Mar 1, 2011 12:00 AM, By Donny Jackson (donald.jackson@penton.com)

That's what many are asking about the decision to bring North America's intrinsically safe standard into alignment with the rest of the world. LMR manufacturers and users are unsure of their next steps, but one thing seems certain: compliance will cost them both a lot of money.

During the past decade, operators of land-mobile radio (LMR) networks have faced two major changes to their systems mandated by the FCC: reconfiguration of the 800 MHz band and narrowbanding of the UHF and VHF frequencies. Both initiatives have proved to be significant undertakings, with rebanding likely taking at least a decade and many LMR operators expressing concern that they will not be able to meet the FCC's Jan. 1, 2013, deadline for narrowbanding, despite having 15 years’ notice of the requirement.

But a potentially even greater challenge awaits LMR operators intent on maintaining intrinsically safe (IS) radio systems, because the new standard — set to become effective on Jan. 1, 2012, a year before the narrowbanding deadline — for handheld devices promises to force changes to IS handsets that most engineers believe can be met only by reducing the power levels of portable radios significantly. Instead of transmitting at 3 to 6 watts as LMR radios do today in the U.S., the new IS radios likely will support power outputs of 0.5 to 2 watts, according to multiple industry sources.

For LMR operators in the U.S., this is problematic. Not only would the change mean replacing portable radios that may have been purchased recently to satisfy rebanding or narrowbanding requirements — at a time when money is scarce for enterprises and public-safety agencies — but it also would mean redesigning entire LMR systems with additional base-station sites to maintain the same portable coverage for IS radios that is enjoyed today.

These realities translate to considerable added expense to existing LMR systems, as a model from Pinellas County, Fla., indicates. But even these kinds of projections reflect only the basic costs, because securing additional sites for an LMR network can be extremely difficult, said Fred Moloznik, senior director of product safety and regulatory compliance for Motorola Solutions.

“You can’t go out and say, ‘I think I’m going to add five sites,’ and just do it,” Moloznik said. “There are spectrum considerations and frequency-coordination considerations, so that’s another concern customers have.”

Furthermore, many firefighters and oil-refinery personnel rely regularly on direct radio-to-radio communications, so as not to be dependent on a network. The expected reduction in transmission power for new IS radios would mean reduced range in such instances and would make in-building communications much more challenging, according to several industry sources.

Given these negative impacts and the fact that there has been no indication that current intrinsically safe LMR radios have created any safety issues, many question whether a new IS standard is needed.

“I hate to use a cliché, but it seems to be a solution in search of a problem,” said Doug Aiken, chief of Lakes Region Mutual Fire Aid in New Hampshire. “Nobody I’ve talked to understands why we need to make these changes.

“It’s just very frustrating. If it’s not broken, why are we fixing it? I don’t understand what the rush is to harmonize [IS standards] with Europe.”

Most LMR operators only learned of the impact of the proposed intrinsic-safety standards last summer, giving them less than 18 months to comply, while they were given several years’ notice to meet rebanding and narrowbanding mandates. With this in mind — as well as the fact that no LMR products are available in the U.S. for purchase that meet the new IS standard — they want implementation of the IS standard delayed or waived completely.

Meanwhile, officials for FM Approvals and Underwriters Laboratories (UL) note that manufacturers have known since 2006 that the intrinsic-safety standard was being changed but opted to ignore it and not notify their customers. In fact, they say that the IS standard was supposed to become effective on Jan. 1, 2010, but a two-year extension was granted, resulting in the current 2012 implementation date.

Caught in the middle of the debate between the manufacturers and the standards bodies are LMR network directors, who find themselves in the unpleasant predicament of having to tell their company or government employer that the recent time and money investments in rebanding or narrowbanding may have to be redone to meet the new IS standards.

“People have put their jobs on the line with a lot of money at stake, and you have this [intrinsic-safety standard] that’s totally irrational,” said Greg Kunkle, a partner in the Washington, D.C., law firm of Keller and Heckman. “They’re between a rock and a hard place on this one.”

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