April 17, 2017–The Policy and Licensing Division of the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau has denied the request of Santa Clara County (Calif.) for a waiver of the ongoing suspension of the processing of applications to operate in the T-band (470-512 megahertz), so that it could operate public safety land mobile radio system “on frequency pair 482/485.3375 MHz at two sites located beyond the allowable 80 kilometers (50 miles) from San Francisco, California,” the division noted in an order adopted April 14 in files 0004937682 and 0004937683.

The bureau imposed the suspension after the passage of the 2012 Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, whose Spectrum Act provisions provided for reallocation of T-band spectrum currently used by public safety entities.  “The purpose of the suspension is to stabilize the spectral environment while the Commission considers issues surrounding future use of the T-Band and implementation of the Spectrum Act,” the division noted.  It rejected Santa Clara’s argument that it should be granted a waiver because its applications were filed before passage of the Spectrum Act, saying that the bureau notice imposing the processing suspension stated that it applied to already pending applications.

Courtesy TRDaily