An open initiative · neither a registered body nor a regulatory authority
The 869.4-869.65 MHz sub-band is a shared and finite resource. The way it is used collectively determines what each party can do with it.
The ISM France Coordination Centre brings together the operators, the developers and the communities that use the ISM band in France, and first of all its sub-band P, the only one to allow 500 mW and a 10% duty cycle. It documents uses, publishes measurements, and builds the conventions that allow this resource to remain usable as the number of devices grows.
Regulation
The 869.4-869.65 MHz sub-band allows 500 mW of effective radiated power and a 10% duty cycle, that is six minutes of transmission per hour per device. This ceiling is collective: it is not divided by the number of users, it is shared between them.
Deployments
Several thousand devices are in service across the country today. Most of them run in their default configuration, with no declared geographical range. A message intended for a neighbourhood then crosses the country, and consumes the resource of everyone.
Uses
The protocols in use have the means to limit range, to cap transmission time and to partition exchanges. These means are little used, for want of a shared convention and of an explanation of their effects.
The Centre is an open initiative. The work under way calls for contributions on regulatory watch, measurement, tool development and regional representation.
