Extending the 5 GHz allocation for Wireless Access
Systems, including WIFI and other RLAN
Executive Summary
To address the future capacity needs of Wi-Fi based equipment, DIGITALEUROPE invites the
European Commission to examine the extension of the 5 GHz band that would result in RLAN
devices being able to operate within one large uninterrupted block of frequencies starting from
5150 MHz up to 5925 MHz.
Background
On July 11th, 2005, the European Commission adopted the decision 2005/513/EC on the
harmonised use of radio spectrum in the 5 GHz frequency band for the implementation of
wireless access systems including radio local area networks (WAS/RLANs). This resulted in the
availability of 455 MHz of spectrum in the 5 GHz band, in addition to spectrum at 2.4 GHz. In
those days, products operating in the 2.4 GHz band were mainly based on IEEE 802.11g while
products operating in 5 GHz were based on IEEE 802.11a. Both standards cover data rates up to
54 Mbps.
In 2009, IEEE 802.11n was finalised although products developed using an early draft of this
standard, had already entered the market in 2007. This standard, which can be used for both the
2.4 and 5 GHz bands, covers data rates up to 600 Mbps, however most products put on the market
support data rates up to 300 Mbps or 450 Mbps.
Recent developments
IEEE 802.11ac is currently in development and the standard is expected to be completed in
February 2014. It will cover data rates of up to 6,9 Gbps although the initial phase of products
may mostly operate up to 1,8 Gbps. Contrary to IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11ac is restricted to the
5 GHz band as it uses much wider channels (up to 160 MHz) which cannot be accommodated in
the 2.4 GHz band.
During 2012, the first IEEE 802.11ac products entered the residential markets, while products
will soon follow in the enterprise and carrier grade Wi-Fi markets. Because of the higher
throughput, IEEE 802.11ac will replace the IEEE 802.11n standard in all devices in the coming
years, and as IEEE 802.11ac will only exist for the 5 GHz products, it will also increase the usage
of this band which up to now is not heavily used.
Need for more capacity
Global sales of Wi-Fi-based equipment are expected to reach 3.5 billion in 2014. In addition,
there exist a growing trend toward mobile data offloading to smaller, often Wi-Fi based, cells.
Wi-Fi supports an important share of overall internet traffic in Western Europe and this share is
anticipated to grow to 60% of total internet traffic by 2016.1 Finally, Wi-Fi is expected to
become increasingly important in providing direct wireless device-to-device connectivity as a
substitute for fixed connectivity such as HDMI and USB.
In order to respond to this increased wireless data traffic, the Radio Spectrum Policy Programme
of March 2012 includes a reference to spectrum availability for wireless access:
“Wireless access systems, including radio local area networks, may outgrow their
current allocations on an unlicensed basis. The need for and feasibility of extending the
allocations of unlicensed spectrum for wireless access systems, including radio local
area networks, at 2,4 GHz and 5 GHz, should be assessed in relation to the inventory of
existing uses of, and emerging needs for, spectrum, and depending on the use of spectrum
for other purposes.”
Need for and benefits of opening more spectrum
To respond to the growing demands on Wi-Fi, in terms of capacity and data rate, Europe needs to
consider a possible extension of the current allocations for unlicensed spectrum for use by
Wireless Access Systems at 5 GHz.
While client devices such as notebooks, smart phones and tablets were already equipped with
dual band radios, up until recently most routers and access points were single band (2.4 GHz)
only or were unable to support 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz simultaneously. This is changing rapidly as
the market for dual band products is just developing now. In addition, as more products based on
IEEE 802.11ac (5 GHz) will be released, and because the operation in the 2.4 GHz band in dense
areas has become very challenging, we anticipate a fast migration from 2.4 GHz towards the 5
GHz frequencies.
While current spectrum in 5 GHz will initially suffice to support this migration, additional
spectrum would provide greater capacity and support higher speeds in contended environments.
