FCC ADOPTS RULES TO EXPAND, ENHANCE FIRST RESPONDERS’ USE OF 4.9 GHz BROADBAND COMMUNICATIONS ACROSS THE NATION (Click here to view FCC press release)

April 9, 2009 Washington, D.C. – (WP Docket No. 07-100) The FCC has adopted a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Order) addressing 4.9 GHz band rules, as well as miscellaneous Part 90 public safety rules. The rules will help expand and enhance first responders’ deployment of broadband communication technologies across the nation in the 4.9 GHz band, thereby helping to stimulate the economy. The new rules will also better enable first responders to more easily share time-sensitive data and streaming video footage in emergencies or life-threatening incidents.

Under the Order, the FCC granted primary status to (1) 4.9 GHz stand-alone, permanent fixed links that are used to deliver broadband service (such as a fixed video surveillance link used to monitor high-risk facilities or environments), and (2) permanent fixed links that connect 4.9 GHz base and mobile stations used to deliver broadband service (for such uses as supporting broadband communications at “hot-spots” and other fixed public safety broadband networks), as well as connect other public safety networks using spectrum designated for broadband use. The FCC took these actions in order to provide public safety with additional operational flexibility to use the 4.9 GHz band during emergencies and disasters and better enable first responders to share crucial data in their efforts to assist those in need and save lives.

The Order retained the current requirement for individual site-based licensing for all permanent fixed stations. The FCC, however, revised the output power measurement procedures for 4.9 GHz band devices to be the same as those required for devices using digital modulation techniques regulated by Part 15 of the FCC’s rules. This rule change is intended to speed deployment of new technologies in the 4.9 GHz band for the benefit of public safety users. To further enhance public safety communications, the FCC preserved paging operations in the VHF public safety band, and clarified that cross-band repeaters are permitted for all public safety systems.

Additionally, the FCC sought comment on whether to: (1) further amend its rules to reinstate an exemption of 4.9 GHz band applications from certified frequency coordination requirements; (2) impose a more formal “licensee-to-licensee” coordination requirement on primary fixed stations in the 4.9 GHz band; (3) correct and clarify the 4.9 GHz band plan regarding which center frequencies may be licensed when aggregating multiple channels into larger bandwidths; and (4) implement three “clean-up” amendments to Section 90.20 of the FCC’s rules relating to the Public Safety Pool Frequency Table and associated limitations.

Action by the FCC, April 7, 2009 by Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FCC 09-29). Acting Chairman Copps, and Commissioners Adelstein and McDowell. Separate statement issued by Acting Chairman Copps.

FCC Delivers a Blow to Logan Airport Bid to Regulate WiFI (Click here to view the entire WiFI FCC Order) In one of the first hotly contested WiFI regulatory matches, Logan Airport lost its bid to regulate local WiFI. See the reporter Peter Howe's Boston Globe November 2, 2006 article. On November 6, 2006, the FCC released an order in response to a petition for declaratory ruling filed by Continental Airlines. Continental petitioned the FCC to preempt the Massachusetts Port Authority - Boston's Logan Airport -from shutting down Continental's WiFi network in the frequent flier lounge. MassPort had contracted with a WiFI vendor for services at the airport, and had informed Continental that it was in breach of its real estate lease prohibiting private WiFI networks. The FCC held that WiFI is an unlicensed service and no WiFI operator is entitled to protection against harmful interference from other WiFI radios. The FCC held for the first time that WiFI antennas are also covered under its rules.