Major Wireless Carriers Oppose Maritime Safety Proposal
Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint Nextel raised strong objections to Seareka’s application for a waiver for its maritime survivor locating device. MSLDs are transceivers attached to life vests or other survival equipment, designed to help locate survivors of incidents at sea. The problem is the system operates in the 869.4-869.65 MHz band, used by U.S. carriers for cellular communications. Seareka told the FCC the frequency is widely used for maritime rescue across the world. The Wireless Bureau sought comment on the Seareka application last month (http://xrl.us/bnc4p9).
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"Given the high probability that the cellular 869 MHz frequency band will be in use at any point in time in the United States, its territorial waters and in the Gulf of Mexico, and [Seareka parent] Whiffletree’s assertion that the MSLD will not transmit when the frequency is in use, it is unlikely that the Seareka device will be able to operate effectively on any body of water within range of a Cellular A Block base station,” Verizon Wireless said (http://xrl.us/bniput). “As such, this frequency would appear to be a poor choice for operating a life saving device in these areas.” The frequency is used for base station transmissions by Cellular A block licensees, the carrier noted. “Because base stations transmit constantly, it is unlikely that there will be 120 millisecond transmission gaps for the Seareka transceiver to operate."
"Granting the waiver could cause harmful interference that may disrupt cellular communications in coastal areas of the United States and other countries and in the Gulf of Mexico and threaten maritime safety for MSLD users in those areas,” AT&T said. “Second, granting the waiver would set a harmful precedent by authorizing the operation of unlicensed devices in cellular bands that are several orders of magnitude more powerful than any other unlicensed devices that currently operate in these bands.” Spectrum is already reserved for maritime communications, including rescue, AT&T said (http://xrl.us/bnipv6). “Risking interference in the manner requested by Seareka and breaking with precedent to grant a waiver is especially unwarranted in situations where viable alternatives exist,” the carrier said. “Seareka’s request does nothing to allay these concerns."
Sprint said it’s “concerned that with the introduction of 3G/4G services in the 800 MHz [Enhanced Specialized Mobile Radio] and 800 MHz Cellular Bands, the MSLDs sold by Seareka could pose the potential to interfere with Sprint’s and Cellular’s exclusive-use licensed operations” (http://xrl.us/bnipwe).
Wiffletree Corp., Seareka’s parent, said the device is designed to check whether the spectrum is occupied before transmitting. The filing said use of the 869 MHz spectrum is critical (http://xrl.us/bnip9f). “This system is already being delivered in Europe and Asia and has been accepted by the European yachting and boating community and some European and Asian military’s,” Wiffletree said. “Any of these vessels that are within range of the activated MSLD transceiver will receive the emergency signal and increase the potential response to the emergency call. If Seareka is forced to use a different frequency for the United States, it will have a significant negative impact on all users of this product."