FCC Considers Order Addressing Likely Flood of 800 MHz Waiver Filings
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is circulating an order that would provide a template designed to help speed Public Safety Bureau consideration of 800 MHz waiver requests filed by public safety licensees. The order anticipates what is expected to be a flood of filings before the June 28 rebanding deadline. “We hope this action will ease some of the burden on licensees who will not be able to finish rebanding by the June deadline,” said Robert Gurss, director of legal & government affairs at the Association of Public- Safety Communications Officials (APCO). Gurss withheld other comment until he studies the templates.
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Alan Tilles, counsel to more than 150 municipalities who are rebanding, said Wednesday he expected many licensees to file waiver requests. “The 30 day negotiating deadline timeframe has proven to be very difficult to comply with,” he said. “We have filed a number of waivers of the planning deadlines. However, many deals are getting done and work is getting done.”
At last summer’s APCO meeting, the recurring message of FCC officials was that the agency will not grant a blanket waiver and expected as many licensees as possible to complete the rebanding by the June deadline, which is part of the FCC’s landmark 2004 800 MHz rebanding order. “We're going to put everybody’s feet to the fire to make sure that we're getting this done as quickly as possible,” Martin said in June.
The order on circulation provides deadlines for licensees to file waiver requests -- in March for those in waves one and two of the rebanding and in April for licensees in waves three and four. The order also includes a template for licensees who file to follow so the Public Safety Bureau receives consistent information.