https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
  • 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
    • Cookies Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • Microwave/RF
    • T&D World
    • 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
  • 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
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookies Policy
  • 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

Dispatch/Call-taking


News

Pacific DataVision, EWA ask FCC to transform 900 MHz LMR spectrum to broadband use

Pacific DataVision, EWA ask FCC to transform 900 MHz LMR spectrum to broadband use

Pacific DataVision (PDV) and the Enterprise Wireless Alliance (EWA) ask the FCC for permission to pursue a realignment of 900 MHz LMR spectrum that would result in PDV having a contiguous 3x3 MHz swath to support wireless broadband services for enterprise dispatch.
  • Written by Donny Jackson
  • 18th November 2014

Pacific DataVision (PDV) and the Enterprise Wireless Alliance (EWA) today announced that they have submitted a petition for rulemaking to the FCC for permission to pursue a realignment of 900 MHz LMR spectrum that would result in PDV and other licensees having a contiguous 3×3 MHz swath to support wireless broadband services for enterprise dispatch.

In September, PDV announced that it had purchased non-contiguous 900 MHz spectrum from wireless carrier Sprint. This Part 90 LMR spectrum initially will be used to support PDV’s plan to offer enhanced enterprise dispatch services to enterprises that leverage digital radio technology from Motorola Solutions beginning early next year.

However, if the petition submitted yesterday to the FCC is granted, PDV would be allowed to pursue a realignment of existing users in a way that would result in PDV having 3×3 MHs of contiguous nationwide spectrum, which would allow the company to offer broadband services to its dispatch customers, while retaining a 2×2 MHz block for incumbent LMR systems.

Under the proposal, existing LMR licensees in the 900 MHz band could continue to operate their systems, but those systems may be moved to different channels within the band—a migration funded by PDV—to enable the creation of the 3×3 MHz private enterprise broadband (PEBB) swath for PDV, according to PDV Vice Chairman Morgan O’Brien, co-founder and former chairman of Nextel Communications.

“We recognize that there is a long road ahead as the industry works through the complex, but manageable, details of implementing this proposal,” O’Brien said in a prepared statement. “It has become increasingly difficult for the FCC to identify ‘greenfield’ spectrum to meet important new requirements of its enterprise constituents. Realignments and repurposing of existing allocations are today’s only practical way of addressing these needs.”

The fact that the petition’s proposal allows for all existing 900 MHz LMR systems to continuing operating is critical, according to EWA President and CEO Mark Crosby.

“EWA members that will continue operating 900 MHz narrowband systems are satisfied that the petition offers a balanced approach for addressing both traditional and advanced communications needs,” Crosby said in a prepared statement. “Our members with broadband coverage, reliability, security and operating requirements not currently fulfilled on commercial networks have endorsed the petition.”

O’Brien said the petition proposes that the 3×3 broadband swath begin at 937 MHz and continue through higher frequencies—meaning LMR frequencies below 937 MHz would not need to move—but he acknowledged that there are several potential combinations that the FCC could consider to achieve the goal of creating a 3×3 MHz broadband swath while maintaining LMR systems in the band.

“The way I like to analogize it is that this is musical chairs, but you don’t have to take any chairs away,” O’Brien said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “At the end of the song, everybody still has a place to sit down. Other than the convenience factor [for LMR licensees that would have to move], that—to me—makes it a compelling proposition. But we’ll have to see. We haven’t heard every argument, because we haven’t talked to everybody. That’s what the [FCC] rulemaking process is intended to do.

“The plan we laid out in the petition is one way of doing it, and we put in pros-and-cons arguments about this particular way of doing it, but we make it clear that we understand that the there are other ways of doing it, too.”

Under the proposal in the petition, the FCC would require PDV and other broadband licensees to grant priority access to critical-infrastructure entities, according to a joint press release from PDV and EWA. O’Brien previously has stated that PDV’s target dispatch markets are the enterprise critical-infrastructure sectors, including utilities.

“There are plenty of users that we’ve talked to that are enthusiastic to getting access to broadband with priority access,” O’Brien said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications.

“That’s the Holy Grail here: broadband, with priority access, for critical infrastructure. I don’t know how else critical infrastructure will get priority access. To me, it’s their only present-day opportunity. I don’t see any other way that they’ll get it. Maybe I’ll be surprised, but that’s what we’re asking the FCC to consider.”

Crosby said he believes there is a need for critical-infrastructure entities to have such priority access.

“When employee safety and property are threatened, our nation’s critical infrastructure providers cannot afford to lose communications,” Crosby said in a prepared statement. “Unfortunately, that happens all too often when a crisis prompts capacity issues on commercial wireless networks.”

This petition is being submitted slightly more than a year after O’Brien made a speech at the 2013 EWA Wireless Leadership Summit in which he said, “For private radio to flourish, it needs broadband.”

