The FCC should allot additional spectrum for public safety servic...
The FCC should allot additional spectrum for public safety services, “particularly for meeting expanding mobile broadband demands below 1 GHz,” said the National Public Safety Telecom Council (NPSTC). “The current 700 MHz allocation, no matter what its structure, is…
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not adequate to meet these requirements,” NPSTC told the FCC in an ex parte filing. It also said the agency’s allocation of channels within 700 MHz for narrowband voice communications is “critical and should not be altered. Public safety agencies and manufacturers have already devoted significant time and expense to plan for the use of these channels, major systems have been procured and are under construction, and no consideration should be given to an changes within these channels.” NPSTC recommended the FCC “enhance” its record in the proceeding and examine “whether the wideband channels could be used more efficiently to address some of the broadband needs of public safety that cannot be satisfied at 4.9 GHz.” The agency should also “explore the potential for allowing current 700 MHz wideband channels to be aggregated into channels larger than 150 kHz to facilitate broadband,” it said. NPSTC said commenters proposing band realignment, should provide “a specific channel plan, the interference environment that would accompany it and the degree it would respond to the demand for broadband applications.” It said a revised band plan should address “how interoperability is best promoted, whether and what standard should be adopted and the question of whether all radios should be required to support this standard.” The FCC should complete such a review before deciding whether to adopt a wideband interoperability standard in 700 MHz. Meanwhile, Space Data told the FCC it has a simple, cost- effective solution that would allow first responders to extend their communications range by 10 times and let them communicate with other public safety providers using different equipment on different radio frequencies. No new equipment would be required for users on the ground, it said: “They keep the same radios that they have always used, but those radios would be significantly more effective.” As the FCC examines ways to promote more effective emergency communications in the U.S., it should ensure that “its rules do not unintentionally preclude Space Data and other innovative commercial companies from helping first responders dramatically improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their systems, because they cannot get timely access to radio frequencies,” Space Data said.