A New Jersey county’s proposal to build a new public safety radio system using television spectrum is being used by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to settle questions about narrow-banding and the digital TV transition. Monmouth County asked the FCC for a waiver in Jan. 2009, saying they wanted to build a county-wide system for its law enforcement, fire and EMS agencies, but that an APCO search found no frequencies in the assigned public safety bands were available. They asked for a waiver to use frequencies in the TV band, saying nearby stations in New York and Philadelphia wouldn’t received interference from their proposed system. Now, in a request for comments on the petition, the FCC has added two additional, “hot topic” questions it will consider before granting the waiver: if the FCC’s plans for a nation-wide public safety wireless network would provide an alternative solution, and if the upcoming 2013 narrow-banding deadline might create additional channels for Monmouth County. Previous waiver requests considered only if there were truly no available frequencies, and if the action would be in the public interest. Download (pdf) the FCC’s request for comments here.
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