Group Lobbies For T-Band Vacate Exemption

A Massachusetts police organization is making a public appeal for reconsideration of eviction orders for T-Band radio users, pointing out how well a regional radio network operated during last month’s Boston Marathon bombings. The Greater Boston Police Council (GBPC) said that 166 agencies within 2,200 square-miles are dependent upon the Boston Area Police Emergency Radio Network (BAPERN), and daily use the system to improve public safety. Congress passed legislation in February 2012 that requires users of the 470-512 MHz band to vacate the frequencies by 2023, part of a larger plan to re-allocate spectrum to public safety agencies. There are 11 regions of the country that are allowed to use the band, mostly because of extreme frequency congestion in those regions. In a press release and statement, the GBPC says BAYPERN has 22 sites providing inter-agency communications for over 11,000 sworn personnel. The network is organized into two wide-area channels, six district channels and four tactical channels. The GBPC said that in the aftermath of the marathon bombings, “The greater Boston area witnessed none of the interoperability challenges that faced first responders on 9/11, due to the long‐standing use and local familiarity with BAPERN.” The group concluded, “Without the BAPERN system in place, the responding local, regional, state, and federal law enforcement personnel would not have had a method for communicating during this large‐scale incident.” The GBPC hopes that Congress and the FCC, “will reflect on the great communications successes achieved with BAPERN over the past 40 years,” when re-considering the T-Band vacate order. Download the GBPC materials about how the radio network performed during the Boston Marathon bombings.