Regulations Use of 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz bands for WLAN and RLAN Version 1.0 Issue Date: 5 August 2009 Copyright © 2009 Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). All rights reserved. P O Box 26662, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) www.tra.gov.ae Regulations, Use of 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz for WLAN/RLAN, Article (1) Definitions 1.1 In applying these Regulations, the following terms shall have the following meanings unless the context requires otherwise, whereas any term undefined in the following shall be defined in line with the Federal Law by Decree No. 3 of 2003 as amended its Executive Order and Radiocommunications Policy: 1.1.1 “Applicant” means any Person who has applied for a License or an Authorization in accordance with the Telecom Law or other Policy Instruments issued by the Authority. 1.1.2 “Application” means the request for issuance of a License or an Authorization, received at the Authority on prescribed forms as per the procedure in vogue. 1.1.3 “Class Authorization” means a Radio Frequency Authorization which permits the operation of Wireless Equipment by any Person within designated frequency bands subject to any Terms and Conditions stipulated therein. 1.1.4 “Curtilage” means a partially or entirely enclosed area such as a courtyard, atrium, close, compound, court, enclosure, quadrangle, square, patio or yard. 1.1.5 “Wireless LAN Security Guidelines” means guidelines issued by the Authority for addressing security issues on WLAN. 1.1.6 “Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)” means a network of connected equipments connected without the use of wires using IEEE 802.11 family of standards. 1.1.7 “Radio Local Area Network (RLAN)” means a subset of Wireless Access System outside Curtilage in portions of 5 GHz band. 1.1.8 “Indoor WLAN” means WLAN within Curtilage using IEEE 802.11 family of standards. 1.1.9 “Outdoor WLAN” means WLAN outside Curtilage using IEEE 802.11 family of standards. 1.1.10 “Wireless Access System (WAS)” means a network of connected equipments with core network. 1.1.11 “Secondary Services” means Radiocommunication Services which shall not cause harmful interference to stations of Primary Services. These services appear as lower case in the National Spectrum Plan. 1.1.12 “UAE” means the United Arab Emirates including its territorial waters and the airspace above. Page 2 of 5 Regulations, Use of 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz for WLAN/RLAN, 1.1.13 “Harmful Interference” means Interference which impairs the functioning of a radiocommunications service or which materially degrades or obstructs or repeatedly interrupts Radiocommunication. 1.1.14 “ITU” means International Telecommunication Union, a leading United Nations agency for information and communication technologies. 1.1.15 “IEEE” means an acronym for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a non-profit organization having a standards association (IEEE-SA). IEEE-SA is a leading developer of industry standards and has strategic relationships with the IEC, ISO, and the ITU. 1.1.16 “Person” will include ‘juridical entities’ as well as ‘natural persons’. 1.1.17 “Primary Services” means Radio services having a higher priority and protection from harmful interference when notified than secondary Radio Services. The name of these radio services appear as capital letters in the National Spectrum Plan. 1.1.18 “Radio Frequency Authorization” means a Radio Spectrum Authorization by the Authority, which permits the use of Radio Frequency subject to terms and conditions set out therein. 1.1.19 “Secondary Basis” means not to cause harmful interference to other radio stations and not to claim protection from other radio stations. Article (2) Indoor WLAN 2.1 The use of 2400-2483.5 MHz (2.4 GHz), 5150-5350 MHz and 5470-5825 MHz (5 GHz) bands is allowed under Class Authorization for indoor Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) within the UAE for: 2.1.1 Any Person to connect devices such as personal computers and personal digital assistants. 2.1.2 Hotels, Metro trains (inside trains and train stations) and Airports to provide wireless internet connection for their customers. 2.1.3 Public Libraries and academic facilities such as university campuses, colleges and schools. 2.1.4 Entities inside buildings for private use. This includes all types of data connectivity requirements like video data. Page 3 of 5 Regulations, Use of 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz for WLAN/RLAN, 2.1.5 2.2 2.3 Internet Cafes provided that such cafes are responsible for providing the Authority, upon request, a detailed history of all registered users and their respective information. The usage of indoor WLAN shall comply with the following requirements: 2.2.1 For Internet Access the Service shall be obtained from the Licensee offering Internet Service. 2.2.2 Use of Type Approved equipment. 2.2.3 Use of VoIP shall be subject to the Authority Policies and Regulations. The usage of indoor WLAN will take into consideration the Authority WLAN Security Guidelines. Article (3) Outdoor WLAN and RLAN 3.1 The use of 2400-2483.5 MHz (2.4 GHz) and 5470-5825 MHz (5 GHz) bands for outdoor WLAN and RLAN is allowed only upon obtaining Frequency Spectrum Authorization from the Authority. Article (4) Spectrum usage 4.1 The 2400-2483.5 MHz (2.4 GHz), 5150-5350 MHz and 5470-5825 MHz (5 GHz) are also allocated for other wireless usage. Operation of WLAN and RLAN shall be on a secondary use basis, whereby WLAN and RLAN shall not claim any protection, and shall not cause any interference to other Radio services in the same bands. In all cases of harmful interference, the WLAN and RLAN user shall be required to cease the operation of the equipment. 4.2 The use of 2400-2483.5 MHz (2.4 GHz) and 5150-5850 MHz (5 GHz) bands by short range devices (SRD) and low power devices is covered under the Regulations for SRD. 4.3 The use of 2400-2483.5 MHz (2.4 GHz), 5650-5850 MHz (5 GHz) bands for Fixed Wireless Access (including point to multipoint, Mesh, SCADA, 802.16) is covered under the Regulations for Fixed Service. 4.4 In certain cases of outdoor WLAN, the Authority may impose further technical restrictions on the air interface. Page 4 of 5 Regulations, Use of 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz for WLAN/RLAN, Article (5) Technical Requirements 5.1 The following technical requirements shall apply for the use of 2.4 and 5 GHz bands: Frequency 2400-2483.5 MHz 5150-5250 MHz 5250-5350 MHz 5470-5850 MHz Radiated Power 100 mW max mean EIRP or 10 mW/MHz in any 1 MHz band 200 mW max mean EIRP or 10 mW/MHz in any 1 MHz band 200 mW max mean EIRP or 10 mW/MHz in any 1 MHz band 1W max mean EIRP for indoor 2W max mean EIRP for outdoor EMC ETSI EN 300 328 Remarks Channel 1 to 13 can be used (fn = fo + 5n where fo = 2407 MHz and n =1 to13) ETSI EN 301 893 ETSI EN 301 893 DFS and TPC mandatory ETSI EN 301 893 DFS and TPC mandatory Article (6) DFS and TPC Requirements 6.1 The Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) and Transmit Power Control (TPC) requirements as outlined in ITU-R Recommendation M.1652 shall apply as follows on the use of 5 GHz band: DFS – TPC Requirements Parameter Value DFS Detection Threshold -62 dBm Channel Availability Check Time 60 sec prior to channel use Non Occupancy Period 30 min Channel Move Time 10 sec Automatic Transmit Power Control At least 3dB on average (all devices) 6 dB on a device level Page 5 of 5