It has emerged that Apple Computer Inc’s Airport – the 2.4GHz portable wireless networking hub for the iBook – could face trouble from the French authorities because it uses frequencies reserved for the French military. Users will need to apply to the government for a license to use the optional networking hub. However, this could just be start of the problem, both Bluetooth and the 802.11 WLAN standard use the 2.4GHz frequency, and are expected to be the basis of many portable networking products into the next century.
The problem emerged yesterday when French IT site Internet Actu reported that Airport users would require a license. The French government deals with requests for the 2.4GHz licenses each year, generally for fixed line datacommunications networks. However, it is the portable nature of the Airport device that bothers the French. Conceivably, someone using the Airport device near a military installation could mess up the site’s communications.
The problem of portable wireless 2.4GHz devices will become much worse when Bluetooth devices come onstream sometime next year. We tried to contact Bluetooth pioneer’s LM Ericsson Telefon AB, as well as Intersil Corp – which backs 802.11 – to see if the French issues with 2.4GHz had been addressed. They didn’t return our calls by press time.
