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Wavelengths
Gearing up for mission
impossible
By Glenn Bischoff
November 30, 2007
Much has been written and said about how the effort to reconfigure the
800 MHz band so that operations by Sprint Nextel no longer cause harmful
interference to first responder communications is well behind schedule
and likely won't be completed by the June 26, 2008 deadline set by the
FCC. But not much has been written or said about what's being done to
get the derailment back on track.
A big step in the right direction is the implementation meetings that
the Transition Administrator is holding with 800 MHz licensees across
the country. TA representative John Bush reported during last month's
IWCE-MRT Wireless Summit in Orlando, that 15 sessions had been held,
involving 170 public-safety licensees that collectively have 350,000
radios affected by the reconfiguration. "The meetings have been very
useful for getting people on the same page," he said.
Participants held similar views of the meetings, which bring together
licensees, vendors and Sprint Nextel in attempt to help them to better
understand the mechanics and timetables of the reconfiguration effort.
MRT contributing writer Alan Tilles, an attorney with Shulman Rogers
Gandal Pordy and Ecker who represents numerous 800 MHz licensees,
described the meetings as "the most boring meetings I've ever been in --
but probably the most useful." According to Tilles, each meeting has
contained an "ah-hah moment," when licensees realize the complexity of
the reconfiguration and the importance of planning. For that reason
alone, the implementation meetings have been "hugely useful," Tilles
said.
Chuck Jackson, a vice president for Motorola, agreed. Jackson said
during the summit that concerns are growing that the vendor giant almost
certainly will encounter a chokepoint it might not be able to overcome
because of the avalanche of reconfiguration requests he's expecting over
the next 18 months, due to the FCC's turning of the screws regarding
completion deadlines. The commission said in September it still expects
rebanding to be completed by June 26, 2008, and that waiver requests
attributed to delays by vendors and Sprint Nextel would not be granted
easily.
"We just don't have the resources to do 350 customers at the same time,"
Jackson said. For that reason, he called the implementation meetings
"tremendously valuable" from a resource-allocation perspective.
They've also been valuable in terms of uncovering situations early in
the process that could turn out to be unpleasant surprises at the later
stages. Bill Jenkins, a vice president for Sprint Nextel, told of an
encounter with an air ambulance company during one meeting. The company
is not an 800 MHz licensee but operates on four systems in the state
where it does business. "They could have been overlooked," Jenkins said.
"The meetings have been uncovering a lot of interoperability issues,
which is very important as we move forward in the process."
Several more meetings are scheduled for next year. More information can
be obtained at www.800TA.org.
Radio Club of America: It's always a treat to attend the annual
Radio Club of America's awards dinner in New York City, but this year
was even more special for us because it gave us a chance to be in the
same room as two journalistic icons, Andy Rooney of "60 Minutes" fame,
who delivered the keynote address, and Walter Cronkite, the long-time
anchor of the CBS Evening News who once named the "most trusted man in
America," who received the Armstrong Medal for important contributions
to radio art and science.
Also in attendance was a young woman who attends New Jersey's Montclair
State University, who was one of 13 recipients of RCA scholarships this
year. It was announced during the dinner that the Enterprise Wireless
Alliance had contributed $5000 to the scholarship fund. Kudos to the EWA
and its president and CEO, Mark Crosby, for this generous contribution.
For more information on how you can get involved, visit www.radioclubofamerica.org.
E-mail me at gbischoff@mrtmag.com.
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In the news
Verizon
Wireless chooses LTE for its 4G migration
By Donny Jackson
November 29, 2007
Verizon Wireless, the second-largest wireless carrier in
the U.S., yesterday announced plans to use Long Term Evolution (LTE) for
its fourth-generation (4G) mobile broadband network.
Google
applies to bid in 700 MHz auction
By Donny Jackson
November 30, 2007
Search-engine giant Google today announced it has
applied to bid in upcoming 700 MHz auction, confirming speculation that
has surrounded the company's advocacy for open-access networks operating
in the band.
Ethertronics
antennas included in new DriveCam product
By Donny Jackson
November 30, 2007
DriveCam's newest video solution will feature
integrated, high-performance antennas from Ethertronics, allowing
DriveCam's windshield-mounted video-event recorder to be smaller and
more durable.
FCC names PSST
as national licensee
By Donny Jackson
November 20, 2007
As has been anticipated for months, the FCC officially
named the Public Safety Spectrum Trust (PSST) as the public-safety
broadband licensee for 10 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum that is expected to be
used for a nationwide, interoperable broadband network that will be
built by a commercial operator.
More News
TA releases
channel-clearing request form
November 30, 2007
PSST
releases revised bidder information
November 30, 2007
Initiative
to focus on interoperability standards for energy market
November 29, 2007
UHF data
radio modem announced
November 29, 2007
Mobile
location technology analyst report unveiled
November 27, 2007
P25 system
installed by Wisconsin county
November 27, 2007
Police,
campus security invest in CAD system
November 21, 2007
Ambulance
service chooses mobile data platform
November 21, 2007
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