Connect America Fund to Provide Broadband Access to 600,000
The second round of the FCC’s Connect America Fund will target 600,000 homes and businesses nationwide to provide broadband access for the first time. Over $385 million has already been requested from 44 states and Puerto Rico to expand broadband infrastructure in rural communities in their region. The Commission’s interactive map shows these locations and also an overview of the targeted broadband expansion across the nation on a county and state level. FCC News
Category: In the newsExclusive Channel Opportunity
The FCC is seeking industry comment on Mobile Relay Associates’ (MRA) recent waivers to operate on frequency pairs 462/467.5375 MHz and 462/467.7375 MHz at multiple locations in the Los Angeles, Denver, Las Vegas, and Miami metropolitan areas. The channel pairs are allocated for land mobile operations, but currently are not designated for use by the Industrial/Business Pool or any other Commission service. Rather, they are on the band edges between Industrial/Business Pool spectrum and General Mobile Radio Service spectrum. MRA also seeks assignment of these frequencies with a 4 kHz emission designator, which it contends will present no risk of harmful interference because its requested channels will not overlap any designated frequencies on either side, in light of the implementation of the narrowbanding mandate. Comments are due on September 30 and Reply Comments on October 15.
Category: In the newsFCC Denies Narrowband Waiver Request
Ascend Performance is a Florida based manufacturer that uses 2 watt mobiles on 25 kHz channels bandwidths at 450 MHz that are deployed exclusively within their plant to operate 12 radio-controlled Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV). Ascend filed a narrowbanding waiver noting that its operations would not interfere with existing users. The FCC has denied the waiver noting that other AGV operators have complied with narrowband requirements and the absence of impact on existing users does not justify waiving the narrowband requirement. EWA may take another look at this one as it might be better policy to have a less rigid approach when transmissions are contained within a confined facility. FCC Order
Category: In the newsCertain 800 MHz NPSPAC Applications Frozen
Effective August 27th, the FCC will be freezing the acceptance of facilities applications and equipment certifications where the applicant has specified digitally modified equipment that does not conform to Emission Mask H and where the applicant has specified equipment that is not capable of analog FM modulation on NPSPAC mutual aid channels. The FCC has instituted this limited freeze in conjunction with a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in order to maintain a “stable frequency environment” while the rulemaking seeks clarification on a number of technical and equipment issues associated with 800 MHz NPSPAC channels. Comments will be due 45 days after publication in the Federal Register.
Category: In the newsSprint Offers Blanket Concurrence for I/B 900 MHz Applications
After four long years, the FCC finally agreed on June 25 to modify the 900 MHz application freeze for new systems. However, when it takes four years to decide something this simple, no one should be astonished that subsequent events have affected the outcome. In this instance, the FCC granted precisely the relief requested, that is, the application freeze will not apply to applications accompanied by a letter of concurrence from Sprint confirming that grant of the application will not adversely affect Sprint’s rebanding efforts. Unfortunately, it seemed that the FCC failed to take into consideration during its policy analysis that Sprint’s iDEN network was to be taken out of operation five days later on June 30 and that Sprint’s replacement CDMA system does not use 900 MHz spectrum thus making concurrences unnecessary. Fortunately, Sprint has since filed a letter which provides a “general letter of concurrence for 900 MHz applications seeking access to 900 MHz B/ILT” spectrum. Frequency coordinators are not permitted, however, to “impermissibly short-space or infringe upon the coverage of Sprint’s existing 900 MHz B/ILT licenses”. Sounds fair.
Category: EWA On Your SideEWA Finalizing Its “Best Practices” Communications
EWA is finalizing a series of messages that will be sent via email to all EWA frequency coordination customers post certification and FCC application submittal in an effort to ensure that license applications are consistent with prospective licensee system expectations, to support critical FCC rule compliance and to better accommodate digital and analog systems in shared frequency environments. EWA’s Board of Directors will be reviewing this initiative during its upcoming 2013 Annual Meeting.
Category: EWA On Your Side800 MHz Expansion Band/Guard Band Application Procedures
As Sprint continues to free up 800 MHz spectrum as a result of its rebanding efforts, additional spectrum will become available in critical markets in the not too distant future. Recognizing that the FCC will return all license applications that are mutually exclusive, Industrial/Business (I/B) and Public Safety (PS) frequency advisory committees have agreed to execute a new “pre-coordination” consensus agreement that will serve to avoid application conflicts for channels in the 800 MHz Expansion and Guard bands. An earlier adopted agreement that identifies pre-coordination procedures for “Sprint-vacated” channels that provide public safety entities only a three-year head start will remain in force. During an earlier meeting among I/B and PS frequency advisory committees, during which proposed procedures were identified, EWA volunteered to draft the new Expansion Band/Guard Band agreement. When finalized and executed, the agreement will be forwarded to the FCC for its information and posted on the LMCC’s web site.
Category: EWA On Your Side