FCC wants 2-way radios to tighter bandwidth

　　And with more and more communications gear vying for a spot on this electromagnetic seashore, the FCC is requiring first responders to use a smaller radio frequency footprint, or bandwidth, beginning next year.

　　The effort is called narrowbanding, and it's nothing new. Police, fire and public works departments nationwide have known about the Jan. 1, 2013, deadline since the late 1990s.

　　But FCC officials and the companies that install and maintain two-way radios say they are expecting difficult days come autumn as the deadline approaches and municipalities scramble to meet it. Private businesses, such as school bus and ambulance companies use the same affected frequencies and are also are under the gun to meet the deadline.

　　This isn't something that just fell out of the sun, said Mark Crosby, president of Enterprise Wireless Alliance, a major national consultant in the wireless communication industry, noting that it's been known about since the late 1990s.

　　About 40 percent of the people have it done, and another 40 percent are in the process of getting it done, said Crosby, who has dozens of clients in Connecticut. So that leaves 20 percent.

　　Experts say that in just about every case, municipalities won't have to replace their telecommunications equipment outright, but rather have it reprogrammed to the new 12.5 kilohertz standard. This is because all two-way radio gear manufactured since Feb. 14, 1997, was built so it could be easily reprogrammed to the new standard. Gear made before then probably needs to be replaced anyway, they say.

　　At some point in the future, the FCC plans to switch two-way radios to an even narrower bandwidth, 6.25 kHz. But this is at least a decade or more away, the FCC says.

　　Narrowbanding does involve an expense for municipalities, which typically have scores of hand-held and mobile radios, in addition to three or more base units -- police, fire and public works. For the most part, it's an unfunded federal mandate, although Bridgeport had its new system paid for under a U.S. Justice Department Community Oriented Policing Services grant.

　　It harder for a lot of these small fire departments to get the funding to do this, Crosby said.

　　Many area emergency responder departments used this as an opportunity to update their communications systems. Monroe, for example, which has 25 police car radios, 45 handheld units and two base stations for its police department alone, undertook a $2 million upgrade of its police, fire, Emergency Medical Service, public works and school district radio systems between 2004 and 2009.

　　Fairfield is typical of a number of towns in Connecticut in that its Police Department has completed its narrowbanding effort, but work remains on the Fire and Public Works department radios, a spokesman there said.

　　Reprogramming a typical portable or mobile radio runs about $25, and usually has to be done by technicians in the field.

　　Once we're plugged into the radio, the process only takes two or three minutes, but the coordination to get everybody together can be very difficult, said Julie Reibold, president and CEO of Northeastern Communications And if there's a major emergency going on, well, logistically, it's a challenge.

　　Northeastern has service contracts with about one-third of the police, fire and public works departments in Connecticut, Reibold said.

　　I would say that October, November and December are going to be insane, she said. It's something that nobody wants to deal with, but if they don't do it, they won't be able to buy replacement radios.

　　Industry insiders say that if municipalities wait too long to get into compliance, there might not be enough technicians to go around come autumn.

　　There's only so many people out there with the training and experience to do this kind of work, Crosby warned.

　　To add to the workload, some communities are using this opportunity to upgrade to a digital communications system, although a traditional analog signal will still work fine on the narrower bandwidth, experts say.

　　So what will happen on Jan. 1? Two-way radio operators on the old bandwidth will still be able to operate, albeit illegally.

　　FCC lawyer Roberto Mussenden said enforcement will take place when violators begin interfering with other radio operators who are newly licensed to operate on the adjacent channels. In a congested place like Connecticut, those new channels will be licensed rather quickly, he said. It'll be a complaint-driven process. If we get an interference complaint, and we find that the town hasn't switched over to 12.5 yet, we'll have to look immediately at what steps we'll need to take, and what the town needs to do to take to get it into compliance.

　　Mussenden said he's urging communities not to wait after Jan. 1 to narrowband.

　　You might be able to get away with it for a time, but you can also go to Mohegan Sun and throw the dice, he said.

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