700 MHz Licensing by Public Agencies

[ac7xc]

I have looked up the State of California 700 MHz license and it just gives a frequency range of 769-775:
http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsS...licKey=2377057
Is the new licensing just going to be for a range of frequencies and the local users work out coordination or is there a different plan. It would be nice to read up on what the FCC and states plan to do on 700. I know that there will be a nationwide vendor for Pub Safety radio services, but don't know much more about 700 deployment. Anybody know a good source for accurate information?

TIA!

[Mick]

Here's a good list of the state's 700 MHz channels for southern Calif. in this PDF.

[jlanfn]

Originally Posted by Mick

Here's a good list of the state's 700 MHz channels for southern Calif. in this PDF.

Unfortunately, the frequencies in that list are pre-rebanding (note that 700 MHz rebanding is already complete and is utterly unrelated to 800 MHz rebanding, which still goes on). Post-rebanding frequencies are 769 - 775 MHz.

For the most up-to-date frequency assignments, visit CAPRAD, click the 700 MHz tab near the top right of the page, and then sign in as a visitor on the right side of the page about midway down. Then you will be able to view channel assignments by geographical region.

You will notice that the 769 - 775 MHz spectrum has been broken up into General Use, Interoperability, Secondary Trunking, I/O Nationwide Call, I/O Low Speed Data, State License, Low Power, and Reserve. Local public safety agencies use General Use frequencies and need either an SG or an SY FCC license for those specific frequencies that their agency has already been allotted in the regional 700 MHz plan in order to operate on 700 MHz.

The frequencies labeled "State License" are those that any state agency can operate on under the SL FCC license. The state FCC license does not list specific frequencies because it is assumed those frequencies are already known. I assume that if a state wanted to use not only State License frequencies but also General Use frequencies, they would have to get a separate license for any General Use frequencies.

[2wayfreq]

I see that Riverside county has 3 possible new channels. But their channels are 771.13125, 771.43125 and 771.89375. The ones listed here are formatted with 6 digits after the decimal ie. 771.409375. Is that for when they go 6.25 TDMA 2-Slot trunking?

[jlanfn]

I made this PDF with info from CAPRAD under Region 5 spectrum summary. It clearly shows which frequencies are 6.25, 12.5, and 25 kHz spaced channels. As for the colors, green is state license, turquoise is interoperability, yellow is general use, gray is not allowed. I forget what the other colors are for.

For Riverside County they also have an app in for 772.8125 conventional, which is a 25 kHz channel (609-612).

[dougr1252]

Many early-adopter agencies have not rebanded their 700 MHz operations yet because they have no way to recover the cost. The FCC expected that a large telecom company would step up and bid for a 5 + 5 MHz block of commercial broadband spectrum, and the 700 MHz Public Safety spectrum was reconfigured to create an adjacent broadband block, which would also be made available to the high bidder provided they built out a nationwide PS data network and paid for existing agencies to move out of the former narrowband segment. But no one made an acceptable bid, so there's no nationwide network and no one to pay for rebanding like Sprint in 800 MHz.

The Region 6 (Northern Cal.) 769-775 MHz plan is posted in the Wiki:
Northern California 700 MHz Frequency Assignments - The RadioReference Wiki

[2wayfreq]

Ok,
I understand now. Very interesting and thanks for the info. Our County is in the process of acquiring a large amount of channels as needed for a the new regional system.

[AlabamaRS]

Originally Posted by jlanfn

Unfortunately, the frequencies in that list are pre-rebanding (note that 700 MHz rebanding is already complete and is utterly unrelated to 800 MHz rebanding, which still goes on). Post-rebanding frequencies are 769 - 775 MHz.

For the most up-to-date frequency assignments, visit CAPRAD, click the 700 MHz tab near the top right of the page, and then sign in as a visitor on the right side of the page about midway down. Then you will be able to view channel assignments by geographical region.

You will notice that the 769 - 775 MHz spectrum has been broken up into General Use, Interoperability, Secondary Trunking, I/O Nationwide Call, I/O Low Speed Data, State License, Low Power, and Reserve. Local public safety agencies use General Use frequencies and need either an SG or an SY FCC license for those specific frequencies that their agency has already been allotted in the regional 700 MHz plan in order to operate on 700 MHz.

The frequencies labeled "State License" are those that any state agency can operate on under the SL FCC license. The state FCC license does not list specific frequencies because it is assumed those frequencies are already known. I assume that if a state wanted to use not only State License frequencies but also General Use frequencies, they would have to get a separate license for any General Use frequencies.

Re banding ONLY applied to the 800mhz band

[AlabamaRS]

Originally Posted by dougr1252

Many early-adopter agencies have not rebanded their 700 MHz operations yet because they have no way to recover the cost. The FCC expected that a large telecom company would step up and bid for a 5 + 5 MHz block of commercial broadband spectrum, and the 700 MHz Public Safety spectrum was reconfigured to create an adjacent broadband block, which would also be made available to the high bidder provided they built out a nationwide PS data network and paid for existing agencies to move out of the former narrowband segment. But no one made an acceptable bid, so there's no nationwide network and no one to pay for rebanding like Sprint in 800 MHz.

The Region 6 (Northern Cal.) 769-775 MHz plan is posted in the Wiki:
Northern California 700 MHz Frequency Assignments - The RadioReference Wiki

Nextel is responsible for the cost of the Rebanding

[nd5y]

Originally Posted by AlabamaRS

Re banding ONLY applied to the 800mhz band

Wrong. The 700 MHz band was rebanded. They rearranged it a few years ago, but it had nothing to do with Nextel or 800 MHz.