Regulation of Radio Frequency Communications: The Untold History of “Harmful Interference”

Abstract

This paper reviews the origins of a key, universal concept used in the international and domestic (United States) regulation of radio frequency communications: “harmful interference.” It also explores the etymology of the term “interference” and related terms as they evolved from the earliest days of wireless spectrum regulation. These terms and their official definitions are often criticized as cryptic, vague, amorphous, and ambiguous, resulting in excessive regulatory uncertainty and delays. Several technical experts frustrated with the current definitions have attempted to suggest alternative concepts and approaches to defining or quantifying interference. Others have defended the “flexible” definition of “harmful interference.” However, no one has explored the original meaning of these key concepts in the context of the regulation of radio frequency communications.

This paper digs deep into primary sources including international treaty documents, their original translation (and potential mistranslation) from the official language (French), and the deliberations of technical committees and national regulators. The paper starts with today’s interference terminology as embodied in the longstanding regulatory definitions, then traces their roots from international treaties (some of which were lost in translation) and U.S. Navy reports of the early 1900s. We reveal the evolutionary path through the 1940s to the 1970s and 1980s when the current definitions were solidified by international and domestic regulators. Understanding the original purposes, context, and usage of these definitions shed light on modern-day critiques and misuses of the vocabulary. This leads to follow-up research efforts that should explore the interpretations and applications of these concepts with, for example, the century-old, principal ex ante approach to avoiding “harmful interference”: the international and domestic Table of Frequency Allocations.

Keywords: radiocommunication, interference, telecommunication, harmful interference