With the rebanding process in the 800 MHz band finally complete and remaining application “freezes” terminated, the Enterprise Wireless Alliance (EWA) in a letter dated July 29 urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to take one last step to maximize the utilization of 800 MHz spectrum, that is to announce a date when it will begin accepting applications for 800 MHz 12.5 kHz bandwidth channels.
The rules are in place to license systems on those channels, and the frequency advisory committees that coordinate 800 MHz have agreed that the “standard frequency coordination process is well-equipped to handle any possible instances of mutual exclusivity,” stated EWA in its filing. Further, EWA noted that the 800 MHz 12.5 kHz channels represent an important opportunity for the private land mobile radio community to make more intensive use of this limited resource.
