The Carterfone is a device invented by Thomas Carter. It connects a

two-way radio A two-way radio is a radio transceiver (a radio that can both transmit and receive radio waves), which is used for bidirectional person-to-person voice communication with other users with similar radios, in contrast to a broadcast receiver, whi ...

system to the telephone system, allowing someone on the radio to talk to someone on the phone. This makes it a direct predecessor to today's autopatch. The connection is acoustic -- sound travels through the air between the Carterfone and a conventional telephone that is part of the telephone system. The reason the Carterfone connected the telephone and radio acoustically, instead of electrically, is that telephone network owners were legally allowed to and did bar devices they did not own from being connected electrically to their networks. The Carterfone decision (13 F.C.C.2d 420) was a landmark

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

regulatory decision that opened the

public switched telephone network The public switched telephone network (PSTN) is the aggregate of the world's telephone networks that are operated by national, regional, or local telephony operators. It provides infrastructure and services for public telephony. The PSTN consists o ...

(PSTN) in America to customer-premises equipment (CPE). Twelve years earlier, a court had ruled in the Hush-A-Phone case that devices could ''mechanically'' connect to the telephone system (such as a rubber cup attached to a phone-company-owned telephone) without the permission of

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

. In 1968, the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

(FCC) extended this privilege by allowing the Carterfone and other devices to be connected ''electrically'' to the AT&T network, as long as they did not cause harm to the system.

Description

The device is acoustically, but not electrically, connected to the public switched telephone network. It was electrically connected to the

base station Base station (or base radio station, BS) is – according to the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) Radio Regulations (RR) – a " land station in the land mobile service." A base station is called '' node B'' in 3G, '' eNB'' in L ...

of the

mobile radio Mobile radio or mobiles refer to wireless communications systems and devices which are based on radio frequencies (using commonly UHF or VHF frequencies), and where the path of communications is movable on either end. There are a variety of vi ...

system, and got its power from the base station. All electrical parts were encased in

bakelite Bakelite ( ), formally , is a thermosetting polymer, thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. The first plastic made from synthetic components, it was developed by Belgian chemist ...

, an early plastic. When someone on a

wished to speak to someone on phone, or "landline" (e.g., "Central dispatch, patch me through to McGarrett"), the station operator at the base would dial the telephone number. When callers on the radio and on the telephone were both in contact with the base station operator, the handset of the operator's telephone was placed on a

cradle Cradle or Cradles may refer to: * Cradle (bed) * Bassinet, a small bed, often on rockers, in which babies and small children sleep Mechanical devices * Cradle (circus act), or aerial cradle or casting cradle used in an aerial circus act * Crad ...

built into the Carterfone device. A voice-operated switch in the Carterfone automatically switched on the radio transmitter when the telephone caller was speaking; when they stopped speaking, the radio returned to a receiving condition. A separate speaker was attached to the Carterfone to allow the base station operator to monitor the conversation, adjust the voice volume, and hang up their telephone when the conversation had ended.

Landmark regulatory decision

This particular device was involved in a landmark

regulatory decision related to

telecommunication Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

s. In a twelve-year prior decision from 1956, a court had ruled in the Hush-A-Phone case that devices could ''mechanically'' connect to the telephone system (such as a rubber cup attached to a phone-company-owned telephone) without the permission of

. In 1968, the

extended this privilege by allowing the Carterfone and other devices to be connected electrically to the AT&T network, as long as they did not cause harm to the system. This ruling, commonly called "the Carterfone decision" (13 F.C.C.2d 420), created the possibility of selling devices that could connect to the phone system using a protective coupler and opened the market to customer-premises equipment. The decision is often referred to as "any lawful device", allowing later

innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or service (economics), services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a n ...

s like answering machines,

fax machine Fax (short for facsimile), sometimes called telecopying or telefax (short for telefacsimile), is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material (both text and images), normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other out ...

s, and

modem The Democratic Movement (, ; MoDem ) is a centre to centre-right political party in France, whose main ideological trends are liberalism and Christian democracy, and that is characterised by a strong pro-Europeanist stance. MoDem was establis ...

s (which initially used the same type of manual acoustic coupler as the Carterfone) to proliferate. In February 2007, a

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to an officia ...

for rulemaking was filed with the FCC by

Skype Skype () was a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for IP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also had instant messaging, file transfer, ...

, requesting the FCC to apply the Carterfone regulations to the wireless industry—which would mean that OEMs, portals and others will be able to offer wireless devices and services without the cellular operators needing to approve the handsets. However, on April 1, 2008, FCC chairman Kevin Martin indicated that he would oppose Skype's request. On April 17, 2015, this petition for rulemaking was dismissed without prejudice by the FCC at the request of Skype's current owner, Microsoft Corporation.FCC order
/ref>

References

External links

Full text of FCC Carterfone decision

Full text of Skype petition

- FCC Regulations concerning attachment and marketing of CPE
Timeline from NPR

Ars Technica: Any lawful device - 40 years after the Carterfone decision (includes picture of the Carterfone)

Carterfone: My Story, by Nicholas Johnson, FCC Commissioner, 1966-73
{{Federal Communications Commission Telephony equipment Federal Communications Commission History of telecommunications in the United States AT&T litigation

Description

Landmark regulatory decision

See also

References

External links