Record Shows Need for Vehicular Repeater System Rulemaking, Equipment Maker Says
Pyramid Communications said in a filing at the agency that the FCC should begin a rulemaking on the use of 170-172 MHz spectrum, and possibly other bands, for vehicular repeater systems (VRS). VRS units, the size of a large textbook, have long been used by police, firefighters and other first responders to extend the reach of first responder radios inside buildings. But Pyramid, a VRS manufacturer, said there’s not enough spectrum available in many areas. In October, the Public Safety Bureau asked for general comments after Pyramid filed a petition for rulemaking.
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"In the Commission’s Public Notice in this proceeding, the Commission requested comments on the need for VRS units and the need for VRS spectrum,” Pyramid said in reply comments (http://xrl.us/bmi9yd). “It is abundantly clear that the need exists. Therefore, it would be appropriate for the Commission to initiate a rule making proceeding, based upon the Petition filed by Pyramid, and explore, in depth, the propriety of using the frequencies listed by Pyramid (and even other frequencies) for this use."
Pyramid said in its petition the need for VRS units is well established (http://xrl.us/bmi93g). The company said the first VRS units were approved for police use in 1966 and firefighter use in 1970 and Pyramid, itself, has already sold more than 40,000 units to first responders. The spectrum it sought is currently dedicated to fighting forest fires and forest conservation.
The main opposition has come from utilities, concerned about the 173 MHz band, which utilities use for mission critical data communications. The Utilities Telecom Council noted in its reply comments that utilities were assigned the frequencies in 1977 by the FCC to give them spectrum for non-voice communications (http://xrl.us/bmi94o). “The proposed VRS operations pose a serious interference risk to utilities’ mission critical communications on the 173 MHz splinter frequencies that is not mitigated by the potential for frequency coordination,” UTC said.
The American Petroleum Institute agreed with UTC. “The 173 MHz band fixed channels are used by API member companies for telemetry, remote monitoring and control, and alarm functions,” API said (http://xrl.us/bmi94y). API members also need additional spectrum, the group said. “Currently, there is no non-auctioned, primary, high capacity, point-to-multipoint spectrum available for use by critical infrastructure companies,” API said. “This likely is the single largest impediment precluding the industry’s migration to state-of-the art, IP-enabled, internal communications services."
The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials didn’t support the Pyramid petition per se, but said in its comments the company raises a real concern (http://xrl.us/bmi95a). “As discussed in the Pyramid petition, there is a clear and growing need for VRS units in many aspects of public safety communications,” APCO said. “VRS allows a fire truck, police cruiser or other public safety vehicle to serve as a ‘repeater’ to permit low-power portable radios to be used by firefighters inside of buildings or by police officers when away from their cars. Unfortunately, frequencies for VRS are scarce, especially because of the requirement to maintain a specified frequency separation between the VRS unit and the vehicle’s mobile radio.”