FCC Bureau Provides Guidance on Public Safety Roaming in Canada
The FCC Public Safety Bureau provided guidance Thursday to public safety agencies on roaming in Canada, the use of U.S. base station repeaters while in Canada and Canadian public safety licensees seeking to communicate through base station repeaters in the…
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U.S. “Our guidance is based upon recent arrangements and understandings reached by Bureau staff with officials from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED),” the bureau said in a public notice. “The licensing guidance we provide below applies to any public safety licensee operating a Private Land Mobile Radio (PLMR) system in any frequency band authorized under Part 90 of the Commission’s rules.” The bureau said first responders operating mobile or hand-held radio equipment along the U.S.-Canada border may communicate through base station repeaters located in the other country provided they obtain written consent from the licensee of the repeater. The repeater must be properly licensed in the country in which it's located, the host licensee must maintain control and is responsible for operation of its base station repeater at all times and a licensee must obtain “written consent from the host licensee before permitting its first responders to communicate with a base station repeater in the other country,” the bureau said.