FCC Approves Waivers of VHF/UHF Narrowbanding Deadline
The FCC Public Safety Bureau Friday approved three requests seeking a waiver of the FCC’s Jan. 1 VHF/UHF narrowbanding deadline. The FCC has said repeatedly it will carefully review all waiver applications from the thousands of licensees that face the deadline to move their operations to a channel bandwidth of no more than 12.5 kHz, or equivalent efficiency and that licensees that don’t comply face penalties from the Enforcement Bureau (CD Sept 28 p3).
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The bureau approved a waiver request filed in January by the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP), which sought a one-year extension of the deadline. “Based on the facts before us, we find that PSP warrants waiver relief because it has demonstrated that the underlying purpose of the narrowbanding rule -- promoting efficient spectrum use -- would not be served or would be frustrated by application to the present case, and that a grant of the waiver would be in the public interest,” the bureau said (http://xrl.us/bnyt2y). The department had “exercised due diligence and shown good faith” as it seeks to migrate to the Pennsylvania Statewide Radio Network, the order said. “We also recognize that this transition was hindered by hardware and software issues with the 800 MHz system and that geographic constraints have hindered its overall migration efforts, thus justifying a temporary extension of the narrowbanding deadline."
The bureau also approved a waiver until July 14, 2014, sought by Pima County, Ariz., on behalf of members of the Pima County Wireless Integrated Network (PCWIN). The county sought a waiver in March, noting that agencies are moving systems to a new network. “We find that grant of the request is consistent with the public interest,” the bureau said (http://xrl.us/bnyt2s). “Requiring PCWIN agencies to divert money, time, and other resources from the new Project 25 800 MHz system in order to upgrade nearly-obsolete VHF and UHF systems would be counterproductive, especially because the upgraded systems would be used only for a short time."
The bureau approved a third waiver, until Dec. 31, 2014, sought by Regional Public Safety Partners in Pierce County, Wash. The county said in an April waiver request it’s in the process of moving 35 licensees’ existing VHF/UHF systems to a 700/800 MHz county-wide trunking system. “The record shows that Pierce County has taken concrete steps since 2005 to secure transition to a new system that would obviate the need for the affected agencies to meet the Commission’s narrowbanding requirement,” the bureau said (http://xrl.us/bnyt44). “Implementation has been underway since 2011 and the project is fully funded.”