Louisiana asked the FCC to extend by eight years the...
Louisiana asked the FCC to extend by eight years the state’s time limit for use of its current transmitters in operating its first responder safety network. A 2010 FCC order said it applies to transmitters designed for the 769-775 MHz…
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and 799-805 MHz frequency bands, and allows states to operate transmitters “at a voice efficiency of at least one voice path per 12.5 kHz of spectrum bandwidth.” The order said the rules run until Dec. 31, 2016, and then rules for an upgrade to “at least one voice path per 6.25 kHz of spectrum bandwidth” must be in place by Jan. 31, 2017 (http://xrl.us/bnfqdn). “It is imperative that the Commission grant the State of Louisiana a waiver that allows LWIN [Louisiana Wireless Information Network] to operate in the 12.5 kHz channel efficiency through December 31, 2024,” Louisiana wrote in a Tuesday request to the FCC (http://xrl.us/bnfbxw). “Such an extension would allow the first responder community the opportunity to realize the full potential of limited resources, optimize the life of existing equipment and would foster a greater willingness of organizations within Louisiana that have been reluctant to join LWIN due to the uncertainty of its future to commit to the investments required in order to become a part of LWIN.” Pat Santos, chairman of Louisiana’s Statewide Interoperable Executive Committee, wrote the request and included letters of support from parish representatives and the New Orleans deputy mayor for public safety. Louisiana says it has spent upwards of $165 million of state and federal funding since 2005 on LWIN, which “is currently providing 95 percent on street portable radio coverage to over 67,000 users.” Louisiana called the network a “great success in interoperability” that’s “being threatened” by the 2016 deadline. The cost of updating the system within four years, estimated at more than $417 million if Louisiana sticks to the FCC’s schedule, is “not feasible or manageable,” and it “would be no better off than it is with its current radio system,” the filing said. “Without a waiver, these [New Orleans] parishes will have no choice but to begin to go down a road that would ultimately balkanize the largest statewide interoperable radio system in the country,” Santos added in the state’s request for an expedited decision on the waiver.