The Wize protocol uses the frequency 169 MHz which is regulated by the European Union. Nevertheless, for the rest of the world we do not yet have a clear idea of where it is license-free. That's why we have prepared this short but clear post about this topic.
Please note that we talk about the European Union and it’s 27 members (UK included, for now…) and not Europe as a continent. Radio frequencies are regulated by political entities and, in this case, the European Union.
As said in another blog post, the frequency 169 MHz was once used for pagers in the EU. Pagers no longer exist and have been replaced by a much more convenient device: the mobile phone. The frequency 169 MHz was then repurposed for metering under the Wireless M-Bus European standard (EN 13757-4) in the EU. In 2015, the EU opened the frequency to other purpose than metering.
In 2017, the Wize Alliance was created at the initiative of 3 main actors: Suez, GRDF and Sagemcom. These three big companies were already using the frequency 169 MHz for metering purposes for several years. Wize has been created as new standard for IoT applications, completely free to use with no fees to pay to the Alliance (once again, in the perimeter of the European Union).
Although, the frequency 169 MHz is sometimes used for other purposes outside the EU, in some countries, it has been possible to use Wize using a frequency slightly higher or lower than 169 MHz. Today, some metering projects using the frequency 169 MHz have been deployed in China, Singapour, Chili, Colombia, Algeria and Morocco. Furthermore, in some countries the frequency 169 MHz is regulated to be used only for metering and other uses are not allowed.
In the United States, the frequency is used for military purposes, hence it is not legal to use Wize. More research will be undertaken by AllWize and the Wize Alliance to get a clearer idea of which country authorises the use of +/- 169 MHz, but I guess you can understand that going through every single legislation will be a tough and long work!
By the way, if you know that it is not legal to use Wize in your country don’t hesitate to leave us a message on our email address: hello@allwize.io.