North Carolina Wins One--Loses One
On October 9, the FCC denied a request for waiver filed by the North Carolina State Highway Patrol (North Carolina) for early access to 800 MHz expansion band channels. Among the reasons for the denial, the FCC stated that North Carolina provided no compelling reason why it cannot wait for the formal release of expansion band channels. Further, the FCC questioned North Carolina’s plans to delete three National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee (NPSPAC) channels for which it has licenses in favor of channels in the expansion band. North Carolina offered no compelling justification why it preferred expansion band channels--that are available for both commercial and B/ILT users as well--as opposed to channels that are limited to public safety uses only. That was the loss.
The FCC granted another North Carolina waiver request of the inter-category sharing freeze that would permit North Carolina to use certain B/ILT 800 MHz channels. According to the FCC, a grant of the waiver would be in the public interest because the underlying purpose of the freeze was to protect the Public Safety Pool channels against inter-category sharing applications from B/ILT applicants. In its Order, the FCC stated that “granting North Carolina’s application would further the public interest by providing North Carolina with interference-free channels and expanded capacity for use by highway patrol officers in North Carolina’s 800 MHz communications system, not only in the vicinity of the proposed site, but statewide.” Perhaps a win for North Carolina, but not so encouraging for prospective B/ILT licensees.
Category: In the news
Industry Denounces M2M Networks Petition
UTC, FirstEnergy Corporation and the Alarm Industry Communications Committee all filed Reply Comments opposing M2M Network’s Petition for Rulemaking that requested rule changes that would permit access to the 900 MHz Business/Industrial/Land Transportation (B/ILT) band by private carriers who would provide commercial service to B/ILT entities without having to establish independent, internal eligibility for the spectrum.
The Reply Comments were consistent with earlier Comments filed by EWA, the American Petroleum Institute and others arguing that the rule change proposed would open the door to speculative applications and would force private enterprise users to acquire spectrum or airtime from commercial operators. M2M Network’s Reply Comments claimed that the change proposed would plug a “loophole” in the current rules and that “allowing initial for-profit service in the 900 MHz B/ILT band would help put the spectrum to more intensive use and encourage innovative machine-to-machine communications in the band.” It stated that the change would deter speculation without explaining how that would be accomplished and did not address EWA’s suggestion that M2M’s service would be best deployed on unlicensed spectrum.
Category: EWA On Your Side