FCC Approves Revised Rules for 800 MHz Band Largely as Circulated
FCC commissioners approved 4-0, largely as circulated by Chairman Ajit Pai, revised rules for public land mobile radio use of the 800 MHz band. The item was taken off the agenda for Tuesday’s commissioners’ meeting. Late discussions on the eighth floor concerned questions raised last week by APCO, the Enterprise Wireless Alliance and others about including in the rules a contour matrix developed by the Land Mobile Communications Council in 2015 (see 1810190056). But the order wasn’t changed substantially to address those questions, officials said Monday. Among the few tweaks, questions were added about low power in the UNII-5 and -7 bands and questions were also added on portable devices.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
The revised rules “provide new spectrum capacity and eliminate unnecessary restrictions in the PLMR bands, while reducing administrative burdens on applicants and licensees,” the order said. “Industrial/Business (I/B) Pool users will have access to additional frequency pairs for use with very-narrowband equipment, and public safety organizations and other PLMR users will gain access to as many as 318 new ‘interstitial’ channels in the 800 MHz band.”
Some PLMR rules haven’t changed since the 1990s or earlier and “existing limitations do not support the use of new and more efficient technologies,” the FCC said. The order lifts a freeze on spectrum sharing first put into place in 1995. The revised rules will “enable more intensive use of this workhorse spectrum on which first responders, state and local governments, large and small businesses, electric utilities, transportation providers, the medical community, and many others depend,” Pai blogged Oct. 1.
The new interstitial channels “will benefit licensees in the 800 MHz Mid-Band only if appropriate interference safeguards are adopted,” the FCC said. It rejected arguments the channels will cause interference to other users of the spectrum. “We reject Boeing’s claim that the proposed channels could cause interference to its wideband Class B signal boosters because such boosters operate on a secondary basis and thus are not protected against interference," the FCC said.
Last week's public-safety request asked the FCC to put the contour matrix in a footnote rather than in the rules. The FCC cited comments in support of a matrix. The FCC agreed with the LMCC that “a matrix is the clearest way of displaying the contour protection values appropriate to different technologies.” The order cites 2015 comments from the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council that the matrix will “serve public safety and the overall land mobile community well to protect systems on existing channels and allow implementation of new interstitial channels that provide more spectrum opportunities.”
The FCC can modify the matrix in the future, but the Administrative Procedure Act “still compels us to adopt any such modifications only after public notice and comment,” the order said. “Should there be a need to modify the values … to take newly developed technology into account, we will do so with dispatch in an expedited notice and comment proceeding.”
“EWA is pleased to now have the opportunity to finally implement within its spectrum management activities these new rules that will benefit private land mobile licensees,” said President Mark Crosby. “It has been a long time coming. There are some remaining issues, particularly with respect to the availability of the interstitial channels, but I’m confident we can work out implementation details with the FCC.”