Enterprise Wireless Insider, Vol. 10, No. 13

Avoiding a Spectrum Tragedy

As we have reported previously, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in which it addressed several outstanding requests from the private land mobile radio (PLMR) community. Among them is the proposal from the Land Mobile Communications Council (LMCC) that would allow 800 MHz incumbents time-limited priority access to 800 MHz Expansion Band (EB) and Guard Band (GB) spectrum before making it available to new entrants. 

In the NPRM, the FCC tentatively agrees that this opportunity is justified but proposed to limit priority access to incumbents from the Business/Industrial Land Transportation (B/ILT) pool that seek B/ILT spectrum in the Expansion Band. Since the EB spectrum is designated primarily for Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) use and the entire GB is available to all eligible classes, the relief offered by the proposal is critically limited.  

On October 18, EWA representatives Mark Crosby, Liz Sachs and Robin Cohen met with staff of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) and expressed concern that without incumbent priority, the volume of applications for new SMR systems likely to be filed will result in virtual gridlock, notwithstanding the protocols that are in place among the frequency advisory committees to ensure an equitable process and avoid mutually exclusive applications.

“This is it, this is the last sliver of spectrum the private land mobile industry will have access to accommodate internal communication requirements, perhaps ever. The FCC’s proposal doesn’t go far enough. Let’s first take care of those that have invested millions in wireless systems for legitimate purposes before new applicants are allowed access, many of whom will have only the misguided intention of profiting on spectrum transactions. We need to absolutely limit the opportunity for such a spectrum disaster,” said Mark Crosby.

Comments are due on the 22nd of November.  

Craziness

A couple of over anxious collaborators filed letters several weeks back with the FCC about a month early in the 800 MHz Expansion/Guard Band regulatory matter (see the article "Avoiding a Spectrum Tragedy") stating their opposition to any preferences for incumbents founded on the joy that they would supposedly experience using M2M’s Internet of Things (IoT) service. One Scottsdale, Arizona-based filer reported that it is “A FedEx Ground Distributor,” the other the designer and manufacturer of “award-winning healthcare solutions that improve patient compliance and help train physicians and health care providers.” We will check, but to EWA’s knowledge, there is no IoT equipment certified for use today in the 800 MHz B/ILT and SMR space. We will leave the veracity of the we are “A FedEx Contracted Service Provider” to FedEx.  

EWA Supports AEP Waiver

On October 24, EWA filed comments supporting a waiver request from American Electric Power (AEP) to use 800 MHz Sprint-vacated frequencies at one of its sites in Ohio that will not be available to Critical Infrastructure Industry (CII) entities until after February 10, 2018. AEP noted that no public safety (PS) entity has applied for spectrum in this area. In its comments, EWA took the opportunity to suggest that the FCC revisit the decade old policy whereby Sprint-vacated spectrum is made available first to PS entities for an exclusive period and then to PS and CII entities, questioning whether the usage record justifies retaining these preferences. Reply Comments are due November 8, 2016.  

EWA Again Proposes Elimination of CMRS Presumption

On October 17, EWA filed comments with the FCC regarding the proposal to eliminate FCC Rule Section 20.9 and make related rule changes to clarify which wireless services are classified as Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS). In addition, in this filing, EWA urges the FCC to issue a declaratory ruling clarifying that 800 MHz and 900 MHz SMR systems that are not interconnected with the public switched network cannot be classified as CMRS or regulated as common carriers—or as telecommunications carriers—in accordance with Section 332(c) of the Communications Act.

Several other interested parties, including Motorola Solutions and CTIA, filed comments in support of the proposal. Most of these comments note that the services identified in Section 20.9 have evolved over time and that the regulations should reflect these changes. Because these comments generally support the FCC’s proposal, but do not address the larger issue raised by EWA, it is not anticipated that EWA will file Reply Comments on November 16. 

