Enterprise Wireless Insider® Volume 8, Issue 10

New Chief of Staff at FCC Enforcement Bureau

Former Chief Deputy Attorney General of Maryland, Katherine Winfree, is the Enforcement Bureau’s new Chief of Staff. In her prior job, Ms. Winfree supervised 32 divisions in that office and, before that, served for nearly two decades as federal and state prosecutor. She also worked in the Appellate Section of the Criminal Division and served as Chief of the Economic Crime and Public Corruptions Sections in the District of Columbia’s Attorney’s Office.

Acting Chief of the Enforcement Bureau, Travis LeBlanc noted that Ms. Winfree …”brings solid prosecutorial leadership to our enforcement team, further enabling us to aggressively enforce the communications laws and combat fraud, waste, and abuse in a manner that is tough, fair, and efficient.”    FCC News

Broadband Spectrum Initiative - A Model City

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) have issued a Joint Public Notice seeking public comment on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) recommendation that the Secretary of Commerce establish a public-private partnership to facilitate the creation of an urban test city, that would support rapid experimentation and development of policies, underlying technologies, and system capabilities for advanced, dynamic spectrum sharing. The test services (referenced as a “Model City”) for demonstrating and evaluating advanced spectrum sharing technologies could include large-scale sustainable facilities for systems-level testing in real-world environments across multiple frequency bands, including public safety and selected federal bands.

SNG Waiver for 900 MHz Spectrum Open for Comment

The FCC has placed on Public Notice Spectrum Network Group’s (SNG) request for a waiver to use unassigned 900 MHz B/ILT frequencies for what it describes as a commercial, nationwide, data system providing M2M capability for I/B eligibles.  On June 24, SNG supplemented its earlier request proposing conditions in support of its waiver, including limiting use of the channels to Part 90 eligibles’ internal use; accepting loading requirements over a 5-year period; and limiting the number of channels it could acquire in a market.  Comments are due on July 30, and it is anticipated that several associations, including EWA, will be participating. 

FCC Seeks Comment on AAR Signal Booster Waiver Request

Comments on AAR’s request to use higher power signal boosters on certain UHF railroad frequencies in areas where terrain features prevent reliable communications on long trains are due on July 28, with Reply Comments on August 12.  Public Notice

800 MHz Rebanding Delayed

The Transition Administrator continues to take the position that a financial true-up would be premature and the Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) again deferred the 800 MHz rebanding financial reconciliation pushing the dates back another six months with the next TA report due on November 15, 2014.  The Bureau noted that the FCC has not yet acted on a Petition for Declaratory Ruling filed by Sprint on January 22, 2013, in which Sprint urged that the true-up be conducted immediately based on cost and payment information already available to the FCC and the TA. 

Request for FAC Certification Withdrawn

In the face of objections filed by the LMCC, APCO, FIT, IMSA, NPSTC, UTC and others challenging the National Frequency Coordination LC (NFC’s) request to become a certified frequency advisory committee for Part 90 PLMR Services, NFC subsequently withdrew its certification request without prejudice to refilling. NFC stated that, should it refile, “it will submit a new application that fully addresses the issues and concerns raised in the comments ...”

Comments noted NFC’s failure to meet the fundamental criteria, including representing PLMR applicants, their inability to perform coordination satisfactorily, the lack of sufficient information to support approval, and a request that the FCC address NFC’s inter-relationship with the Smartcomm-affiliated entities, which leads to potential issues from allowing frequency coordinators to have an economic interest in the applications they process and certify.

Wildly Disproportionate – EWA Agrees

EWA filed comments supporting the recent request from Constellium Rolled Products Ravenswood, LLC, to reduce a proposed FCC forfeiture in the amount of $256,000; an amount Constellium calls “wildly disproportionate”, to less than $100,000.  EWA agreed with Constellium’s main argument that, while they engaged in activities that violated FCC rules, appropriate weight needs to be given to factors that would justify a substantial reduction, most notably the fact that Constellium’s infractions did not result in consequences that would threaten “… the very heart of the Commission’s statutory obligation to promote the safety of life and property through its regulation of radio.”  EWA was also “struck by what to most persons would seem to be the anomalous outcomes of this matter and the enforcement proceeding involving a Mr. Drew Buckley.”  Mr. Buckley “intentionally and maliciously interfered with frequencies used by [the Melville Fire District of New York] to communicate during fire emergencies”, thereby demonstrating “a deliberate disregard for public safety and the Commission’s authority and rules …”  Mr. Buckley did not turn himself in to the FCC and Commission resources were used to track the interfering transmissions to Mr. Buckley’s home.  While the FCC warranted that his actions were serious enough to be arrested for a Class A misdemeanor, he was fined $25,000. While ability to pay is a factor considered by the FCC in determining the size of a fine, EWA is “at a loss to understand how the public interest is served by a forfeiture policy that, on a relative basis, allocates very little consequence to actions like Mr. Buckley’s … while assessing Constellium an extraordinarily large forfeiture for licensing deficiencies with no impact on other parties”.  
 

LMCC Task Force to Address Public Safety Spectrum Access Issues

The LMCC has created a Task Force to review current inter-service concurrence protocols and potentially develop a revised process by which public safety eligibles may secure access to Industrial/Business allocated spectrum. The Task Force will be meeting on July 23.

In related stories, on June 20 the FCC denied an intercategory sharing waiver request from the State of FL seeking to use two 800 MHz B/ILT channels in its statewide 800 MHz rebanding plan.  The FCC found that there were Sprint-vacated channels and even other PS frequencies available for the State’s use, and were even prior to finalization of the State’s spectrum plan. The waiver request was denied notwithstanding the State’s claim that doing so would require it to spend 1-2 years reprogramming 20,000 subscriber units.  Despite that dire claim, the State amended its application on June 24 to delete the two B/ILT channels and replaced them with public safety channels.  And very quietly, Flathead County Montana withdrew its application seeking I/B VHF channels, an application that EWA had earlier contested.