I found this info in a recent FCC filing made by the State of MS; looks like I may have to retract some of what I said...
In its Waiver Request, Mississippi makes several claims of potential
public harm should it be unable to continue to deploy additional narrowband
operations following August 30, 2007. Mississippi states that "strict
application of the August 30 deadline would not be in the public interest as
it would prevent the deployment of a radio system needed now to address
damaging hurricanes that may strike the Mississippi coastal area within the
next two months." According to Mississippi, FEMA has contracted with
Motorola for the installation of a 700 MHz trunked radio system to be
installed at six existing tower sites in the coastal area of Mississippi,
which "will improve interoperability, command and control capacity, and
provide improved situational awareness for State and Federal officials,
especially during contra flow and evacuation operations." Mississippi adds
that the FEMA contract for the 700 MHz equipment was signed on July 6, 2007
and the equipment was programmed for then-current State channels, and
delivered to Mississippi on September 7, 2007, with installation commencing
September 11, 2007.
Accordingly, we find that Mississippi has made a sufficient showing
of "potential public harm," based on its representation that its ability to
respond to a public safety emergency would be compromised should it be
unable to continue to deploy new narrowband operations outside of the
consolidated narrowband channels. Further, the FEMA contract for the
state's 700 MHz system was in place in July 2007. Thus, we find that
Mississippi has provided sufficient "evidence of a comprehensive 700 MHz
deployment plan that predates August 30, 2007, for which equipment has been
received and/or deployed." Having satisfied the criteria established by the
Commission in the Virginia Order, we find it to be in the public interest to
grant Mississippi limited interim waiver relief to deploy new narrowband
operations outside the consolidated bands following August 30, 2007, until
the Commission resolves the outstanding narrowband issues pending in the
Second Further Notice. For the same reason, we defer ruling on the
continued duration of this limited waiver relief, and whether Mississippi
would be entitled to cost reimbursement for any new narrowband operations
deployed following August 30, 2007, until the Commission rules on the
outstanding petitions.
Our decision to permit Mississippi to continue to place new
narrowband radios into operation after August 30, 2007 is without prejudice
to the Commission's subsequent ruling on these outstanding waiver issues -
including whether Mississippi would be entitled to reimbursement for the
costs associated with relocating any additional narrowband operations
outside of the consolidated narrowband channels that Mississippi deploys
after August 30, 2007. To the extent, however, that Mississippi is able to
deploy in the consolidated bands and avoid the need for relocation, we
encourage it to do so. Such deployment would eliminate any future
disruptions to operations due to the need to relocate, and would reduce the
overall cost of the relocation process.
