Equipment is available at 700 MHz – both in the public safety and in the guard band allocations – but can it be implemented? What is the procedure for accessing the public safety and guard band channels?

Public safety has been allocated 24 MHz in the 700 MHz band. Of that 24 MHz, 12.5 MHz was allocated as ‘general use’ spectrum and is administered by the Regional Planning Committees. Roughly 10% (2.6 MHz) was allocated for interoperability. There was a state allocation of 2.4 MHz and roughly 6 MHz remains in reserve until the FCC sees how wideband technologies develop.

Equipment Available: Equipment is available for the narrowband portion of the public safety allocation. Portables that cover both the 700 and 800 MHz band are shipping. Base stations and mobiles have been announced. To be marketed, all equipment manufactured for use on the narrowband PS allocation must include P25 Phase I as the I/O mode. (Equipment manufactured for use only on the twelve 6.25 kHz channel pairs set aside for low-power on-scene operations are exempt from this requirement). TIA has selected Scalable Adaptive Modulation (the technology that was trailed in Pinellas County, FL) as the wideband I/O standard and is still finalizing the documents required for ANSI standardization. Actual wideband products await finalization of the standard.

State Allocation: Each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico filed for and received a 700 MHz state license. The state allocation is for narrowband operations (maximum permissible bandwidth 25 kHz). The state license is a geographic area license and (with certain exceptions) no additional, site-specific licenses are needed. States are limited to 40-dbu contour at the state borders but can negotiate with adjoining states for higher powers. Site-specific information for the state licenses will be housed on the CAPRAD database developed by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) and the National Public Safety Telecommunications Coordination Committee (NPSTC) Support Office.

In the many states where incumbent TV broadcasters are not blocking access, the states can begin implementing the state license immediately. In states where incumbent broadcasters block access in some areas, the state should investigate the possibility of short-spacing against the broadcasters. Where broadcasters more fully block access, the state should consider getting the governor to contact the state’s Congressional representatives to support legislation that will promote clearing broadcasters out of the band no later than 12/31/06, or sooner if possible.

General Use Frequencies: The general use frequencies are administered by the 700 MHz

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