Seareka System Key to Better Maritime Rescue, Whiffletree Says
Whiffletree filed reply comments directly responding to objections by AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel opposed to its petition seeking a waiver of commission rules for its Seareka maritime survivor locating device (MSLD). MSLDs are transceivers attached to life vests or other survival equipment, designed to help locate survivors of incidents at sea. But the Seareka system operates in the 869.4-869.65 MHz band, already used by U.S. carriers for cellular communications, raising carrier objections. Whiffletree responded that use of the device is a matter of life or death.
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Whiffletree conceded it’s asking to operate at power levels considerably above current limits. “However, it is of utmost importance to consider that under normal conditions, the antenna and the beacon emit no radio signal,” the company said (http://xrl.us/bnko7n). “It is only when a Man Overboard (MOB) is activated that the device transmits its alarm and position to the boat. The frequency is used only in emergency situations and only to save one or more human lives.” Whiffletree’s filing offered a chart showing average survival times for those lost at sea, including times of less than 45 minutes when water is below 34 degrees Fahrenheit.
The carriers say Seareka should instead have to use the 406 MHz band, set aside for maritime rescue, but that band is already used by satellite-based Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs), Whiffletree said. “Seareka’s MSLD is intended to complement the safety network of deployed EPIRB’s by providing a local network of safety devices and communications that allow retrieval and survival of individuals lost at sea from their vessels due to bad weather or mishaps,” the company said. “Here the response time of the crew and the vessel is critical. In many instances a victim’s survival depends on a response that occurs in the first few minutes, if not seconds. Normal rescue organization responses to EPIRB signals can be several minutes and sometimes hours depending on the location of the boat to shore, weather, and the location and availability of resources."
CTIA weighed in against Seareka’s waiver petition, in its reply comments, supporting the arguments of some of its biggest members (CD July 31 p5). “Because Whiffletree proposes that Seareka operate in heavily used cellular frequencies, there is a significant risk that the MSLD’s operation will cause harmful interference to incumbent cellular and Specialized Mobile Radio operations,” CTIA said (http://xrl.us/bnkouo). “Whiffletree has failed to provide evidence that the Seareka MSLD can operate without causing such harmful interference.”
CTIA noted that the frequency sees heavy use in coastal areas. “Cellular market areas in coastal areas extend over water from the Pacific and Atlantic coastlines over the Great Lakes, and the Commission also has issued cellular licenses for the Gulf of Mexico,” the group said. “It is common for cellular base stations to be located near the coastline to promote robust service -- enabling other potentially life-saving functions -- that well extends from the coast and out into sea. For this reason, interference from Seareka’s MSLD to cellular base stations is a very real risk.”