STATEMENT OF 
COMMISSIONER AJIT PAI
Re: Revision of Part 15 of the Commission’s Rules Regarding Operation in the 57-64 GHz Band, ET 
Docket No. 07-113 and RM-11104
We spend a lot of time thinking about the best spectrum policy for the 600 MHz band.  In fact, we 
will discuss the 600 MHz band later this morning.  But first, we shorten our attention span.  Literally—
wavelengths at 60 GHz are approximately 100 times shorter than the wavelengths found in the broadcast 
spectrum.  This is extremely high-frequency spectrum.  It’s so high that it didn’t even make it onto the list 
of so-called “junk” bands that the Commission made available for unlicensed use in the 1980s.
However, to borrow the title of a 1985 film starring Emilio Estevez, “That Was Then, This Is 
Now.”  Currently, one of the biggest challenges we face at the Commission is harnessing enough 
spectrum to accommodate the growing demand for mobile broadband services.  The 60 GHz band can 
play an important role in meeting this challenge.  The signals’ short-range propagation and inability to 
penetrate walls allows for heavy reuse of the spectrum in dense urban areas without causing interference.  
And critically, the channels are wide; we have previously allocated an enormous 7 GHz of spectrum for 
unlicensed use.  This large, contiguous swath of spectrum between 57–64 GHz could enable high data 
throughput—precisely what is needed for advanced wireless applications.
This is why I enthusiastically support today’s order.  It modernizes the Part 15 unlicensed rules 
that govern the 60 GHz band, which were established about a decade before we fully understood the 
potential for these frequencies.  It allows a sensible increase in power levels, eliminates the obsolete 
mandate that devices transmit identification information, and streamlines other rules.  In sum, it makes 
using 60 GHz spectrum easier and less expensive.
So what will it be used for?  We’re still in the early stages of development, but the 60 GHz band 
holds promise for meeting the needs of consumers who increasingly use high-bandwidth applications.  
Already, the new 60 GHz IEEE 802.11ad standard (known as WiGig) will enable consumers to stream 
uncompressed high definition video from a DVD player, a tablet, or a personal computer to a television in 
the same room without relying on a wired connection.  Other applications are limited only by the 
imagination: point-to-point backhaul, machine-to-machine communications, the list goes on.  Both as a 
Commissioner and as a consumer, I’m excited to see the innovation that these reforms will spur in the 
years to come.
I commend Chairwoman Clyburn for her leadership and thank the Office of Engineering 
Technology for its thoughtful treatment of the issues in this rulemaking.  The prospect of a world gone 
wireless makes it crucial that the Commission establish a forward-thinking, flexible spectrum policy.  
Today’s order is an example of the agency doing just that.