Ofcom : Consultation to amend regulations for exemption criteria for some wireless devices 31st July 2015

Ofcom has today (31st July 2015) published a consultation on plans to make regulations that will amend the existing Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 licence exemption criteria for some wireless devices. Please see link below:

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/wta-exemptions-jul15/?utm_source=updates&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wta-exemptions-jul15

Most people will interact with licence-exempt, low-power, wireless devices in an average day – from Wi-Fi routers to car key-fobs and wireless doorbells.

Today’s proposals follow regular Ofcom reviews and are intended to reflect technical developments. In particular, the consultation proposes some minor changes to the existing exemption criteria for the following devices:

· Personal Mobile Radio (PMR) 446 – liberalising the use of this band (446.0 to 446.2 MHz) by removing analogue and digital demarcations from the frequency bands;


· Railway Level Crossing Radar – replacing the current ‘exclusion zones’ surrounding Radio Astronomy sites with ‘coordination zones’; and


· Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) equipment – reclassifying the technical requirements, currently classed as Cordless Telephony, to Short Range Devices.

Of particular interest to LPRA members may be;

· The proposed liberalisation of the PMR446 in line with the recently agreed ECC Decision.

· The proposed liberalisation of the DECT. Previously this was limited to cordless telephones. The change allows additional uses of this technology.

We would encourage all members to participate in this consultation, alternatively you are welcome to send  The Secretariat  your comments and concerns in order that they can be incorporated into the LPRA’s response which will be made in early September.

The consultation closes on 20 September 2015.