Legislator Proposes Delay for Radio Narrowbanding

After proposing legislation to provide funding for converting public safety radio network to narrowband technology, U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (R-NY) has now submitted a bill that would move the government’s deadline back by two years. Under H.R. 3430 that Rothman introduced last Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) would be directed to “take all actions necessary” to extend the deadline from Jan. 1, 2013 to the same day in 2015. Rothman introduced legislation (HR 2976) last September that would have provided $400 million in funding for local narrowbanding projects. The bill remains in committee without action. The FCC approved the narrowbanding regulations in 2004, requiring public safety agencies that use 150-175 MHz and 421-512 MHz frequencies to upgrade their radio systems to use narrower channel spacing. The original channel spacing in the two bands was 25 kHz, while the new spacing is 12.5 kHz or 6.25 kHz. As frequently occurs with government agencies, many public safety radio users waited to make any radio upgrades because of funding issues. Many agencies also delayed upgrades while they considered a transition to 800 MHz radio systems. Download (pdf) a copy of Rothman’s very short deadline extension here.