WASHINGTON–The Federal Communications Commission may delay implementation of the new hybrid radio frequency safety guideline that’s scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, according to an official.
“I think there’s definitely merit to some of the arguments,” said Robert Cleveland, senior scientist in the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology.
Cleveland said the FCC plans to respond to petitions for reconsideration of the new RF guideline and to issue a technical bulletin on compliance within weeks.
The wireless telecommunications industry requested the effective date be one year from the release of the bulletin, an extension that would give paging, cellular, specialized mobile radio, personal communications services licensees and others a realistic opportunity to meet new RF safety requirements.
Since the hybrid RF guideline was issued in August, wireless carriers have complained about the lack of detail and direction on compliance. There are other potential obstacles that could further complicate the issue, like litigation, organized labor, industry funded-research and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The FCC is likely to be challenged in court for abandoning the 1992 American National Standards Institute/Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers RF standard-proposed by the FCC in 1993-in favor of a new standard combining elements of ANSI/IEEE and the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements RF safety guideline of 1986.
The Electromagnetic Energy Association leadership meets here this week to discuss strategy going forward. EEA and others want the new hybrid RF standard overturned and replaced by the ’92 ANSI/IEEE guideline.
Key members include Lucent Technologies Inc., Motorola Inc., Raytheon Corp., AT&T Corp., the National Association of Broadcasters and General Electric Co.
The wireless industry finds itself in an awkward and precarious position. After lobbying vigorously for ’92 ANSI/IEEE and criticizing the hybrid approach, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association gave into FCC Chairman Reed Hundt’s demand for a hybrid RF guideline even though the other four commissioners and other industry sectors supported ANSI/IEEE for much of the debate.
CTIA’s retreat was interpreted by the four commissioners as a broad endorsement of Hundt, when if in fact much opposition still existed.
EPA and other health and safety federal agencies back the NCRP standard to varying degrees, arguing it offers more protection to the public than does ’92 ANSI/IEEE. The two RF guidelines are quite similar up to 1.5 GHz, where NCRP gets stricter.
Now, with criticism by carriers about the hybrid standard and EPA’s admission that the new RF guideline may not protect against potential health risks from long-term exposure to pocket phones, the industry is trying to salvage what it can from the FCC proceeding.
The FCC, too, appears to be beginning to come to grips with complexities of the new RF hybrid safety guideline and with the political consequences of giving into EPA director Carol Browner over industry.
“I think they’re really feeling the pressure,” said Ronald Petersen, head of RF safety at Lucent.
More recently, the FCC and industry have been confronted with a new and powerful challenge: the union.
Environmentalists have hooked up the Communications Workers of America in a potentially potent grass-roots movement to challenge RF safety guidelines and to thwart the construction of thousands of new PCS systems.
