NCJ Number
209677
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 72 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2005 Pages: 134-139,141
Date Published
April 2005
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article describes the features and regulatory history of radio narrowbanding and discusses its implications for and implementation by law enforcement agencies.
Abstract
For decades, local and State public safety agencies have been requesting additional radio spectrum from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as wireless communications have become an ever larger part of the supporting technologies required to respond to daily public safety incidents. All radio services use Private Wireless bands regulated by either the FCC for non-Federal licensees or by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for Federal Government agencies. The FCC and the NTIA have determined that increasing spectrum efficiency through narrowbanding is the best way to meet growing public safety spectrum requirements. Once narrowbanding has been completed, the vacated spectrum between channels can be reassigned, a process called "refarming." In narrowbanding, the center of each channel remains the same, and the skirts of each channel are narrowed from 25 kHz to 12.5 kHz in phase 1 (the change required by the FCC before 2013). Later, should the FCC mandate another move to phase 2 (6.25 kHz, now under consideration for a distant date), the same move would be required. As public safety agencies move to narrowband operations, they must apply for new frequencies or modify their existing licenses. Holding a license for 25 kHz operations does not guarantee the licensee the same frequencies divided into two channels, nor does it guarantee the licensee twice the number of channels; licensees must justify their need for additional channels beyond their current allocation. In preparing for the FCC deadlines and when considering interim system replacements, public safety agencies should assess their Private Wireless systems and plan for eventual replacement or upgrade.