NPSTC Says Progress Too Slow on Cross-Border 800 MHz Rebanding Agreements
The National Public Safety Telecom Council (NPSTC) warned the FCC in a letter to Chmn. Martin that unless progress is made to negotiate international agreements on 800 MHz in border areas, particularly with Mexico, 800 MHz rebanding is in trouble in some heavily populated areas of the nation. NPSTC represents key public safety groups and its comments are generally given weight at the FCC.
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“The benefit the 800 MHz reconfiguration provides, eliminating interference, is now seriously challenged,” NPSTC warned. “Operations on the southwest border, areas that otherwise should be receiving the highest priority because of the significant incidents of interference and large population, have no remedy.” Problems that affect Tex. and Cal. will have a domino effect throughout larger regions, NPSTC said. “The inability to implement the 800 MHz reconfiguration in the border areas reverberates beyond these NPSTC regions and undermines existing communications standards and agreements,” NPSTC said. “If a region within a state cannot relocate because of the lack of updated cross border protocols, this core capability to communicate with agencies in the adjacent region disappears.”
Cross border issues surfaced as a major area of concern in 2004 as the FCC completed work on its landmark 800 MHz rebanding pact with Nextel, designed to eliminate interference to public safety systems by commercial operators. NPSTC told the FCC the issues still loom large. Border regions were placed in Wave 4, the last wave to be relocated, by the 800 MHz Transition Administrator. This wave now isn’t expected to be completed within the FCC’s 36- month timetable for reconfiguration.
NPSTC said the FCC and Dept. of State should “recognize this challenge and move to update existing international agreements.” The letter was also addressed to David Gross, U.S. State Dept. coordinator for international communications.
Bob Gurss, dir.-legal and govt. affairs at the Assn. of Public-Safety Communications Officials, a NPSTC member, told us the public safety communications community has only limited information on cross-border negotiations, which occur behind closed doors, but work has been slow by all accounts.
“We keep hearing that there hasn’t been much progress, especially in terms of Mexico, because of these agreements,” Gurss said: “The Commission has already postponed the dates for Wave 4 once because of that. We need to keep it on a high profile. While the rest of the country hasn’t exactly been going through this speedily we're concerned that we'll be ready to start Wave 4 and there will be no agreements.”