WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission late last month waived rules until late October requiring radar detectors to reduce their emission limits intended to reduce harmful interference to very small aperture satellite terminals.
The FCC rejected a request from Radio Shack Corp. to permit the marketing of radar detectors for six months past the deadlines. The agency also rejected a request from the Radio Association Defending Airwave Rights Inc. asking for an entirely new deadline.
Radar detectors fall under the FCC’s unlicensed spectrum-Part 15-rules. The rules previously did not require receivers that tune above 960 MHz to comply with these limits because at the time the limits were established, most widely used receivers tuned only below 960 MHz. Now, however, some radar detectors interfere with the VSAT downlink frequency band at levels to be considered harmful so they are now being required to comply with the Part 15 rules.
FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin dissented in part from the decision because he believed the results would cause substantial economic loss for Radio Shack.
“Radio Shack halted the importation and manufacture of noncompliant radar detectors immediately when the [FCC] adopted the new emission limits. Nevertheless, Radio Shack currently has an inventory of approximately 85,000 noncompliant radar detectors already located in its U.S. stores and distribution centers. It has made clear that it will sell the bulk of this current inventory regardless when the retail deadline occurs. .. The only question is whether Radio Shack must sell these products through fire sales at greatly reduced prices in order to meet an imminent deadline or whether it can sell them in a more orderly fashion over a longer period of time. In either case, the number of noncompliant products in the marketplace-and therefore the impact on satellite services-will be the same. .. Radio Shack estimates the loss to be in excess of several million dollars from cut-rate prices on inventory and many millions more in lost sales,” said Martin.