Let’s Not Create Needless Obstacles

EWA filed an ex parte letter with the FCC responding to a recent filing by Telephone Connections LLC that requested the FCC not permit the licensing of interstitial channels at 800 MHz until “all licensees that are subject to rebanding and that have entered into a Frequency Reconfiguration or similar agreement have completed all steps contemplated by those agreements. EWA advised the Commission that it is not necessary nor in the public interest to delay the availability of 800 MHz interstitial channels until after “Frequency Reconfiguration and all steps contemplated by those agreements have been completed,” as they do not affect an incumbent’s replacement channels.   

Members Meet with FCC Delegates on ULS Enhancements

In early October, executives in the private wireless industry gathered for the Wireless Leadership Summit, an annual conference hosted by EWA and Technology Resource Network (TRN) that provides sessions on trends, best practices and regulatory issues. One of this year’s special event was a roundtable session during which FCC representatives Mary Bucher and Dorothy Stifflemire shared an overview of planned enhancements to its Universal Licensing System (ULS). FCC staff invited questions and received many suggestions for enhancements from session attendees.    

FCC Agrees with EWA — Grants Tennessee Waiver on Secondary Basis

EWA had filed comments in response to the State of Tennessee’s request for a waiver to use an 800 MHz B/ILT channel for statewide simplex car to car communications and tactical field operations. Of course, the anticipated justification for the request was based on claims that the State was unable to find an 800 MHz Public Safety channel that was not licensed anywhere in the state, while this B/ILT channel was entirely unassigned in Tennessee.

Never one to haphazardly agree that public safety spectrum was not available, EWA questioned whether the State was expecting primary exclusive use of the channel for this type of itinerant operation. The waiver, the application itself, and the FCC’s Public Notice (PN) did not address this point, and the PN failed to note that UTC’s concurrence was premised on the State’s secondary use of the channel. EWA noted that it did not support statewide exclusivity and that if secondary use was requested, the State would be better served to consider several Public Safety channels on which only one or two sites were licensed anywhere in the state.

On October 18, the FCC granted the State of Tennessee’s waiver request to license an 800 MHz B/ILT channel for statewide use with no fixed locations. However, in response to EWA recommendations, the FCC specified that the license was being issued on a secondary, non-interference basis with respect to existing and future B/ILT licensees on the channel. Further, the FCC cautioned the State that if it intended to operate a base station at a location for more than one year, it must file a request for a separate, permanent authorization for the site. The FCC gave no assurance that such operation would be approved.  

Recent Enforcement Bureau Forfeitures

• $450,000 – fine issued to AT&T for operating numerous microwave systems that were “at variance” from their authorized parameters.  
• $25,000 – fine issued Public Safety Technologies (PST) for causing harmful interference to other Part 90 licensees on a shared channel.  
• $10,000 – fine issued Trimont Land Company for having an internationally recognized marine distress, safety and calling channel installed at a ski resort.  
• Admonishment – issued to Union Pacific Railroad (UP) for constructing and operating a 120-foot tower in a floodplain without first performing the required environmental and historic preservation review, including necessary collaboration with the Osage Indian Tribe.

FCC Denies Havens’ Construction Extension Request

On October 17, the FCC denied another build-out extension request from companies controlled by Warren Havens requesting an additional five years to construct 2,132 Part 22 low-band Economic Area (EA) paging licenses. EWA had opposed the request, and the FCC agreed that the decision not to build “was a business choice with entirely predictable consequences.” The WTB was not persuaded by arguments that relief should be granted to enable Meteor Burst and/or Network Real Time Kinematic (NRTK) global positioning system (GPS)/ global navigation satellite system (GNSS) correction data technology deployments.

FCC Grants Use of Airport Terminal Frequencies

In an Order adopted October 14, 2016, the FCC granted a waiver request from Drock Gaming LLC, which sought “authority to operate an Industrial/Business (I/B) communications system using Airport Terminal Use (ATU) frequencies within 16 kilometers of McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.” The frequencies were set aside for ATU use so that aircraft could communicate with each air terminal system. Drock Gaming, which operates the D Hotel and Casino, requested the frequencies to “support the safety and welfare of its employees and resort customers” and that no I/B channels were available for its trunked system.