In 2012, the Enterprise Wireless Alliance (EWA) filed Comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in support of a waiver request filed by Somerset County, New Jersey, to add Part 90 and Part 22 T-Band frequencies to its system. A waiver was necessary in order to secure an exemption from the T-Band application “freeze” imposed by the FCC in order to prepare for the repurposing of this band for general broadband purposes. At the time, EWA stated that it “strongly supports this and all other waivers of the T-Band freeze,” suggesting that “the public interest is not served by restricting routine licensing in this band years in advance of the spectrum auction called for as a consequence of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012.” Although Somerset did not seek EWA’s support, EWA filed in support of the request, agreeing that grant of the waiver would support the efficient use of spectrum and mission-critical communications. The waiver was eventually granted by the FCC.
Three years later, EWA received a call from Mercer County, New Jersey, essentially stating, “[W]e noted that you helped Somerset, our neighboring county, secure a near impossible T-Band waiver. Can you help us as well?” Mercer County was receiving not purposeful, but certainly harmful interference created from signal ducting, the source of which was a Channel 20 (T-Band) TV station broadcasting in western Connecticut. Because both licensees were operating in compliance with the rules, efforts to address the interference were not successful. Mercer needed to vacate channel 20 to separate itself from the interference. T-Band capacity was available on Channel 19, but another T-Band waiver would be necessary to help Mercer County.
EWA assisted in developing a plan for an equal exchange of TV Channel 19 frequencies that would enable Mercer County to remove itself from the TV Channel 20 interference and keep peace with the FCC in that neither Mercer County’s spectrum capacity nor geographic coverage would expand. In conjunction with Mercer County officials, EWA prepared the necessary waiver and processed the necessary applications and attachments through Public Safety Coordination Associates (PSCA), an organization that represents two public safety frequency advisory committees and with which EWA is pleased to have a substantive working relationship for its public safety frequency certification requirements.
“We were honored to have Mercer County trust EWA to secure a spectrum solution needed to serve its citizens. We always appreciate the challenge,” said EWA President Mark Crosby. "'No way’ is not in our vernacular when it comes to responding to customer requirements.”
Working with PSCA, the application was expeditiously filed, and the FCC granted the waiver.