Subscribe to Newsletter
Tell a Friend
Print this Page
09/24/2007Former Soviet States Seen to Emerge as Broadband-Wireless Hotbeds
During 2005 and 2006, the Open Spectrum Foundation conducted a global survey of Wi-Fi regulations. Early results of that survey appeared in The Promise of Broadband Wireless Communities, published in 2005 by the Wireless Internet Institute and the United Nations ICT Task Force. More recently, "thumbnail" sketches of about 170 countries' Wi-Fi rules were presented at an ITU workshop in January 2007.
 A few patterns stood out clearly in our survey. One was that outdoor use of Wi-Fi was severely restricted in most members of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
The CIS was formed in 1991 by former republics of the Soviet Union to preserve economic, cultural and security links after the USSR disintegrated. Not all former Soviet republics joined. The Baltic countries — Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia — ran the other way, and others dropped out later, such as Turkmenistan, Georgia and Ukraine. Among the remaining CIS members, only Moldova and Armenia escaped the problem discussed below, which still affects Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Ukraine is dealing with it, too, even after leaving the CIS. Why is Outdoor Wi-Fi Such a Problem Here?
A Russian-language newspaper article published in Kazakhstan answered that question in 2005. During parliamentary hearings on a new communications law, the deputy chairman of Kazakhstan's telecom agency complained about an "opaque" Soviet-era agreement giving the military the 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz bands so that "civilian use is excluded practically in the entire territory [of Kazakhstan] and in the CIS." CIS military forces still rely on Soviet-era infrastructures which span the region. Most of their communications equipment and radars use the frequencies they were allotted during the Cold War, and individual countries cannot shift away from these systems without breaking links on which their neighbors' security depends. Thus, changes in military frequency use at the national level have to be internationally coordinated and planned, based on regional agreements. In practice, that means Russia must take the lead. Yet having been humiliated by the loss of Eastern Europe and no longer able to claim most of the state budget, the Russian military was not eager to lose high-value assets like radio frequencies, too. Under Communism, the radio spectrum was considered state property, and private possession of unlicensed transmitters was a crime. Hardly any frequencies were for nongovernmental use, and there were no legal procedures for changing that. As recently as November 2005, the Ukrainian journal Podrobnosti claimed that only 0.5 percent of Ukraine's radio spectrum was for exclusive nongovernmental use. But this did not stop people from buying cordless phones, CB radios, Bluetooth devices and business-band mobiles when they went abroad — to use back home, without bothering about authorization. And most laptops come with Wi-Fi built in. As Russia's IT Daily noted, with wry understatement, even after the national frequency tables were updated in the 1990s they still did "not correspond to reality." Grudgingly accepting the inevitable, in 2002 Russia began to relax its Wi-Fi rules in small steps. First it allowed type-accepted equipment to be used in offices without the need for government inspectors to approve the physical layout of each WLAN. Licenses were still needed, but if the system was indoors, the licenses were easier to obtain. Other CIS countries followed suit. In 2004, a further rule change eliminated licenses for certain types of low-power equipment: cordless phones, Bluetooth, GSM handsets, wireless microphones, etc. Indoor Wi-Fi was added to the list a few weeks later. But even to this day, public hotspots and outdoor WLANs need two kinds of license - for "telematic services" and "data transfers." Some technical consultants charge thousands of dollars to prepare the paperwork for the license applications, which take weeks for the regulator to process. Licensing slows the spread of commercial hotspots. In 2005, Russia still had only 650 of them — about the same number as Estonia, which is 200 times smaller in area. But Russia's competitive spirit burns bright, and every year the money flows faster and easier. Hotspot licenses are now a minor speed bump for the most profitable telecom operators, so the number of commercial hotspots reportedly increased 1,000 percent this year. By the end of 2007, 22 Russian cities are expected to be covered by mobile WiMAX, and a thousand more cities and towns are supposed to be "WiMAX-ed" by the end of 2008. After a very late start — Communists remained in power until 2005 — things are also starting to look up in Ukraine. Nine cities have at least rudimentary Wi-Fi hotzones, and an alliance of wireless and mobile operators has announced "Metro.WiFi-city" networks based on pre-802.11n technology, with indoor and outdoor access speeds of 80-300 Mbps — first in Kyiv and then elsewhere. Last June the regulator issued two licenses for hotspot deployments across the country. The licensees are to cover "all regional centers" with Wi-Fi by 2010. It's only a symptom of the improving situation, but ITC Online's Ukrainian-language website — "Wi-Fi in Kyiv: A Guide to the public points of access" — is the best hotspot guide I have seen for any city anywhere. A map shows the locations of the access points, with street addresses, prices, short site descriptions, interior and exterior photos, interviews with regular users and market experts. Obviously, they can go into such detail because there are only 24 sites to profile. That they have done it shows how glad Ukrainians are to have such "Western" conveniences — finally. Russia, Ukraine and the CIS are starting to implement plans for shifting frequencies from military to civilian use. This will take years and could be derailed if global political tensions mount. Civilians know so little about the actual frequency needs of the military that it will be easy for the generals to "game" the politicians. The first bands converted will probably be those with the highest value at auction — i.e., those for WiMAX and mobile telephony. Wi-Fi is not a priority. WiMAX is, however, and the need to overcome the inadequacy of their old wired communication networks quickly, to promote economic efficiency and growth, make the countries of the former Soviet Union likely to emerge soon as hotbeds of wireless development; that is, if their militaries agree.
back
Related Items:
• Molfetta, Italy
• WiMAX Spotlight Shifts to India
• Novarum Compares Networks, Cuts Through Confusion
• Glenn Strachan, Project Director, Macedonia Connects
Comments
No records were found.
Post new comment:Only registered users can add comments.
Please Log-in
| 
