Axon Waiver for Surveillance Devices Gets FCC Approval, Citing Public Safety

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6, 2024 – Axon Enterprise, the maker of the TASER electroshock weapon, has been granted a waiver to operate surveillance devices in a heavily trafficked Wi-Fi spectrum band, raising concerns about potential interference with critical wireless Internet services.

The Federal Communications Commission granted Axon the waiver Thursday to operate a suite of analog, battery-powered surveillance devices in the 5725-5850 MegaHertz band, including an aerial drone, a small robotic ground vehicle, and a hand-held stick-mounted camera. 

Axon intends to sell these devices to law enforcement to reduce the risk to first responders involved in potentially life-threatening situations. 

While the waiver aims to support law enforcement during emergency situations, it has drawn mixed reactions from stakeholders due to potential interference risks.

WISPA - Broadband Without Boundaries, which represents small and medium-sized fixed wireless operators, expressed particular alarm about the risks to its members. 

"WISPA remains concerned that the subject matter of the Axon waiver may lead to equipment causing interference in the U-NII-3 Band (5725-5850 MHz) in which fixed wireless operators provide services. Concurrent operations in the same band can cause noise which interferes with these normal radio operations,” WISPA’s vice president of spectrum and industry, Richard Bernhardt, told Broadband Breakfast.

To mitigate potential interference, the FCC attached several strict conditions to the waiver, including:

• Battery-powered operation: Axon’s devices must operate on limited battery life, reducing their potential for prolonged interference.
• Emergency use only: Devices were restricted to critical law enforcement scenarios, prohibiting routine surveillance or fixed operations.
• Channel prioritization: Axon devices were required to default to non-overlapping Wi-Fi channels, with urgent warnings displayed when congested channels are used.
• Limited sales: Axon was capped at selling no more than 10,000 units within three years, with further conditions ensuring devices are used only by law enforcement.

The FCC justified its decision by emphasizing the public safety benefits of Axon’s devices, which provide real-time video during dangerous situations like hostage scenarios. 

“We find that there is a clear public interest in making Axon’s surveillance devices available for use in the specific law enforcement scenarios that Axon describes,” said Ira Keltz, Acting Chief of the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology. "The limited scope in which these devices will be operated in itself helps to mitigate the risk of interference."

The FCC imposed a 3-year limit on Axon’s waiver beginning on the day the waiver was granted without any option for extension.

The FCC incorporated several recommendations that NCTA – the Internet & Television Association raised in July, including restricting the devices to law enforcement use during true emergencies, but declined to adopt NCTA's proposal for a shorter, one-year waiver limit.