August 2009 --One would think that a paper on history of unlicensed spectrum ought to be a very short. For
one, with except for a very minor section of the Federal Communications Commission’s Part
15 rules, there is no such thing as ‘‘unlicensed spectrum’’. Rather, the FCC’s Part 15 rules
permit radio operation on a sufferance basis in broad swaths of the spectrum which is not
allocated specifically to unlicensed use. Second, when compared to other communications
policies, the history of the unlicensed rules is rather brief. In the five decades between the
establishment of the rules in 1938 and their major revision in 1989, the FCC issued only a
handful of proceeding on the issue. The commission’s actions on the subject begin to
accelerate apace starting in the early 1990s.
While the unlicensed rules may lack a glorious and romantic past, licensed operation holds
great interest for spectrum policy wonks as well as rich issues for the spectrum policy
debate. With increasing intensity over the last decade, proponents and opponents in this
debate have held forth unlicensed operation as being either pariah or paradigm. Having
participated in this debate numerous conferences and events, it seems to me that following
syllogism describes the view of spectrum policy researchers toward unlicensed operation.
Namely, that unlicensed operation is for economists akin to what the bumblebee is for
aeronautical engineers. As the legend goes, according to aerodynamic theory, the length of
the bumble bee’s wings is too short for its body and thus, it is not be able to fly. And, yet it
does.
Citation
"Unlicensed to Kill: A Brief History of the FCC Part 15 Rules" by Kenneth R. Carter, 5 INFO (August 2009), Quick Links: Unlicensed Wireless Policy Conference
Related Scholarship
"Unlicensed Wireless Policy Conference: Guest Editorial" by Charles L. Jackson, 5 INFO (August 2009), Quick Links: Unlicensed Wireless Policy Conference
"Unlicensed to Kill: A Brief History of the FCC Part 15 Rules" by Kenneth R. Carter, 5 INFO 8-18 (August 2009), Quick Links: Unlicensed Wireless Policy Conference
"Mark Fowler's Introduction of Mike Marcus" by Mark S. Fowler (April 2008), Quick Links: Unlicensed Wireless Policy Conference
"Wi-Fi and Bluetooth: The Path from Carter and Reagan-era Faith
in Deregulation to Widespread Products Impacting Our World" by Michael J. Marcus, 5 INFO 19-35 (August 2009), Quick Links: Unlicensed Wireless Policy Conference
"Unlicensed: The Case of Wi-Fi" by Ing Victor Hayes & Ir. Wolter Lemstra, 5 INFO 57-71 (August 2009), Quick Links: Unlicensed Wireless Policy Conference
"Grazing on the Commons: The Emergence of Part 15" by Henry Goldberg, 5 INFO 72-75 (August 2009), Quick Links: Unlicensed Wireless Policy Conference
"Has "Unlicensed" in Part 15 Worked? A Case Study" by Tim Pozar, 5 INFO 86-91 (August 2009), Quick Links: Unlicensed Wireless Policy Conference
