The Land Mobile Communications Council (LMCC) has asked the FCC to hold off releasing 800 megahertz expansion and guard band spectrum in 14 additional regions where rebanding has been completed until the agency completes action in a rulemaking sought by the LMCC.  Last year, the LMCC filed a petition for rulemaking that asked the Commission to allow 800 MHz band incumbent licensees to apply for expansion band and guard band channels during a six-month period before opening up applications for new systems (TRDaily, March 31, 2014).

In response to the petition, new entrants urged the FCC to reject the filing, saying the proposal would be unfair and anticompetitive, allowing incumbents to grab licenses, especially in more lucrative urban areas (TRDaily, May 28, 2014). In an ex parte filing yesterday in Rulemaking 11719, the LMCC noted that the 800 MHz band transition administrator (TA) recently certified that rebanding was finished in 14 additional NPSPAC regions.

“Unmistakably, these NPSPAC regions encompass major urban areas where 800 MHz capacity is unavailable to incumbent licensees who have a requirement to expand system capacity,” the LMCC said, adding that as a result, the Commission should “not release EB/GB spectrum in these NPSPAC regions pending the outcome of the LMCC Petition for Rulemaking.

“As previously noted by the LMCC, the increased capacity created by allowing the expansion of systems by Public Safety, Business/Industrial/Land Transportation, and SMR incumbents who have invested heavily in advanced systems that rely on this critical spectrum resource outweighs the benefits that may be achieved by initially opening all EB/GB spectrum to, or even reserving a portion of that spectrum for, new market entrants,” the filing added.

“We must ensure that these incumbent systems have access to spectrum resources they need to accommodate pent up system capacity requirements,” LMCC President Gregory Kunkle said in a news release today. – Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TR Daily