WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission is seeking comment on whether broadband services can be used in the 700 MHz public-safety band.
Twenty-four megahertz of spectrum is becoming available with the transition to digital TV. When the 700 MHz band plan was developed in 1998, the plan divided the spectrum into narrowband and wideband channels. Narrowband can be used for voice and low-speed data, and wideband can be used for high-speed data and slow-scan video. It takes broadband speed to transmit full-motion video and other applications.
The FCC wants the narrowband channel allocation to remain the same, but plans to change the wideband channel allocation to allow for broadband.
“One of the great things of wireless technologies is that it is constantly changing,” said FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein.
While the FCC is asking for ideas on how to change the band, it is asking specific questions about three proposals already submitted by Lucent Technologies Inc., Motorola Inc. and the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council. NPSTC warned the FCC that localities had already purchased 700 MHz equipment and had begun making planning decisions based on the current band plan. Also, it said that if changes were made to allow for broadband use of the band, these changes should be made at the regional level “because agency requirements differ across the country and change at varying times.”
