EWA Questions Denver’s Need for Waiver
On July 27, 2015, the Enterprise Wireless Alliance filed a letter in response to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Public Notice requesting comment on the City/County of Denver’s waiver request to use two 800 MHz Business/Industrial Land Transportation (B/ILT) frequencies in its system for which it has concurrence to short-space from the Denver Public Schools (DPS) in order to provide enhanced system coverage. The frequencies at issue would not be available to B/ILT entities without concurrence from DPS.
While not specifically objecting to the waiver request, EWA did question the underlying arguments for the waiver itself, observing that the City/County of Denver “is already licensed for 800 MHz frequencies at this site so authorizing additional frequencies would not appear to resolve any coverage issues.” EWA’s response also noted that Denver has a number of temporary repeaters authorized that may be used to access those hard-to-reach areas. Reply Comments are due August 10.
Formal Enforcement Bureau Reorganization Announced
On July 16, the FCC released an Order in which it implemented the expected reorganization of its Enforcement Bureau, including closure of 11 of 24 field offices during an undisclosed period of time.
Throughout the order, the FCC emphasized that the plan will “create a more effective organization within the limits of our budgetary constraints.” The resulting cost savings will be used first, for updated field equipment and improving employee skills before going into the FCC general fund. Stepping back from an earlier FCC statement, the Order says that field agents will have electrical engineering “backgrounds,” not necessarily degrees. The Commission will support employees displaced by the reorganization through a nationwide outplacement effort.
The remaining field offices will “primarily support the enforcement of the Commission’s radiofrequency interference requirements” and other rules, guided by overall FCC priorities and with the objective of having the “greatest impact in the most cost effective way possible,” which suggests a focus on consumer-related interference issues.
The Bureau will close field offices in Anchorage, Alaska; Buffalo, New York;
Detroit, Michigan; Houston, Texas; Kansas City, Missouri; Norfolk, Virginia; Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania; San Diego, California; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Seattle, Washington; and Tampa, Florida.
In addition, it will relocate field offices in or near Atlanta, Georgia; Columbia, Maryland; and
San Francisco, California to FCC-owned properties nearby or in the same metropolitan
areas. Some EWA members have voiced concern that offices near the U.S. border with Canada are closing, given that interference issues along the border require use of equipment that is difficult to transport over long distances.
The Enforcement Bureau plans to establish procedures for escalating industry and public safety interference complaints before the end of August. In the meantime, EB continues to issue whopping fines to companies in matters that adversely affect consumers such as slamming ($9M) and E911 outages ($17.5M).
Category: In the news