For the last decade, optically transparent antennas have been a topic of research for applications ranging from satellite communication to window embedded telecommunications. The most common material used for transparent antennas has so far been Indium Tin Oxide (ITO). However, the long term availability of indium due to worldwide shortages and increasing prices is of great concern, necessitating the exploration of replacement materials. Among the most promising candidates is zinc oxide heavily doped with gallium (GZO), which can be produced in the form of thin films with conductivity comparable to that of ITO. In order to study the efficacy of GZO transparent antennas, a printed planar‐dipole antenna was designed and fabricated. The antenna operated in the 2.4 GHZ Industry science and measurement (ISM) band with a return loss of approximately 13 dB. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 59:773–777, 2017