FCC Reminds Land Mobile Licensees of Narrowband Operation Obligations
The FCC is reminding Part 90 Land Mobile Radio licensees that operations must be narrowbanded in the 150-174 MHz and 421-470 MHz bands. Three years after the narrowbanding deadline, some licensees continue to operate in wideband (i.e. greater than 12.5 kHz bandwidth) mode. In some cases, licensees are operating in narrowband mode, but their licenses have not been updated.
Going forward, the FCC will not renew wideband licenses in these bands, unless the licensee has a current waiver or operates with “equivalent efficiency” to narrowband operations. The FCC will also dismiss Assignments of such authorizations, which risks holding up transactions. Frequency advisory committees will consider wideband authorizations as narrowband in their coordination efforts, thus continued wideband operations are both illegal and risks receiving interference.
Checking your FCC authorization to confirm that it properly reflects your operations is easy. Just go to: http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchLicense.jsp. From there, enter your call sign and you can peruse your authorization.
Here is the FCC’s Public Notice: http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2016/db0113/DA-16-36A1.pdf
Please let us know if we can assist with your review or bringing your authorization up to date.
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