IEEE is holding an 802 Plenary meeting this week in San Diego. The IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee develops Local Area Network standards and Metropolitan Area Network standards. At this meeting, the IEEE802.11 WiFi standards group submitted a Project Authorization Request(PAR) to reband the popular 802.11 WiFi standard to license exempt bands below 1 GHz, with the exception of the TV white spaces band. Currently, 802.11 only operates at 2.4 and 5 GHz. The proposal was not well received by the IEEE802.15.4g group currently developing smart utility network (SUN) standards for these bands, specifically 902 - 928 MHz.

The 802.11 group argues that using the technology in the lower frequency bands will provide broad market potential, compatibility with other 802.11 devices at the MAC layer level and a distinct identity. The group argues the data rates as high as 100 Mbps will be available in the band. Proponents also say the 802.11 MAC definition is more secure than the current version of 802.15.4g.
The 802.15.4g group is concerned that the introduction of 802.11 to 902-928 MHz will negatively impact the millions of devices deployed in the band, most of which are utility meters. Further comments argue that deploying 802.11 in lower bands is not a unique solution, since 802.15.4g already exists in these frequency bands. Overlapping standards are prohibited in the IEEE process. Also troubling to the 802.15.4g group is the claim that high data rates are available in an outdoor environment. 802.15.4g spent considerable balancing data rate with propagation, coverage and reliable to come up with lower data rate in that standard.
Unless the 802.11 group can add technical detail to their PAR and resolve concerns from other groups, this proposal will likely be killed rather than ratified.