https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • IWCE 2022 Winter Showcase
    • IWCE 2023 Pre-event Guide
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookie Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Omdia Crit Comms Circle Podcast
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • IWCE 2023 Pre-event Guide
    • IWCE 2022 Winter Showcase
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
    • Sponsored content
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • Why Attend
    • Exhibitor Listing
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Join the Event Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

View From The Top


Commentary

Imagine the spectrum possibilities …

Imagine the spectrum possibilities …

I think it’s time once again that the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau revisit the process by which public-safety entities are provided access to Industrial/Business spectrum under the premise that there are no public-safety frequencies available.

  • Written by
  • 27th June 2013

I think it’s time once again that the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau revisit the process by which public-safety entities are provided access to Industrial/Business spectrum under the premise that there are no public-safety frequencies available.  I grant you that some bands are not optimal from an infrastructure standpoint.  For example, 700 MHz and 800 MHz are not the first, second or third choices of public-safety organizations that want to cover large rural areas or those that need coverage in remote areas.  In some cases, state planning committees have band usage all identified and organized for years to come, which takes spectrum that might otherwise be available today off the table.   The result is that pressure is placed on the VHF (150-174 MHz) and UHF (450-470 MHz) public-safety bands. 

In the I/B spectrum-use world, only 470, 800 and 900 MHz channels are made available, almost always on an exclusive basis, and it isn’t complicated at all for a coordinator to know whether a channel is available for certification.  For other than a “short-spaced” application, a channel is available for licensing based on an FCC-defined minimum separation from incumbent transmitter sites specified in the rules. Okay, Sprint-vacated channel coordination at 800 MHz has proven to be somewhat problematic, but the FCC did the right thing recently after a number of mutually exclusive applications were filed, by returning all of them and giving the affected applications and coordinators a restart.

So the workhorse bands for both I/B and public safety remain those limited allocations at VHF and at UHF. The FCC rules are clear for both I/B and public-safety applicants:  Exclusive-use channels are available only for centralized and hybrid trunked systems, not conventional systems.  Exclusive-use channels are identified following analyses of predicted service and interfering contours to both co-channel and adjacent-channel incumbent systems.  If there is no contour overlap, channels in a trunked system may be assigned on an exclusive basis.  If there are no exclusive channels available, then the rules require cooperation among the licensees on shared channels.  It’s a pretty simple process.

However, public safety’s frequency-advisory committees take it to another level and require letters of consent from incumbent users before shared channels are certified.  I have never quite figured out the purpose of letters of consent on shared frequencies.   They can be used to secure exclusive use of channels in trunked systems when there is a contour overlap, but there are no rules requiring letters of consent for conventional or trunked system operations on shared channels.  They don’t guarantee any rights or provide protection to anyone. Maybe the benefit is that everyone knows who is coming or going on a frequency, but that information can be provided at any time.

To be clear, EWA doesn’t care if the public-safety community practices this policy, until it impacts I/B channel availability.  An inability to obtain such letters, or the delays that can result from trying to get them, should not be used as the justification for a waiver to access I/B spectrum on a shared basis.  Not only does this deplete the already limited I/B pool of channels, but I/B and public-safety users should not share channels—ever.  If any sharing is to take place, it is far better for all that public-safety users share with one another exclusively. 

If a public-safety coordinator seeks to share I/B channels on behalf of its customer, the supporting spectrum analysis should provide substantive evidence that there are no public channels that can be shared.  Period.  It simply is not sufficient to state “There are no public safety channels available,” an assertion that may mean only that the applicant has been unable or unwilling to get the necessary letters of consent for a shared public-safety channel.

On the flip side, if an I/B coordinator isn’t willing to review the public-safety coordinator’s analyses and independently conduct a review of potentially available, but shared, public-safety channels, then that I/B coordinator should not be permitted to provide concurrence to such requests.  “It looks good to me” isn’t good enough.  I thought representing the interests of the user community you are purporting to serve was a requirement of being an I/B coordinator. 