PDV and EWA have been discussing the terms of the petition with the American Petroleum Institute (API), the Utilities Telecom Council (UTC) and other representatives of critical-infrastructure incumbents in the 900 MHz band. API and UTC did not sign the petition submitted yesterday to the FCC, although both associations participated in the initial March filing to the FCC that proposed the notion of transitioning LMR spectrum to broadband uses.

“EWA and PDV plan to continue this productive process and to assist the FCC in crafting the best possible PEBB band plan and regulatory structure to address CII [critical-infrastructure industry] broadband requirements while respecting the many important licensees for which narrowband operations continue to be the preferred choice,” Crosby said in a prepared statement.    

 

Tags: Digital Regulation Spectrum/Frequency Coordination Utility Critical Infrastructure Dispatch/Call-taking FCC Land Mobile Radio News Policy Regional Coordination News

Most Recent


  • Pacific DataVision, EWA ask FCC to transform 900 MHz LMR spectrum to broadband use
    Newscan: 911 dispatcher may be fired over handling of Buffalo shooting call
    Web Roundup Items from other news organizations 911 dispatcher may be fired over handling of Buffalo shooting call Ransomware attacks on hospitals put patients at risk What new data-privacy laws mean for the public sector SpaceX launches 20 Starlink missions in as many weeks Police could have used New York’s Red Flag law to stop […]
  • The MSP downstream cyberthreat paradox: Understanding the city and county connection
    Recently the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) along with the FBI, NSA, and international cyber authorities issued a cybersecurity advisory aimed at protecting managed service providers (MSPs) and their customers. This high-level advisory has been gestating for some time ever since the SolarWinds and Kaseya supply chain cyber-attacks. A software supply chain attack occurs when a […]
  • Long-haul autonomous truck revealed
    Is this the future of trucking? California start-up Solo AVT certainly thinks so. The Fremont-based company has revealed the dramatic SD1 for the first time, and it’s certainly caused a stir with its bold looks. The SD1 is a long-haul electric Class 8 truck developed specifically for autonomous driving that can deliver a range in excess of […]
  • 5G proponents fret over Biden's fiber fancy
    The US government on Friday released some guidelines on how US states should dole out $42.5 billion for broadband services in rural areas. “Thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Americans across the country will no longer be held back by a lack of high-speed Internet access,” US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo declared in a statement. However, those […]

One comment

  1. Avatar Anonymous 18th November 2014 @ 6:31 pm
    Reply

    That’s great and all as far
    That’s great and all as far as the Broadband. But the current users will be pushed down to a 2X2 block of close spaced channels. Which means they will have to use Hybrid combiners and add more sites. Which this is great news for the radio system companies but very costly to the utilities that own their own radio systems. Are they going to pickup the tab for this ” Rebanding ” which is nothing more than a replay of what happened in the 800 MHz band which we all know how that worked out.

Leave a comment Cancel reply

To leave a comment login with your Urgent Comms account:

Log in with your Urgent Comms account

Or alternatively provide your name, email address below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Pacific DataVision, EWA ask FCC to transform 900 MHz LMR spectrum to broadband use
  • Pacific DataVision, EWA ask FCC to transform 900 MHz LMR spectrum to broadband use
  • Pacific DataVision, EWA ask FCC to transform 900 MHz LMR spectrum to broadband use
  • Pacific DataVision, EWA ask FCC to transform 900 MHz LMR spectrum to broadband use

Commentary


LTE and liability: Why the fire service must move forward with digital incident command

  • 2
6th May 2022

Partnership and collaboration must be the foundation for emergency communications

18th April 2022

FirstNet success means no hypothetical ‘shots’ need to be fired, Swenson says

22nd February 2022
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

Newscan: 911 dispatcher may be fired over handling of Buffalo shooting call dlvr.it/SQf0fq

19th May 2022
UrgentComm

The MSP downstream cyberthreat paradox: Understanding the city and county connection dlvr.it/SQbls1

18th May 2022
UrgentComm

Long-haul autonomous truck revealed dlvr.it/SQSczK

16th May 2022
UrgentComm

5G proponents fret over Biden’s fiber fancy dlvr.it/SQSYCp

16th May 2022
UrgentComm

Log4Shell exploit threatens enterprise data lakes, AI poisoning dlvr.it/SQRMng

16th May 2022
UrgentComm

Newscan: EV-infrastructure cyber vulnerabilities put cars, the grid at risk dlvr.it/SQKjJW

13th May 2022
UrgentComm

Motorola Solutions continues buying spree with Videotec acquisition dlvr.it/SQKHHs

13th May 2022
UrgentComm

Black Hat Asia: Firmware supply-chain woes plague device security dlvr.it/SQJZfs

13th May 2022

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
  • Microwave/RF
  • T&D World
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 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.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X