validate that the testing procedures respond as intended to 
protect radar systems. All parties are currently working together to 
reach an agreement and expect that remaining issues will be resolved 
shortly. The Commission's Laboratory will issue the updated measurement 
procedures for the certification of U-NII equipment containing DFS and 
TPC capabilities as soon as possible.
    4. New Transition Periods. In order to allow sufficient time for an 
agreement on DFS implementation between the industry and the 
FederalGovernment to be reached and for equipment manufacturers to 
incorporate DFS into U-NII devices, the Commission extended by one year 
the cut-off date for applications for certification of U-NII equipment 
operating without DFS or TPC in the 5.250-5.350 GHz band. Therefore, 
effective January 20, 2006, all devices for which an initial 
application for equipment certification is filed for U-NII equipment 
operating in the 5.250-5.350 GHz band must meet the rules adopted in 
the 5 GHz U-NII Report and Order. The Commission also extended by one 
year the two-year cut-off date for marketing and importation of 
equipment designed to operate in only the 5.250-5.350 GHz band. 
Therefore, U-NII equipment operating in the 5.250-5.350 GHz band that 
are imported or marketed on or after January 20, 2007 must comply with 
the DFS and TPC requirements adopted in the 5 GHz U-NII Report and 
Order. The Commission noted that users who obtained equipment prior to 
any of these cut-off dates would be able to continue to use that 
equipment indefinitely. Finally, because the Commission's action 
temporarily relieves a restriction, i.e., the cut-off dates for 
equipment authorizations and the marketing of U-NII equipment in the 
5.250-5.350 GHz band, it made the Order effective upon release.

Ordering Clauses

    5. The Congressional Review Act (CRA), was addressed in a Report 
and Order released by the Commission, November 18, 2003, in ``In the 
Matter of Revision of Parts 2 and 15 of the Commission's Rules to 
permit Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) devices 
in the 5 GHz band'' in this proceeding, FCC 03-287, 69 FR 2677, January 
20, 2004. This Order does not change any rules, it only extends the 
transition period for unlicensed U-NII devices. Therefore, the CRA 
requirements have already been fulfilled for this rule.
    6. Pursuant to sections 4(i), 303(f), and 303(r) of the 
CommunicationsAct of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 54(i), 303(f), and 
303(r), and Section 553(d) of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 
U.S.C. 553(d), the Order is hereby adopted.
    7. Section 15.37(l), 47 CFR is modified, effective upon release of 
this Order.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 15

    Communications equipment, Radio, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

Federal Communications Commission.
William F. Caton,
Deputy Secretary.

Rule Change

0
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal Communications 
Commission amends 47 CFR part 15 as follows:

PART 15--RADIO FREQUENCY DEVICES

0
1. The authority citation for part 15 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 302a, 303, 304, 307, 336 and 544A.


0
2. Section 15.37 is amended by revising paragraph (l), to read as 
follows:


Sec.  15.37  Transition provisions for compliance with the rules.

* * * * *
    (l) U-NII equipment operating in the 5.25-5.35 GHz band for which 
applications for certification are filed on

[[Page 17330]]

or after January 20, 2006 shall comply with the DFS and TPC 
requirements specified in Sec.  15.407. U-NII equipment operating in 
the 5.25-5.35 GHz band that are imported or marketed on or after 
January 20, 2007 shall comply with the DFS and TPC requirements in 
Sec.  15.407.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 05-6813 Filed 4-5-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P