"Narrowbanding"
‘Unfunded Mandate’
June 29, 2011Politicians tell us the recession ended last year. If you ask a person standing in an unemployment line in New York, Philadelphia, Denver or Los Angeles if they agree with that assessment, they’d probably say no. If you take a close look at many state and local budgets, prosperity is hard to find. More and more, the states are withholding funds that used to be passed on to municipalities to help with their projects.
Read full articleNarrowband Migration
June 29, 2011If your radio system is subject to the FCC’s narrowbanding mandate and you haven’t yet started the process, it’s time. “You can’t put your head in the sand on this one,” Tennessee Emergency Management Agency Radio System Analyst John Johnson told Public Safety Communications in April. So why have agencies postponed taking action on an FCC mandate that’s been on the table for more than 15 years?
Read full articleFrequently Asked Questions about Narrowbanding
June 29, 2011This article addresses frequently asked questions about the FCC’s narrowbanding deadline. It addresses compliant equipment, coverage, digital radio vs. P25, efficiency and more.
Read full articleIs $27M for Radios Necessary?
April 27, 2011St. Augustine, Fla. — St. Johns County plans to spend $27 million to upgrade its radio system, a move it has said is prompted by a Federal Communications Commission order with a 2013 deadline. However, there is no order requiring the county to go to a brand new system, which county officials now acknowledge.
Read full articleDHS Office of Emergency Communications Releases ‘A Practical Guide to Narrowbanding’
April 13, 2011To assist the Nation’s public safety community and government officials in meeting the narrowband mandate, the US Department of Homeland…
Read full articleIt’s Time
April 7, 2011A countdown clock on the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau website is ticking away the days, hours and minutes left to comply with a federal mandate designed to ensure more efficient use of the radio spectrum used by public safety organizations. The mandate calls for narrowbanding, meaning existing licensees operating on a 25 kHz channel (wideband) operating at VHF (150–174 MHz) and UHF (421–512 MHz) using Part 90 frequencies must reduce their emissions to 12.5 kHz. All Industrial/Business and Public Safety Radio Pool licensees must comply by Jan. 1, 2013.
Read full articleRegional Communications Upgrade to Narrowband Set for July
March 18, 2011Paris, Maine — A planned upgrade to the county’s emergency communications will finally happen in July. According to James Miclon, regional communications director for Oxford County, the federally-mandated switch to narrowband radio communication has been paid for with a $289,000 federal grant from the Department of Homeland Security.
Read full articleBleak Grant Outlook for 2011
March 3, 2011Politicians tell us that the recession has ended. If you asked a person standing in an unemployment line in New York, Philadelphia, Denver or Los Angeles if they agree with that assessment, they would probably say no. If you look at many state and local budgets, prosperity is hard to find. More and more, states are withholding funds that used to be passed on to municipalities to help with their projects.
Read full articleGolden Valley Electric Association Chooses Tait
February 2, 2011Houston — Golden Valley Electric Association (GVEA) selected Tait to migrate them from a wideband proprietary system to an open standard fully-expandable trunked radio network capable of meeting the FCC narrowbanding requirements.
Read full articleNarrowbanding & You
February 1, 2011On the APCO Open Forum, we are starting to see more inquiries and discussions about narrowbanding. One thing we all have to keep in mind is the deadline: Jan. 1, 2013. This is the drop-dead date per the FCC order. What does this mean to us as first responders? Here’s where your homework assignment starts. Locate all your radio licenses. If you are currently licensed in the VHF spectrum (150–174 MHz) or the UHF spectrum (421–512 MHz) for almost any purpose, narrowbanding will affect you.
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