Comment Period on Equipment Authorization Rules 'Brutally Short,' Fletcher Heald Lawyer Says
FCC equipment authorization and certification rules, on which the agency sought comment last month (see 1507210072), are vital to a smoothly functioning wireless industry, said wireless lawyer Mitchell Lazarus of Fletcher Heald on the law firm's blog Monday. “The program…
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is essential to harmony in the radio spectrum,” Lazarus wrote. “Take your cell phone, for example. It transmits on frequencies set aside for your cell carrier. But suppose a particular model of cell phone has a design defect that causes it also to transmit on, say, the frequencies used by public safety responders. A police officer trying to summon an ambulance could find his two-way radio overpowered by nearby cell phones.” FCC's detailed technical rules are designed to “to prevent this kind of thing,” he said. Lazarus said the comment period is compressed -- with initial comments due 30 days after the notice is published in the Federal Register and replies 15 days after that. “For an NPRM of this scope and complexity, the comment periods are brutally short,” he said.