Additional spectrum for Wi-Fi devices should be considered to support the anticipated increase in
mobile data volumes (18 fold between 2011 and 2016) together with an increasing share being
offloaded via Wi-Fi. This will be stimulated in part by deployment of service provider hotspots
and their greater ease of use thanks to seamless authentication, without manual input, and
improved inter-service provider roaming. In addition, media streaming in home applications will
grow rapidly as quite apart from PCs, tablets and smart phones, TV sets, cameras, printers, data
storage and other devices are, or will, all be equipped with dual band Wi-Fi.
1
Cisco Virtual Networking Index 2012
The above developments will all increase the pressure on Wi-Fi which risks becoming the
weakest link in end-to-end solutions if insufficient spectrum in the 5 GHz is available in time.
Most of the 5 GHz spectrum is shared with other primary services, such as radars. Upon
detecting a radar, Wi-Fi devices must vacate the radar channel and move to a different channel.
The current spectrum allocation in 5 GHz in Europe allows only two 160 MHz channels and four
80 MHz channels. In practice, the number of available 160 MHz and 80 MHz channel at a given
location may be even lower due to the presence of e.g. a meteorological radar. Hence, it is highly
likely that the current spectrum allocation in 5 GHz in Europe would not provide sufficient
frequency reuse, especially in densely deployed scenarios, unless more spectrum is allocated. As
a result, it is likely that the 11ac deployments in Europe would be limited to lower bandwidth
options (e.g. 20 or 40 MHz modes instead of 80 or 160 MHz modes) under the current spectrum
allocation, in which case the users will not be able to enjoy the higher per-link data rates offered
by IEEE 802.11ac (IEEE 802.11ac operating in 20 or 40 MHz bandwidth modes would not offer
significant per-link data rate increase over IEEE 802.11n).
The benefits of making more spectrum available include increased speeds for residential users
(particularly in urban settings) enabling the Digital Agenda goal of 100Mbps to be met in certain
scenarios, new applications derived from multiple HD video streams in sectors such as healthcare,
manufacturing and large venue management and the development and increased speed of wireless
device-to-device transfer.
Current 5 GHz allocation in Europe
The Commission Decision 2005/513/EC has allocated in total 455 MHz of spectrum in the 5 GHz
band. This is reflected in the figure below. As this is not contiguous spectrum, the possibilities to
accommodate 160 MHz wide channels as contained in IEEE 802.11ac are limited.
Situation in the US
In addition to the frequency bands 5150-5350 MHz and 5470-5725 MHz, the band 5725 – 5850
MHz is also available in the US for unlicensed usage by Wireless Access Systems including WiFi.
Earlier this year a new law was enacted in the US which requires the FCC and the NTIA to study
the possibility of allowing unlicensed U-NII devices to operate in the 5350-5470 MHz and in the
5850 – 5925 MHz bands.
Call to action
DIGITALEUROPE invites the European Commission to examine the extension of the 5 GHz
band that would result in RLAN devices being able to operate within one large uninterrupted
block of frequencies starting from 5150 MHz up to 5925 MHz. This would allow several 160
MHz non-overlapping channels to be utilized by IEEE 802.11ac devices in the band.
In September 2012, the Commission released a Communication on the shared use of spectrum
that recommended that:
“Depending on the outcome of technical sharing studies and of the impact in the market,
[the Commission should] consider the designation of additional harmonised licenceexempt spectrum for RLAN services (Wi-Fi) at 5 GHz through a revision of Decision
2005/513/EC.”
In order to fulfill this recommendation, DIGITALEUROPE invites the European Commission as
a first step to mandate CEPT to study the coexistence of Wireless Access Systems including WiFi in the above identified frequency bands.
This would require a technical study to be undertaken on the potential for coexistence with other
users in the following bands:
5350 – 5470 MHz
5725 – 5925 MHz
Should such a study reach a positive conclusion, the cost of making the spectrum available should
be minimal, given that Wi-Fi is able to share this spectrum with other primary users. Moreover,
in terms of equipment costs, devices which are already able to use the 5 GHz bands should be
able to use the additional channels, while the access points are likely to be replaced through
natural attrition.