Public Safety Spectrum Allocations

The FCC has allocated public safety (police and fire) several bands of frequencies over the years. In some cases, the allocations are exclusive, that is, no other type of government agency or private business may be assigned in that band. In other cases, police and fire share the band with other types of users, most commonly other types of county or local government agencies (public works, etc.).

The chart below shows these allocations in four distinct bands--the VHF low band, the VHF high band, the UHF band, and the 700-800 MHz band (all bands below are shown in Megahertz). In the case of UHF and 700-800 MHz assignments, users are assigned a pair of frequencies for each channel--one for the transmitter and one for the mobile units. In the case of UHF, the assignments are made 5 MHz apart (one frequency on 460.20 MHz and another on 465.20). In the 700-800 MHz band, assignments are made 30 or 45 MHz apart.

chart of 700 MHz band allocation