Public safety groups asked the FCC to stay a decision that set da...

International Assn. of Chiefs of Police and others. In recent weeks, public safety groups have asked the Commission to reconsider the decision, which among other things set interim deadlines for public safety users to transition to more efficient 12.5 kHz-capable equipment. The decision barred certification of equipment capable of operating at one voice path per 25 kHz of spectrum, including dual band equipment for both 12.5 kHz and 25 kHz, starting Jan. 1, 2005. Challenges to the rule also centered on a Jan. 13, 2004, deadline, after which applications to expand the coverage area of an existing radio system would be approved only for narrowband operations. “That requirement will make it impossible for many 25 kHz public safety systems to expand operations without replacing, prematurely, their entire radio systems,” the petition for stay said. If left intact, the deadline would “lead to irreparable harm to state and local governments and to the general public,” the petition said. “Agencies could be forced to forgo essential system expansions, potentially endangering the safety of life and property.” Such expansions typically are needed to address changes in population shifts and other areas, the groups said. “The only alternatives are to implement incompatible communications operations, which will destroy interoperability, or replace prematurely entire radio systems, which will drain scarce public resources.” The groups said that nearly every part of the public safety and private land mobile community, as well as equipment makers, had participated in petitions for reconsideration.