FCC Modifies PLMR Trunking Rules
The FCC made two changes to a 2013 order specifying how trunking may be accomplished in the 150-174 MHz and 421-512 MHz private land mobile radio bands. The amendments came at the request of the Public Safety Communications Council (PSCC),…
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in an order released Wednesday. A trunked radio system is a computer-controlled two-way radio system that allows sharing of relatively few frequency channels among a large group of users. The FCC dropped a requirement that applicants who operate trunked stations on Public Safety Pool channels be required to demonstrate that the proposed station's service contour will not be overlapped by any incumbent station's interference contour. “We agree with PSCC that the reverse contour requirement is not necessary for the Public Safety Pool channels, and should apply only to Industrial/Business Pool channels,” the FCC said. The FCC also amended its rules on the treatment of mobile stations to clarify how to protect 150-174 MHz band mobile stations associated with a base station. The PSCC suggested that these units should be treated “analogously to unassociated mobile units by using the associated base station’s service contour as both the associated mobile unit’s service contour and interference contour,” the commission said in the order. The FCC agreed.