Public Safety Groups Make Plea for Protecting Paging
Public safety groups, supported by radio-maker Motorola, cautioned the FCC not to prohibit or restrict paging by public safety agencies using emergency response frequencies. The FCC is considering whether to restrict VHF public safety frequencies to just two-way voice calls. The FCC said in seeking comment on that proposal it has received interference complaints in the past about interference from paging, particularly to channels set aside for mutual aid.
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“This is a matter that is best left to FCC-certified frequency coordinators to address on a case-by-case basis, as they are best qualified to provide for public safety paging use in a manner that will not cause interference to public safety voice channels,” said the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials. “There is no need for further FCC regulation. Restrictions would be overly broad, potentially blocking critical paging operations.”
The State of California warned that fire and emergency medical service personnel make the greatest use of paging. “Shifting paging to another band would necessitate the engineering, purchasing and implementations of complete new communications systems, including fixed infrastructure and subscriber units,” the state said. “These are costs that small users, particularly the ‘volunteer’ agencies that make up a majority of the users, cannot afford.” California officials said the FCC should further study public safety paging and give local governments at least 10 years to adjust if restrictions are necessary to prevent interference.
The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council said the FCC must not prohibit paging on the VHF frequencies. “To do so will cause serious disruption to public safety communications and eliminate an effective and efficient means to summon and notify personnel,” the group said. “Disruption to voice communications can be avoided through the normal frequency coordination efforts that are integral to the shared spectrum environment public safety operates in.”
Motorola also cautioned the FCC to act with care. “We believe that a general prohibition on paging applicable to all public safety frequencies would be draconian and unwarranted,” the company said. “Volunteer firefighting organizations in particular rely on their own VHF paging systems as a low cost way to alert volunteers they are needed to help fight a fire… Motorola believes that the benefit of VHF paging, particularly for firefighters and the public they serve, outweighs any FCC oversight and enforcement requirements.”
The paging comments came in response to a larger FCC rulemaking seeking comments on changes to the agency’s Part 90 rules -- covering private land mobile radio (PLMR) services, as well as some CMRS - and also on part of the rules covering public safety communications. For example, the FCC proposes eliminating the frequency coordination requirement for licensees modifying their licenses to convert from PLMR operations to CMRS operations. Groups including the Land Mobile Communications Council and PCIA said some reforms make sense but the FCC should proceed with caution. - - Howard Buskirk