To use licensed radio bands, a license must be obtained from a government agency. This requirement is true of all users of these radio spectrums. A few of the uses of licensed radio bands are as follows:
-
AM broadcast (short wave between 1.711 MHz–30.0 MHz, medium wave between 520 kHz–1,610 kHz, and long wave between 148.5 kHz–283.5 kHz )
-
FM broadcast (87.5 to 108.0 MHz)
-
Cellular phones (840 MHz)
In the larger electromagnetic spectrum, which includes the radio spectrum, the licensing of infrared and X-ray spectrums also exists.
Some of the types of unlicensed radio bands are as follows:
-
Industrial, Scientific, Medical (ISM): This type includes several medical monitors and other devices that operate in the 900-MHZ, 2.4-GHz, and 5-GHz bands.
-
Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII): This type defines the specifications for the use of wireless devices such as WLAN access points and routers in the 5-GHz band.
