Plan now for future communications needs
Irvin Lichtenstein
Data Base Architect, Systems and Requirements Analyst
Erdenheim, Pennsylvania
Reference is made to “The Effect of New FCC Regulations on Fire Communications” by Steve Adler (August 1997) U. We will by the grace of APCO 25 and Motorola`s cross-licensing agreements have multiple sources for digital equipment. Other major areas of interest to fire service communications planners include narrow banding, refarming, and new spectrum.
Narrow banding, or channel splitting, has happened several times in the past. Analog voice equipment for 12.5 KHz spacing has been available for many years. Where channel splitting occurs, as many as double the number of channels or discrete frequencies will be available for licensing. These splits are ideal for low-power, fireground, or tactical channels where interference with older wide-band systems is minimized. As older equipment is retired, the splits can be upgraded to full-power channels. It is necessary to plan for replacing wide-band equipment with narrow-band equipment. Currently on the market is equipment that can be programmed to operate in both the wide and narrow (12.5) modes, depending on the channel. This equipment provides compatibility with existing VHF and UHF systems, and high channel capacities (210 channels is not uncommon) allow programming of nearby systems in the same band.
Refarming encompasses several concepts, depending on who is talking. Primarily, refarming is the reclaiming of spectrum licensed to an agency but not used. When 800 MHz was opened up for public safety, the new licensees were supposed to abandon and turn in their old licenses and frequencies. Few did, claiming urgent need for this older space. If you can prove the channel has been abandoned, you can then apply for a license on that channel. This concept has been extended to commercial TV, where broadcasters are supposed to abandon Channels 2-14 as digital TV is installed on the UHF channels.
The current budget act places some very lenient determinations as to when analog TV is no longer needed in the market. If you need additional VHF-LO, VHF-Medium, VHF-HI or UHF channels, make sure your legislator knows that you will need those former analog TV channels when they become available in five years or so.
New spectrum is that spectrum released by the federal government as agencies equip with new, EHF, and satellite systems; frequencies released by commercial users as their technology changes; and massive changes to technologies like digital TV. What these changes mean is that public safety agencies, constrained in the recent past to changing entire radio systems due to lack of incremental growth and being forced to use fee-for-service commercial carriers for mobile data, can now look to the possibility of additional channels close enough to existing systems that can be used for incremental growth.
All public safety spectrum is a pool to be used by any agency that needs it. The problem in the past has been that sharing allocations was not often done due to lack of foresight or expertise. You do not have to install a new, all-digital, trunked system to take advantage of these new developments. What you have to do is plan, examine your options, and decide whether your region will coordinate the construction or acquisition of new facilities to preserve or enhance interpretability.
