NTIA, FCC FIND NO MORE SPECTRUM FOR PUBLIC SAFETY AT 100-300 MHZ
Increasing spectrum for public safety systems that operate in congested VHF high band would pave way for complex or wide area systems that would bolster their communications, FCC said in report to Congress released Mon. Report is companion to one released Fri. by NTIA (CD Jan 28 p3). Despite acknowledging need for more public safety spectrum, joint reports required of NTIA and FCC by fiscal 2001 defense authorization legislation found no readily available additional frequencies as alternatives to 138-144 MHz for public safety systems. Authorization legislation required studies by FCC and NTIA, as well as still-unreleased one by Defense Dept., to examine possibility of sharing in 138-144 MHz band by existing military users and public safety systems. Sources said industry attention now was turning to Defense Dept. report to Congress, designed to analyze in-band sharing possibilities at 138-144 MHz. Joint NTIA-FCC reports depict congested use of existing public safety operations in those bands and tough choices that lie ahead for making additional allocations.
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FCC portion of evaluation examined nonfederal govt. spectrum from 100 to 300 MHz and concluded that reallocating spectrum in that VHF high band would disrupt incumbent services. “The report finds that the spectrum is intensively used, some already by public safety systems, and that there are no additional frequencies therein that are available for use by public safety systems,” report said. Separate NTIA report released late Fri. (CD Jan 28 p1) examined 162-174 MHz and 406.1-420 MHz as possible alternatives to 138-144 MHz for public safety use. NTIA concluded that additional frequencies other than public safety interoperability channels recently provided in those bands couldn’t be offered without “jeopardizing the crucial missions of federal public safety agencies.” In fiscal 2000, defense authorization had directed President to reclaim for “exclusive” use on primary basis bands totaling 3 MHz between 138 and 144 MHz. Bands were part of spectrum chosen for reallocation from govt. to nongovt. uses in 1997 Balanced Budget Act. Fiscal 2001 defense authorization legislation required DoD and other agencies to identify any part of that band that military could share in various geographic areas with public safety services. Studies had to examine any measures needed to prevent harmful interference between public safety and military operations.
In 1998, FCC issued Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that solicited feedback on creation of interoperability band in 138-144 MHz, including possibility of public safety services’ buying inexpensive radios that could be used in band. Public safety agencies now most intensively use frequencies in 150- 174 MHz, where 3.6 MHz are allocated for public safety. “It appears that there is not a sufficient amount of vacant spectrum in these bands to accommodate new and/or modernized public safety systems,” FCC report said. It said some “pockets” might exist in rural areas for limited system expansion or upgrades, but said those bands generally could not support upgraded public safety systems on large scale. “Generally, VHF high-band frequencies are very congested in the major urban areas where public safety systems are most needed,” report said.
Commission’s report examined broadcast bands at 100-108 MHz and 174-216 MHz, aviation bands at 108-137 MHz, satellite services at 137-138 MHz and 148-150.5 MHz, amateur bands at 144-148 MHz and 222-225 MHz, mixed service bands at 150.05- 173.4 MHz and 216-220 MHz. FCC said reallocating spectrum from any of those bands would disrupt incumbent operations. “The report finds that the spectrum is intensively used, some already by public safety systems, and that there are no additional frequencies therein that are available for use by public safety systems,” it said. In broadcast bands at 100 MHz and 174 MHz, report concluded that reallocation of that spectrum to public safety on nationwide or regional basis “would be extremely difficult and problematic.” It said it wouldn’t be compatible with international allocations and would entail difficult task of finding new home for displace FM and TV broadcast stations. Given power levels of broadcast operations on VHF high-band frequencies, sharing with public safety wouldn’t be feasible, report said.
NTIA report evaluated frequencies between 100 MHz and 1000 MHz that are allocated to federal govt. on primary basis to assess whether additional spectrum could be identified for state and local public safety use. Bands of 162-174 MHz and 406.1-420 MHz, 2 most heavily used by federal govt., were evaluated more closely for additional public safety operations. NTIA said frequency assignments in those 2 bands were “steadily increasing, reflecting the increase of missions in support of the public.” Because there are limited land mobile spectrum allocations, federal public safety agencies have to use new technology to satisfy future spectrum requirements, NTIA said. It said current frequency allocation for public safety land mobile radio systems couldn’t be reduced “without jeopardizing the ability to accommodate future spectrum requirements necessary to perform the mission critical functions of the federal public safety agencies.”