GERMANY

• "On 13 July 2005 the Regulatory Authority for Telecommunications and Posts (RegTP), which had originally emerged from the Federal Ministry for Posts and Telecommunications (BMPT) and the Federal Office for Posts and Telecommunications (BAPT), was renamed Federal Network Agency [Bundesnetzagentur]... official organ of the Federal Network Agency is its Amtsblatt (Official Gazette) in which inter alia all publications prescribed by the legislator on the subject of electricity, gas, telecommunications and post are published in the form of Administrative Orders and Communications..." ---Bundesnetzagentur website
• Frequency Usage Plan (622 pages PDF, 5274kb, in German).
• Presentations from the Bundesnetzagentur conference on "Flexibility in spectrum management - New approaches and experience" in Königswinter, 5 July 2005 (in English and German).
• "Allgemeinzuteilungen" (General authorizations) in German. This Bundesnetzagentur page includes links to frequency bands and rules for specific types of license exempt devices.
• "Informationen zu Short-Range-Devices" (in German) - this is mainly a directory of information sheets for specific types of SRDs. See also "Informationen zu WLAN" and "Informationen zu ISM-Frequenzen" (both documents in German).
• "Short Range Devices" - German-language page in the Wikipedia (currently profiles band-use below 900MHz only).
• "Regulatory Principles in the Federal Network Agency's Spectrum Management to Promote Broadband Access," Bundesnetzagentur für Elektrizität, Gas, Telekommunikation, Post und Eisenbahnen Behördensitz, September 2005 in English:

  "The WLAN frequencies at 5 GHz were finally generally assigned in November 2002, Germany being the first EU country to do so...

  "The use of the frequencies [in the 2.4 GHz band] for WLAN applications is not tied to a particular technical standard. Nor is a specific coverage range defined. This is determined solely by the maximum radiated power of the radio installation which may not exceed 100 mW (e.i.r.p.), and by the environmental conditions. Likewise, no antennas have been defined for WLAN applications. The maximum radiated power may not be exceeded and the manufacturer's declaration of conformity may not be violated through modifications of the antenna..."

• WOS 4: Spektralanalyse by Robert A. Gehring, PC Magazine,16 September 2006, in German: article about the "Open Spectrum" panel at the Wizards of OS 4 conference in Berlin.
• "Deutsche Bahn erweitert WLAN-Angebot an Bahnhöfen" (German Rail extends WLAN-offer at stations), TEC Channel, 22 December 2006, in German: starting on Christmas "Mobility Net" should be available from 4 providers - Arcor, The Cloud, T-Com and Vodafone - in the Berlin East station as well as in the main stations of Frankfurt/Main, Leipzig, Nuremberg and Kaiserslautern. By the end of January there should be 25 such hotspots, with the number doubling during the rest of 2007.
• "Funkfrequenzen für alle" (Radiofrequencies for All) by Richard Sietmann (June 2004) for heise mobil: "Die staatliche Frequenzhoheit gerät von zwei Seiten in die Zange: Neokonservative Ökonomen fordern die Privatisierung des Funkspektrums und die Open-Spectrum-Bewegung seine Freigabe zur lizenzfreien Vernetzung für jedermann..." (The national frequency authority is being squeezed from two sides: neoconservative economists demand the privatisation of the radio spectrum and the Open Spectrum movement its release for license-free networking for everyone...)
• Frequenzsteit: Wem gehören welche Wellen?" (Frequency Controversy: To Whom do the Waves Belong?) von Nils Schiffhauer, Technology Review, 12 November 2004 (via Spiegel Online), in German. Ultra-wideband's challenge to traditional spectrum management, and the politics of "free" vs. "bought" frequencies.
• FreiFunk.net - "...eine Initiative zur Verbreitung freier (Funk-)Netzwerke. Hier findet Ihr Informationen über Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), Accesspoints und über Funknetzprojekte im deutschsprachigen Raum."
• "Freie drahtlose Bürgernetze, Teil 1" von Armin Medosch, Telepolis, 22 May 2002: "Das Comeback der Internet-Utopien mit den Wireless Local Area Networks."
• Opennet Forum - promoting community network technology in Rostock.
• "Frequenzpiraterie für jeden: 'Software-Radio' sucht sich selbsttätig freie Funkfrequenzen" (Frequency-piracy for everyone: 'Software-Radio' automatically looks for free radio frequencies) by Wolf-Dieter Roth in Telepolis, 20 July 2004.
• Strategische Aspekte zur Frequenzregulierung der Regulierungsbehörde für Telekommunikation und Post (German version). English version: Strategic aspects of frequency regulation issued by RegTP. Section 3.6 deals with Short-Range Devices, Ultra-WideBand, and Short-Range Radar; Section 3.7 deals with WLANs.
• "Bundesnetzagentur gibt Frequenzen fur UWB frei" [The Federal Networks Agency gives free frequencies for UWB], de.internet.com, 17 January 2008, in German. Translated excerpt: The Federal Network Agency has released frequencies for Ultra-Wideband (UWB) in the 30 MHz to 10.6 GHz range. That will allow the wireless transmission technology to use these frequencies freely, without a need to apply for permission, the agency said in Bonn yesterday...
• German Wireless Users Group.
• "Mehr als 14.000 WLAN-Hotspots in Deutschland," [More than 14,000 WLAN Hotspots in Germany], BITKOM press release (in German), 14 September 2008. Translated excerpts: there are now about 14,200 public WLAN hotspots in Germany, 9 per cent more than a year ago. That's about 17 hotspots for every 100,000 inhabitants. Compare this to Switzerland, where there are 53 hotspots per 100,000. Great Britain has 48/100,000 and Sweden has 38/100,000. Forty percent of all German households with an Internet connection have WLANs - below the European Union's 46 percent average. Spain (68%) and France (67%) have the highest proportion of net-connected homes with WLANs in Europe.
• Cafespots.de - coffeeshops with wireless Internet access. List covers about 50 German cities.
• netzpolitik.org.
• The WIGWAM Project - "Wireless Gigabit With Advanced Multimedia Support," coordinated by the Dresden University of Technology and funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
• "Blick unter die Haut: Gründung eines Terahertz-Zentrums an Uni Regensburg," (View under the skin: Establishment of a Terahertz center at University of Regensburg) by Rudolf F. Dietze, Innovations Report, 31 May 2007: on 5 June 2007 the physics faculty at the University of Regensburg opened a center for the study of terahertz wave phenomena.
• RFIDabc - a German campaign to improve public awareness and acceptance of RFID. See also "Neues Forum für RFID," Electronic Commerce Info Net, October 2006.
• RFID: Prospectives for Germany, by Dr. Marc Bovenschulte, Peter Gabriel, Dr. Katrin Gaßner and Uwe Seidel, for the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (June 2007), available in English or German.

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