WASHINGTON-A newly authorized low-power radio service in the 216-217 MHz band will accommodate planned short-range communications devices for the hearing impaired, health-care telemetry services and stolen-merchandise tracking by public-safety entities.
At its July 25 open meeting, the Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules that changed a little-used high-powered maritime channel into one that will work on a shared, non-interference, lower-powered basis. Technical standards adopted by the commission will give low-power service providers the flexibility to produce five-kilohertz, 25-kilohertz or 50-kilohertz equipment; all transmissions will be limited to 100 milliwatts. All equipment will be required to be type-accepted before being offered to the public.
Banks could reap the benefits of slipping nearly undetectable dollar-sized locator devices into stacks of bills that would send out a police alert for several miles in the event of a robbery; recent tests of the tracking device allowed police to apprehend a suspect within minutes. In addition, hospitals could use the band to transmit patients’ vital signs and other information to doctors in other parts of the building.
At the meeting, commission staffers showed prototype auditory assistance devices that could be used in an entertainment venue or in the classroom. According to Roger Noel of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, because such devices operate at lower power than those currently being used at 72 MHz, there could be less of a threat of interference by other personal communications equipment, including digital wireless phones.
“Nothing in the record submitted by advocates indicated that this band would be interfered with,” Noel said, adding that new receivers haven’t been built yet, and manufacturers could look at past incidences of interference as they engineer their products.
