Oppositions are due May 11 and replies May 19 in response to a petition asking the FCC to reconsider portions of an order it adopted in January in its 911 location accuracy proceeding (TRDaily, Jan. 29). The petition was filed in PS docket 07-114 by the Boulder Regional Emergency Telephone Service Authority (BRETSA).

The Enterprise Wireless Alliance said in a newsletter today that “conversations with the FCC indicate that there are no ‘imminent’ plans to introduce rules that would implement the repurposing of the T-Band away from public safety and Industrial/Business for broadband purposes, at least until late 2016 at the earliest. The FCC must consider several options that would enable it to address the specific directives while taking into consideration the absence of suitable replacement spectrum.”

The FCC’s  Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau announced the approval of a recommended set of six channels that can be used nationwide by 700 megahertz band deployable trunked systems. The channels were recommended by the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council and the National Regional Planning Council.

The FCC’s Task Force on Optimal PSAP Architecture plans to hold its next meeting April 29 from 1-4 p.m. in the Commission’s meeting room. “Three working groups will provide interim reports on the status of their work. No votes are scheduled for this meeting,” according to a public notice.

The Enterprise Wireless Alliance and Pacific DataVision, Inc. (d/b/a pdvWireless) plan to submit to the FCC by the end of the month proposed rules for realigning the 900 megahertz band to enable the deployment of broadband service, EWA said in its weekly newsletter today. EWA said that it and PDV met last week with representatives of the American Petroleum Institute, the Association of American Railroads, the Utilities Telecom Council, and the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative to review the proposed rules. “Based on the input gathered at this meeting, EWA and PDV will prepare and file the proposed rules with the FCC by the end of the month,” EWA said. Utilities have expressed numerous concerns with the proposed realignment plan.

Courtesy TR Daily

Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee today asked the FCC to provide more information on the proposal to close 16 of the agency’s 24 field offices. In a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, the lawmakers said the Commission has only provided the panel with a two-page memo and a 35-page slide presentation on a consultant’s report concerning the proposal to close the field offices. “These cannot be the sole basis upon which you concluded to close the field offices,” the lawmakers said.

The FCC had vowed to provide the committee with documents related to consultants’ analysis concerning the field offices, the lawmakers noted.

“Your proposal to shutter 16 of the commission’s 24 field offices raises significant challenges and concerns. The commission has represented to Congress and the American people that it will ‘preserve the integrity of public safety communications infrastructure by taking action on 99% of complaints of interference to public safety communications within one day,’ yet your proposal to reduce the geographic footprint of the commission appears to ignore the impact this might have on the commission’s public interest goal,” the lawmakers said. Continue reading →