LMCC Annual Meeting
The 2013 Annual Membership Meeting of the Land Mobile Communications Council will convene in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, April 9, 2013. The membership will review outstanding PLMR regulatory proceeding, LMCC activities associated with spectrum management and telecom policies, as well as elect officers for the forthcoming year. A FCC panel with representatives from the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau will also be available to discuss current events with the membership. EWA is an active member and Mark Crosby currently serves as the LMCC’s Secretary/Treasurer.
Category: In the newsT-Mobile, Metro PCS Merger Seen as “Engine of Economic Growth”
As expected, the FCC approved the proposed merger between T-Mobile and MetroPCS with relatively few conditions. In the approval, Chairman Genachowski commented that “Mobile broadband is a key engine of economic growth” and notes that challenges will remain, “including the need to unleash even more spectrum for mobile broadband” in order to promote competition and protect consumers. FCC News
Category: In the newsFCC Remains Involved Regarding FirstNet
FirstNet, which holds the nationwide 700 MHz Public Safety broadband license, may be an independent authority within NTIA, but it appears the FCC still intends to have a meaningful role in FirstNet spectrum matters. In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking the Commission is seeking comment on technical and other rules governing this spectrum, including what criteria should be used to assess whether FirstNet’s license should be renewed. (FCC 13-31)
Category: In the newsSprint Continues Effort to Simplify Rebanding Processes
Sprint Nextel submitted the only set of Reply Comments responding to industry support and questions associated with its earlier Petition for Declaratory Ruling that would commence a general relaxation of the current administrative processes associated with the 800 MHz rebanding effort. EWA had previously commented that there certainly is no risk of Sprint receiving an economic windfall with actual and projected expenditures exceeding $3.1B, and the need to maintain an $850M Letter of Credit also seems unnecessary at this point. Regarding changes to the rebanding reconciliation process, Sprint recommended the elimination of change orders to reallocate costs to different cost categories if the overall cost is not increased, and suggested that a buy-out option be instituted for lump sum “second touch” payments when convenient for affected licensee that would enable projects to close.
Category: In the newsManufacturer’s Receive 6.25 kHz Efficiency Delay
Way back in 1995, the FCC made it abundantly clear that new applications for equipment type acceptance in the 150-174 MHz and 421-512 MHz bands were to operate in 6.25 kHz mode or with an equivalent efficiency. The date for this requirement was extended once to January 1, 2013. So it was somewhat surprising when Ritron, a manufacturer of wireless products, asked the FCC this past September to indefinitely delay this requirement. In support of their petition, and in an argument that missed entirely the strategic spectrum efficiency benefits associated with narrowbanding, Ritron argued that “the equipment authorization process does not motivate licensees to adopt narrowbanding technology because they gain no advantage from doing so.” Even more questionable was the argument posited by Ritron that the efficiency standards should be delayed “until a real need has been established for additional PLMR frequencies beyond those created by the transition to 12.5 kHz.” Perhaps fairly, the FCC denied Ritron’s request for an indefinite delay, but waived until January 1, 2015, the requirement that applications for equipment certification demonstrate 6.25 voice capability. FCC Order
Category: In the newsT-Band Relocation Costs – Easily More than 800 MHz Rebanding
In a report that covers the “extraordinary complexities” of moving systems, the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) released last week its comprehensive T-Band report detailing public safety (PS) use of the 470-512 MHz spectrum in each of the 11 markets, the availability of alternative spectrum in each market to accommodate relocated licensees, the amount of equipment being used by PS T-Band licensees in each market, and the estimated cost/time involved in relocation. Excluding relocation costs associated with Industrial/Business incumbent licensees, the report estimates that more than $5.9 billion will be necessary to accommodate public safety. The report added that to meet the statutory deadline of relocating PS organizations from T-Band by 2023, the relocation planning process should have begun prior to 2009. The report also concluded that the auction proceeds are not likely to cover PS relocation costs. The report may be reviewed on NPSTC’s website.
Category: In the newsNarrowband Waiver Recipient List Extensive
In response to a request submitted by the Land Mobile Communications Council (LMCC), the FCC provided a list of call signs for which narrowband waiver requests have been granted. There are 4,053 public safety call signs representing 514 licensees, and 1,635 industrial/business call signs representing 274 licensees on the list. This information is important to the frequency advisory committees as they need to recognize the operation of these permitted wideband systems during frequency selection analyses. This task will prove more difficult, however, given the sheer number of entities receiving extensions. Wideband systems that have not received a narrowbanding extension are treated by the coordinating agencies as if they are operating a narrowband analog system.
The LMCC request for an expedited process to confirm and identify licenses as having terminated operations so that affected licenses may me quickly terminated within ULS remains unfinished business.
FCC Clarifies Narrowbanding Rules Post Deadline
The FCC released another narrowbanding advisory Public Notice last week covering a variety of topics associated with the narrowbanding mandate. One of the first suggestions included a recommendation that licensees should delete non-compliant wideband emission designators on their licenses, even if that license also reflects a compliant emission designator. For those licensees who have had their systems programmed to operate in compliance, but who have somehow failed to update their licenses, of which there shouldn’t be too many incidences, they were encouraged to update their licenses. If such licenses migrated from analog to analog, license changes may be accommodated directly online through new ULS capabilities. And not surprisingly, the FCC advised non-compliant system operators to either cease operations immediately or seek a waiver seeking an extension of the narrowbanding deadline. Of course, now that the deadline is almost three months behind us, the FCC stated that there are no guarantees that waivers will be granted), and such licenses may still face an enforcement action which may include fines.
In response to EWA and LMCC requests for a point-of-contact to promote spectrum efficiency by "assisting" wideband users to either conform with the narrowbanding rules or cancel non-compliant wideband licenses, the FCC announced that interested parties with knowledge about a possible violation of the narrowbanding rules could call 1.888.CALL.FCC or file a complaint via www.fcc.gov/complaints. Additionally, specific staff contacts were provided within both the Wireless Telecommunications and Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureaus.
Should you have any questions or comments regarding the FCC's Public Notice or need assistance with narrowbanding compliance, please contact EWA’s Customer Service at 1.800.482.8282 or CustomerService@EnterpriseWireless.org.