The other transition date

Remember private land mobile radio services regulated by Part 90 rules of the Federal Communications Commission? I’ve probably lost most of you already, seeing that the only telecom world recognized by most is the one of broadband connectivity.
However, there is a long, forgotten world that exists in which spectrum is used internally by businesses large and small to make and transport widgets and to extract and distribute the kind of energy resources so much in the news these days. While the broadband world is consumed with fattening the pipes – wireless and otherwise – to bring consumers multimedia content faster than ever, the Part 90 universe is caught up in regulatory efforts to move to narrower channels. Indeed, the FCC wants Part 90 licenses to move from 25 kilohertz to 12.5 kilohertz-channel systems by Jan. 1, 2013. The agency’s ultimate goal is to transition private land mobile radio systems to 6.25 kilohertz technology, though there’s no hard date and perhaps none is really needed since radio manufacturers seem to be making significant spectrum-efficiency strides on their own.
The FCC acknowledges growing demand for scarce private land mobile radio spectrum, so it embraces graduated narrowband deployment. Not an irrational policy objective. Except for this: When is the last time this wireless user group – public safety excepted – received additional spectrum? Seems like it was a couple of decades ago. Why is this so? Because the government doesn’t extract any auction revenue from private radio frequencies? What a cynical theory!
Mark Crosby, president of Enterprise Wireless Alliance and a political pragmatist on challenges facing the Part 90 crowd, offers this tough-love advice: “It would be wise for licensees to contemplate system migration options to narrower bandwidths as soon as possible. Given the commission’s views on this subject, I doubt that there will be a lot of sympathy for those who opt to take their chances by remaining at 25 kilohertz after Jan. 1, 2013.”
Crosby undoubtedly realizes new private radio spectrum will not be forthcoming anytime soon, if ever, though his members and other business-industrial users see some limited promise in the unleashing of vacant TV spaces.