FCC nixes TETRA use on 800 MHz, 700 MHz public-safety bands

Two high-profile system that appear to be impacted by the FCC order are the New Jersey Transit’s existing 800 MHz TETRA system—built by PowerTrunk—and a 700 MHz network for Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in New York City. PowerTrunk won the MTA contract by bidding a TETRA system, but that award has been protested by Motorola Solutions.

Harris filed the petition with the FCC seeking a ruling on the matter, and the company issued the following statement from Dennis Martinez, CTO for Harris Public Safety and Professional Communications.

“The FCC’s decision on this matter delivers an important victory for public safety, and Harris applauds the Commission for taking swift action that will both protect public-safety communications from interference and promote interoperability,” according to the statement from Martinez. “Upon observing the imminent risks posed by low-power TETRA technology in the NPSPAC band that would have subjected public safety communications to interference, Harris Corporation brought its challenge to the commission.

“Harris engineers argued a strong case based on highly-technical and practical merits and are pleased that the commission has sided with public safety.”

In addition to the TETRA finding, the FCC order mandates that public-safety radios must have analog-FM functionality to operate on mutual-aid and interoperability channels.

FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly was the only commissioner to provide a written statement about the proceeding, noting that he agrees with most of the ruling but does not support the analog-FM aspect of it.

“I largely oppose any type of technology mandate,” O’Rielly said in his statement. “Today’s item requires that all public-safety radios operating on the 800 MHz, VHF and UHF mutual aid and interoperability bands must have analog FM capability. While I understand the pursuit of interoperability on interoperability channels, industry—despite not having a technology requirement—has adopted FM analog as the de facto standard in these bands.

“Therefore, this requirement seems unnecessary. In fact, what happened here is the preferable approach—industry determined the best means to produce interoperability. Once a technology is set in regulatory stone, innovation and investment may be deterred or, if a better technology is or becomes available, it could take years to update our rules to reflect such advancements. And, frankly, it seems ridiculous in today’s digital world to be requiring that devices have less-efficient, analog technology.”