Enterprise Wireless Insider, Vol. 11, Issue 10

Public Safety 800 MHz Waiver Still Falls Short

In an ex parte filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Enterprise Wireless Alliance (EWA) reiterated its opinion that neither the Washington County Consolidated Communications Agency (WCCCA) nor the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International (APCO) submitted sufficient justification that would warrant granting WCCCA’s waiver request to use Industrial/Business (I/B) 800 MHz channels in lieu of utilizing spectrum readily available for public safety use. 

EWA had previously recommended that WCCCA replace the two Business/Industrial Land Transportation (B/ILT) channels with two General Category (GC) channels. Since either approach would require an FCC waiver, EWA suggested that the FCC determine which would better serve the public interest, assuming waiver relief was appropriate. EWA’s second filing in this matter also included a technical analysis prepared by EWA member Lockard & White responding to the WCCCA argument that the GC channels would result in an unacceptable coverage loss because of combiner issues. Lockard & White’s technical analysis showed that the use of EWA’s recommended GC channels would have a negligible effect on WCCCA’s coverage requirements at the single site in question. (File No. 0007375570)

Grandfather Twilight Towers

EWA filed Reply Comments in response to an FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and Notice of Inquiry (NOI) that seeks to implement new policies intended to accelerate the deployment of wireless broadband facilities.  EWA’s comments focused on one aspect of this effort – resolution of the so-called “Twilight Towers” issue, in which the Alliance supported “grandfathering” such facilities, and granting them the same collocation rights as towers constructed prior to March 16, 2001.

Essentially, EWA supported offering Twilight Towers the same exclusion from Section 106 historic preservation reviews that have already been granted to pre-March 16, 2001, tower installations. As with the pre-2001 towers, however, the collocation exemption would not apply if (1) the new antenna would result in a substantial increase in the size of the tower; (2) the tower had been determined by the FCC to have an adverse effect on any historic properties; (3) the tower was the subject of a pending environmental review or related proceeding before the Commission involving Section 106 compliance; or (4) the tower owner or proposed tenant had received formal notification that a complaint had been submitted to the FCC alleging an adverse effect on one or more historic properties from a member of the public, a Tribal Nation, a State Historic Preservation Office or the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

T-Mobile’s 3.65 GHz Petition Potentially Risky for Incumbents

EWA is still evaluating a Petition filed by T-Mobile that would allow licensed/auctioned Priority Access License (PAL) licensees to co-exist with grandfathered 3.65 GHz systems. Licensees in the band have until August 7, 2017, to define grandfathered protection zones around 3650-3700 MHz base stations that were registered as of April 17, 2015, and placed in operation by April 17, 2016, to protect themselves from future unlicensed Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) operations. EWA would expect the FCC to wait and see how many incumbents seek the opportunity to file for protection zones before responding to the T-Mobile filing. 

EWA encourages those entitled to file for protection zones to do so by visiting the FCC’s  Universal Licensing System and select “3650 Grandfathered Wireless Protection Zone Fil-ings” to begin (login required). (GN 12-354; DA 17-340; DA 17-609).  

California Hands-Free Law Amendments Moving Forward

Amendment to the California law regarding use of electronic wireless devices while a vehicle is in motion continues to move through a myriad of State committees without opposition. On July 12, 2017,  the California Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing approved the amendment and referred it to the Committee on Appropriations. The amendment deletes the reference to Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) devices and two-way messaging devices. 

Bristol-Myers Squibb Would be Secondary to ATU

In response to concerns from Aviation Spectrum Resources, Inc. and FedEx, EWA filed Reply Comments on July 3 clarifying that Bristol-Myers’ FB8 status would be secondary to Airport Terminal Use users. (File No. 0007457084)

6.25 kHz Equivalent Mandate Sustained

On June 30, the FCC denied a request from the International Municipal Signal Association (IMSA) to delay the deadline by which all equipment must be 6.25 kHz equivalent, relief requested on behalf of ski patrols and volunteer fire departments. The FCC stated that 12.5 kHz is “only a transitional step in the eventual migration to 6.25 kHz” efficiency and, that the availability of compliant equipment demonstrated that no extension was necessary. Cost/benefit analyses play a key role in rule making proceedings under the current FCC administration and the FCC noted that IMSA “did not quantify the requirement’s effect on equipment costs or deployment.”  (DA 99-87; DA 17-632)

FCC Denies Smartcomm’s Appeal

By letter dated June 28, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) denied an appeal from Smartcomm LLC to remove B/ILT channels from certain Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) licenses in the 800 MHz Expansion Band. Smartcomm had contended that the applicants were not eligible for B/ILT channels from that band, and the FCC agreed that the grant of the channels was in error, but denied the request as untimely since the licenses all had been granted for well beyond the 30-day Petition for Reconsideration period. It explained that while Section 316 permits a license modification at any time if it promotes the public interest, convenience, and necessity, Smartcomm had not argued, much less demonstrated, that the grants had caused or had the potential to cause interference or other ad-verse effect on B/ILT entities. Thus, no public interest would be served. (DA 17-629)

FCC Hastens Comments on FirstNet Opt-Out

The FCC has expedited to July 17 the date for comments on FirstNet’s proposed interoperability criteria for states filing request to “opt-out” from the FirstNet network. The Commonwealth of Virginia and the state of Wyoming were the first to opt-in. FirstNet is tracking the status of all state plans on its website.  (PS 16-269; FCC 17-269)