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GovTech Magazine says yesterday the FCC adopted an Eighth Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (pdf) that seeks comment on whether certain channels within the 24 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band allocated for public safety use should be modified to accommodate broadband communications.
A firm date, Feb. 17, 2009, has been established to clear the 700 MHz spectrum of television broadcasters. They got new (free) channels for DTV, freeing up the band for both commercial carriers and public service uses.
Under a band plan adopted by the FCC in 1998, the 700 MHz public safety spectrum (764-776 MHz and 794-806 MHz) is divided in half between narrowband channels, which allow voice and low-speed data services, and wideband channels, which allow high-speed data and slow scan video services.
Within the 12 MHz of paired wideband spectrum, 4.8 MHz is currently designated for general use and 1.8 MHz for interoperability, and the remaining 5.4 MHz is held in reserve for future public safety needs. Under the current rules, the individual channels within the general use and interoperability wideband segments have a bandwidth of 50 kHz, and licensees can aggregate three 50 kHz channels up to 150 kHz.
In the December 2005, Intelligence Reform Act Report to Congress on public safety spectrum needs, the FCC recognized that it should expeditiously examine whether the 700 MHz public safety band plan could be modified to accommodate broadband. The Notice seeks comment on three specific proposals to modify the 700 MHz band plan submitted by the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council; Motorola and Lucent.
All three plans propose combining the general use, interoperability, and reserve wideband segments in order to permit broadband communications. The proposals also support the creation of guard bands to protect narrowband voice operations. The Notice also invites additional proposals and seeks comment on the FCC’s tentative conclusion not to alter the narrowband portions of the 700 MHz public safety band.
In the Seventh Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in this proceeding, the FCC sought comment on a variety of technical and operational rules for the 700 MHz public safety spectrum, including a proposal by the Public Safety National Coordination Committee to adopt a wideband data interoperability standard, the Scalable Adaptive Modulation, commonly known as “SAM”, and to require that all wideband radios be capable of supporting the SAM standard.
Today’s Notice asks commenters to provide additional input and update the record regarding wideband interoperability and the SAM standard in light of proposals to accommodate broadband communications.
| Designated Purpose | Amount of Spectrum | Narrowband (6.25 kHZ) |
WideBand (50kHZ) |
| General Use | 12.5 MHz (52.1%) |
7.7 MHz (1232 Channels) |
4.8 MHz (96 Channels) |
| Interoperability | 2.6 MHz (10.8%) |
0.8 MHz (128 Channels) |
1.8 MHz (36 Channels) |
| Secondary Trunking | 0.2 MHz (0.8%) |
0.2 MHz (32 Channels) |
-0- |
| State License | 2.4 MHz (10.0%) |
2.4 MHz (384 Channels) |
-0- |
| Low Power | 0.3 MHz (1.3%) |
0.3 MHz (48 Channels) |
-0- |
| Reserve | 6.0 MHz (25.0%) |
0.6 MHz (96 Channels) |
5.4 MHz (108 Channels) |
There are five primary bands that make up the Public Safety Radio Pool:
Low-Band VHF 30 MHz to 50 MHz Mid-Band VHF 72 MHz to 76 MHz High-Band VHF 138 MHz to 144 MHz 148 MHz to 174 MHz 220 MHz to 222 MHz Low-Band UHF 406.1 MHz to 420 MHz 450 MHz to 470 MHz 470 MHz to 512 MHz 800 MHz Band 806 MHz to 824 MHz 851 MHz to 869 MHz
Mobile WiMAX devices will provide ten times the speed at one tenth the cost with interoperability. What’s to invent? Broadband tracking videophones might be go indoors and out with 700 Mhz and MIMO. Poor Motorola and Lockheed.
The 800 MHz rebanding program was made necessary by Nextel interference with police radios. Under the Consensus Plan between Nextel and the FCC, public service agencies were given 700 and 800 Mhz frequencies currently operated by Nextel that were causing interference. Nextel consolidated 800 Mhz operations on one band and got a new 10 Mhz allotment at 1.9GHz (the PCS band).
Now another shift may be underway. The Sprint/Nextel merger means an eventual disappearance of Nextel’s iDEN network. Nextel subscribers may migrate to Sprint’s CDMA network (with push to talk).
Nextel CEO Tim Donahue said the iDEN network could be part of the “public-safety network of the future” after it offloads its consumer traffic to Sprint’s CDMA network. Nextel might dump the entire 800 Mhz iDen system and give to the feds.
In exchange, Nextel might acquire spectrum in the 700 Mhz band. Channel “C” has 2 X 5 Mhz available nationwide while Channel “D” has 2 x 10Mhz. Verizon and Cingular could go with Charles Townsend’s 700 Mhz spectrum or buy their own slot on a remaining 6 MHz channel. Such a plan would be politically and logistically tricky and expensive, of course. In addition, the benefits of moving to advanced technology like Mobile WiMAX or Flarion’s Flexband in the 700 Mhz band are largely unknown and unproven.
The Wireless Innovation Act of 2006 (WINN Act) aims to facilitate wireless broadband by allocating “white spaces” that are unassigned or unused in the UHF band. It would not utilize the licensed 700 MHz frequencies dedicated to public service or commercial users.
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