Strange FCC application in Richmond

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MtnBiker2005

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Solbright and M2M Spectrum Networks Merge to Create Iota Communications, Inc.
https://www.iotacommunications.com/...orks-merge-to-create-iota-communications-inc/

https://www.iotacommunications.com
https://www.iotacommunications.com/complete-iot-solutions/nationwide-iot-network/
https://www.iotacommunications.com/our-company/spectrum-programs/

FRN: 0022974307 - SPECTRUM NETWORKS GROUP, LLC
https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?frn=0022974307

Maybe for this when people/truckers wearing it drives past that billboard location ;)
Tooth-mounted sensors track what you eat.
http://amp.fox5ny.com/news/tooth-mounted-sensors-track-what-you-eat
https://mobile.twitter.com/m2mspectrum/status/979084594694647808
 
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nd5y

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It looks like there are tons of these applications/licenses in different areas.
The ones I looked at all have the following in common:
  • Applicants/licensees are seemingly random people, investment groups, trusts, holding companies.
  • Transmitter locations are in different states than the applicants/licensees.
  • Control point address and phone number on the applications/licenses is M2M/Iota location in New Hope, PA.
  • Using vacated Sprint/Nextel frequencies.
  • Emission designator 20K0F1D (20 kHz bandwidth FSK data)
At first I thought this might be some type of spectrum hogging/license buying investment scam or something but it's probably somebody building a real network.
 
rbuxton

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nd5y said:
It looks like there are tons of these applications/licenses in different areas.
The ones I looked at all have the following in common:
  • Applicants/licensees are seemingly random people, investment groups, trusts, holding companies.
  • Transmitter locations are in different states than the applicants/licensees.
  • Control point address and phone number on the applications/licenses is M2M/Iota location in New Hope, PA.
  • Using vacated Sprint/Nextel frequencies.
  • Emission designator 20K0F1D (20 kHz bandwidth FSK data)
At first I thought this might be some type of spectrum hogging/license buying investment scam or something but it's probably somebody building a real network.
Click to expand...


Or something from the Qanon group.
 
W4UVV

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This is true

mmckenna said:
Yep.
This has been going on for a long time. If you do a search on 800MHz frequencies, you'll see a lot of random people holding licenses.
Click to expand...
--------------

I do FCC VA updates weekly for my database. For the past two weeks there have been at least 15 new license grants mainly in the 854 mhz. range typically with 3 frequencies and sometimes only two. The licensees vary from a family investment group to individuals ALL of them sourced to New Hope, PA and vary in location from a rural mountainous area in a Northern VA county to Roanoke. What is insane is one SMR license in the past two weeks was for two 856 mhz. frequencies to an individual for Richmond, VA! The Richmond area for years typically has had two large SMR systems which "own" 800 mhz. SMR. Looks like he didn't do his homework before jumping into a pond which is already full. Wait until he tries to find a good tower location in Richmond.

This reminds me of a few sales pitches back in the 90s and early 2000s to individuals or investment groups for the new "end of the rainbow" investment opportunities. The first one I recall of these newer investment tv ads was to buy land in NC close to the beaches. close" is a relative term which could mean 80-100 miles away. The second "hook" on tv was selling rural land near the Washington, D.C. area. "Near" usually involved a 100+ drive.

The HQ for whatever this licensing pitch of "owning your own trunked radio system" appears to be in New Hope, PA who actually has found its' new "end of the rainbow" with its' new customers for FCC SMR licenses.

I wonder how long it will take until the new licensees experience all the costs involved, poor area signal coverage, few customers and be looking for a quick sellout at a bargain price.

John:confused:
W4UVV
 
W4UVV

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Seeing results is believing

nd5y said:
This isn't a SMR voice trunking system. It appears to be data only and the main application appears to be asset tracking.
https://www.iotacommunications.com/home
Click to expand...

--------------------
Tnx for the link. From reading the promotional info it looks to me like the competitive winners will be who has the latest greatest AI algorithms bundled into a specific application package. If I had that kind of money to invest I would pass on what I would consider a very risky investment.

John
W4UVV
 
w2xq

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I find it rather incredible that a company such as this is based in the high cost small yuppie tourist town of New Hope. I grew up outside of Lambertville and Stockton, across the river, in the 1940s and 1950s before going off to college. Things were different back then. Just one police car. We all knew who Edmund Schiddel wrote about in his "Devil in Bucks County" novel. It was a big local seller. :)
 
mmckenna

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I haven't dug into it, but why you might be seeing a sudden surge is due to the wrapping up of the 800MHz rebanding process.

When all this was done, there was a hold put on the old Sprint/Nextel 800MHz frequencies that had been vacated. Public safety got first pick at them. After a set amount of time, those unassigned frequencies were to be opened up to "other" users.
Might be that the public safety window has closed and FCC opened up the Nextel give back frequencies to others.

But like I said, I haven't researched the timing for the specific areas, so I could be wrong.
 
RFI-EMI-GUY

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nd5y said:
I found this strange


Snip


The applicant appears to be a dentist here in Wichita Falls, TX.
The control point appears to be in a strip mall in New Hope, PA.
Click to expand...

It is common for scams to use p.o. boxes in commercial UPS stores in strip malls. The address looks legit until you use Google streets and see the storefront.

That a dentist got roped in is not surprising. Doctors and the like have money so easy target for investment schemes. The theory is they are too focused on their profession and gullible for high tech offers.

My Dad got solicited for some affinity donation scam for Ex Navy . He saw that the address was in my town so called me. I checked and it was a UPS store full of PO boxes that looked like street addresses. The scammer and girlfriend were notorious for doing this nationwide.


Years ago , before Nextel, my folks got a very imoressive and colorful investment offering for SMR spectrum in the mail.

I told them to pitch it. Looking back, although legally I could not own an SMR license because I worked for M, my family indeed could. I really should have helped them apply for some of the then free licenses in their names. Others at M certainly took advantage of this loophole. They know who they are.


Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk
 
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RFI-EMI-GUY

RFI-EMI-GUY

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nd5y said:
This isn't a SMR voice trunking system. It appears to be data only and the main application appears to be asset tracking.
https://www.iotacommunications.com/home
Click to expand...
It's the next fad, the "Internet of Things". There are narrowband and wideband technologies being developed by Qualcomm. I don't think 800 MHz SMR band is a good spot for this because of scarcity of channels in large metro areas. The TV whitespace might be a good spectrum for IOT.

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AlphaFive

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Valuable thread

I feel that this is a valuable and informative thread for all of us across the country. I just discovered this activity myself today running North Carolina licenses in the F.C.C. database. I was on the verge of creating my own thread when I decided to look first, and found this. The information provided is clear and interesting. I would ask if it is not too much trouble that perhaps this could be moved to a general topic forum, it really is worth it. Thank you for your time.
 
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