PCIA Admonishes EWA – Really!
In an ex parte filing with the FCC, EWA countered PCIA comments that had mischaracterized EWA’s position with respect to a waiver request filed by American Time & Signal Company (ATS). ATS’ waiver seeks approval from the FCC to license as mobile only private carrier systems, up to 40 watt ERP fixed location data systems that control clock systems that are owned and operated by educational institutions. EWA had recommended to the FCC that rather than waive the rules to accommodate the technical parameters ATS has chosen for its products and customer operations, it would seem a better solution for ATS to conform those operations to the existing Part 90 licensing requirements or modify its products to operate in alternative spectrum.
PCIA filed comments stating that in the spirit of “efficient frequency coordination”, ATS’ waiver should be granted as it “fit the same technical and operational profile” of low-power data systems that are permitted by FCC rule to be licensed as mobile units, and that “EWA’s comments failed to refute the public interest benefits of ATS’s application.” Incredibly, PCIA also added that it was “highly inappropriate” for EWA to “suggest the imposition of a business plan for an equipment manufacturer.”
EWA reminded the FCC that certification as a frequency advisory committee was not based on adhering to a coordination process that would be easiest and least costly for applicants, but rather on a process “that will ensure optimal spectrum utilization by all users in these congested bands.” EWA comments closed with two critical questions that both PCIA and ATS have yet to address. If 20 watts is not the upper limit for licensing fixed data facilities as mobiles, what is the upper limit? And, is ATS really the proper licensee for the systems operated exclusively by its customers?
Category: EWA On Your SideT-Band Uses Statistics
As part of it preparation in advance of anticipated FCC proceedings concerned with repurposing the 470-512 MHz (T-Band) band for eventual broadband purposes, EWA is gathering industrial/business (I/B) system deployment statistics. In the eleven metropolitan areas where T-Band has been in use since the early 1970s, EWA’s research indicates that there are 281 I/B entities operating 910 systems employing 7,566 frequency pairs at 410 sites. A significant majority of these systems are operating on exclusive use frequency assignments, and a significant majority of these I/B licensees are well on their way towards compliance with the FCC’s narrowbanding requirements. It is estimated that these system statistics represent hundreds of millions of dollars towards wireless system investments by I/B licensees.
Category: EWA On Your Side