Abstract:
Wireless Services are critical to the evolution of national communication infrastructure and consequently
to the health of nation's economy. Innovations in wireless services has created a new era in Information
Communication Technology (lCT) sector during the last decade. While wireless services encompass an
incredible diversity of uses, technologies, and markets one commonality is that they all depend on access
to the Radio Frequency (RF) spectrum.
Globally, 2.5 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands are heavily used for IT related applications. Over the time,
technology has evolved in these bands that make it possible to build much more efficient and dynamically
responsive (intelligent) radio systems that can allow many users and uses to simultaneously share the
same frequency band. Consequently, most of the International regulatory authorities have amended their
respective regulatory policies in a timely manner to make the optimum use of these technological
advancements in the IT industry.
This research is aimed at assessing the international situation on the usage of 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands for
IT related applications, reviewing the domestic requirements for such applications, identifying practical
difficulties encountered by various category of stakeholders and proposing a more appropriate regulatory
regime for the allocation of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands which is conducive to the
Sri Lankan environment.