The Enterprise Wireless Alliance has asked the FCC to clarify that any qualified frequency coordinator should be allowed to process applications for entities to use six 173 megahertz channels for vehicular repeater systems (VRS). “It has been EWA’s expectation from the outset of this proceeding that all FCC-certified FACs would be authorized to process both VRS and data telemetry applications in accordance with the FCC’s rules and the consensus protocols, regardless of the applicants’ eligibility category,” EWA said in an ex parte filing in PS docket 13-229. “This view is premised on the fact that these six channels are not allocated on a primary basis to either B/ILT or public safety applicants, but are shared equally by them,” EWA added.

“While the consensus coordination protocols are designed to provide the necessary geographic separation between incompatible data telemetry and VRS operations, B/ILT and public safety data telemetry systems may operate on the same channel and B/ILT and public safety VRS operations may share a channel. The same operational rules regarding permissible bandwidths, power levels, justification for additional channels, and acceptable areas of operation for VRS govern B/ILT and public safety operations. The consensus protocols for these channels are applied identically, whether the applicant claims B/ILT or public safety eligibility.”

EWA added that it “appreciates that coordination of data telemetry and VRS applications on these six channels requires the highest level of technical expertise and professionalism. With all due respect to public safety FACs, EWA is confident that it and other B/ILT FACs have both the capability and expertise to process applications in conformance with the FCC’s rules and policies. As long as the technical criteria adopted by the Commission are followed and information is exchanged among FACs as it is for Sprint-vacated 800 MHz channels, B/ILT and public safety licensees will enjoy the appropriate level of system protection. For this reason, EWA recommends that the FCC clarify that the coordination rules for these six channels will mirror those applicable to Sprint-vacated spectrum; specifically, that all qualified FACs are permitted to process applications for any entity eligible to operate on these channels.” – Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com