Just maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  In a recent Order issued by the FCC in a public-safety licensee spat (see DA 13-1419), the FCC stated, “We note that frequency 151.025 MHz is available for shared use and the Commission’s rules do not provide ‘first-in-time preference’ to current users of shared channels. In fact, Section 90.173(a) of the Commission’s rules explicitly states that ‘[e]xcept as otherwise specifically provided in this part, frequencies assigned to land mobile stations are available on a shared basis only and will not be assigned for the exclusive use of any licensee. In this instance, EMTA has no exclusive rights to frequency 151.025 MHz.  Furthermore, both EMTA and Allegany County are eligible to be licensed on this frequency pursuant to Section 90.20 of the Commission’s Rules.” 

Incredible.  I had to pick myself up off my office floor.  Imagine the spectrum-efficiency possibilities.

Mark Crosby is president and CEO of the Enterprise Wireless Alliance.

Tags: Regulation Commentary EWA Policy Regional Coordination View From The Top Commentary

Most Recent


  • AT&T claims LTE coverage edge, FirstNet build more than 99% done
    AT&T claims a 250,000-square-mile coverage advantage and that the planned five-year deployment of the FirstNet public-safety broadband network operating on the 700 MHz Band 14 spectrum licensed to the FirstNet Authority is more than 99% complete as a contractual deadline approaches this week. AT&T—the contractor responsible for building and maintaining the FirstNet public-safety broadband system—made […]
  • Verizon
    Verizon Frontline supports U.S. Forest Service efforts against wildfires
    Verizon Frontline increased its support of entities responding to wildland fires during 2022, particularly the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), which accounted for more than half of this activity by the carrier’s Crisis Response Team, according to the carrier. Cory Davis, Verizon’s assistant vice president for public safety, said that Verizon Frontline provided communications support to […]
  • Autonomous-vehicle consequences could include more traffic
    Most discussions about driverless, autonomous cars, have led to claims that they will help reduce congestion. Not so, says the RAC Foundation. It cites a UK government report which believes the opposite is true. Claiming that driverless cars could increase congestion by 85% by 2060. Presently, it’s thought that drivers lose more than 80 hours […]
  • SES: JP Hemingway on satellites' role in the digital divide, D2D and disasters
    WASHINGTON – At last week’s Satellite 2023 show, one of the topics on everyone’s mind was the future of direct-to-device (D2D) communications. But at least one global satellite operator, SES, is taking a wait-and-see approach. “We’re watching that space really carefully. We’re not active in it today,” said SES Chief Strategy Officer JP Hemingway in a […]

Related Content

  • New Orleans-area 911 center inks multiyear APEX deal with Carbyne to replace call-handling system
  • Imagine the spectrum possibilities …
    Newscan: Feds recover millions from pipeline ransom hackers, hint at U.S. Internet tactic
  • Cyber is the new Cold War, and AI is the arms race
  • Private wireless networks in the US start going public

Commentary


Updated: How ‘sidelink’ peer-to-peer communications can enhance public-safety operations

  • 1
27th February 2023

NG911 needed to secure our communities and nation

24th February 2023

How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient

26th January 2023
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

AT&T claims LTE coverage edge, FirstNet build more than 99% done dlvr.it/SlXZfr

27th March 2023
UrgentComm

Verizon Frontline supports U.S. Forest Service efforts against wildfires dlvr.it/SlX1g3

27th March 2023
UrgentComm

Autonomous-vehicle consequences could include more traffic dlvr.it/SlWr67

27th March 2023
UrgentComm

Tesla Model 3 hacked in less than 2 minutes at Pwn2Own contest dlvr.it/SlVJg9

26th March 2023
UrgentComm

SES: JP Hemingway on satellites’ role in the digital divide, D2D and disasters dlvr.it/SlTL4h

25th March 2023
UrgentComm

House members introduce $15 billion NG911 funding bill dlvr.it/SlS0Lr

25th March 2023
UrgentComm

ADRF: Sun Kim discusses company’s new hybrid in-building wireless solution dlvr.it/SlRtSQ

25th March 2023
UrgentComm

U.S. cell towers and small cells: By the numbers dlvr.it/SlRn6N

25th March 2023

Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.