Pentagon seeks to curb Wi-Fi rollout
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The US military wants to curb the spread of wireless local area networks, which could interfere with military radar. But experts give its lobbying efforts little chance of success.
19 December 2002 The US Defense Department is renewing efforts to curb the spread of wireless local area networks (WLANs), which it says can interfere with its radar systems.
The Pentagon claims that the low-power emissions from 'Wi-Fi' technology will interfere with up to 10 different types of radar systems used by the military in the US and overseas.
Those systems operate within the so-called 5GHz band, which has been earmarked by US senators for the next generation of WLANs. Present-day networks operate in the unlicensed 2.4GHz band.
"Nobody, including the Pentagon, doubts that this is important for consumers and industry. The problem comes when it degrades our military capabilities," Steven Price, deputy assistant secretary of defense for radio spectrum matters, told the New York Times.
The Pentagon's view is said to have been sympathetically received by the US government, which has presented the argument to the Geneva-based World Administrative Radio Conference, the United Nations-affiliated body that meets about once every three years to recommend how the airwaves should be used. The argument will be discussed at the WARC's next meeting in June 2003.
However, industry executives have rejected the interference argument put forward by the Pentagon. They admit that there has been some 'crowding out' of military radio frequencies caused by the spread of Wi-Fi, but say that new spectrum-sharing technologies ought to solve the problem.
The computer industry is supported by European governments, which faced similar arguments in the 1990s when the WARC was asked to free up a portion of the airwaves for third-generation mobile telecoms licences.
Then, Nato officials argued they had already given up too much spectrum for civilian use - by then, its share of the airwaves had slipped below 50% for the first time - but their argument was ultimately rejected.
Seasoned telecommunications-industry commentators say that the Pentagon's fresh lobbying efforts are likely to meet with the same fate.
For a more in-depth look at the potential future role of WiFi in the enterprise, see the January 2003 issue of Information Age magazine.
