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The genesis of unlicensed wireless policy
Edited by Charles L. Jackson
1. Introduction
The wireless local area network (WLAN) is today a ubiquitous device often taken for granted as a default interface for networked devices by users and manufacturers alike. But not very long ago, it was most definitely not so. Rewind the clock ten years back to 1998 and not only are there bitter technical and business consortia differences on WLAN approaches, but there is extreme skepticism and variation in opinion as to how, or even if, WLANs can ever become a mainstream network interface. The WLAN of that day appeared to lack both the throughput of the wired local area network (such as 10/100 Ethernet LAN) and the coverage of the cellular network (which was supposed to be "imminently" upgrading to Mb/s data performance). The WLAN to that point had largely evolved as a slow and unreliable emulation of the wired LAN, only without the wire. And as such the products and standards largely envisioned the end application for WLAN as a replacement for wired LAN in enterprise or campus environments where mobile users would roam with their networked personal computers (PCs).
In the early 1990s WLANs found almost no success in selling to enterprise or campus environments as wired LAN replacements or enablers of mobility. The WLAN products of that day were far too slow, too expensive, too bulky, and too power hungry. Furthermore, mobile network connectivity was simply not yet a killer application. The "survivor" companies of that age were the ones who focused on adapting WLAN technology to specialty niches such as retailing, hospitality, and logistics. Organizations that went after the "big" market of enterprise networking, and there were many that did, either went bankrupt or became largely scaled back divisions of large companies.
By the middle of the 1990s the WLAN industry had mainly consolidated into four players, Proxim, Symbol, Lucent (the former NCR WLAN division) and Aironet (then still part of Telxon). And silicon suppliers such as Harris Semiconductor, AMD and Hewlett-Packard first started to exert influence on the industry with low-cost chipsets. The crucial PC Card form factor for laptop computers was achieved and with it came moderate commercial success especially by products such as Symbol's "Spectrum24",...