PSIC Home
Narrowbanding
Overview
“Narrowbanding” refers to a
requirement by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that
— on or before January 1, 2013 — all existing licensees on the
VHF and UHF Spectrum implement equipment designed to operate on
channel bandwidths of 12.5 kHz or less or that meets a specific
efficiency standard. Licensees will need to convert or replace
their existing VHF and UHF wideband (25 kHz) systems.
Ultimately equipment will need to operate on bandwidths of 6.25
kHz or less. (Currently no dead-line is set).
Deadline: January 1, 2013
All Part 90 VHF (150-174 MHz) and
UHF (421-512 MHz) Private Land Mobile Radio (PLMR) system
licensees convert from what has been known as "wide-band" (25
KHz) operation to "narrow-band" (12.5 KHz or equivalent)
operation by January 1, 2013.
- VHF (150–174 MHz: available nationwide)
- UHF (450–470 MHz: available nationwide)
- UHF (470–512 MHz: shared with UHF-TV; available only in
11 cities)
The FCC may terminate your license
or issue monetary fines if your agency is not in compliance
with the FCC narrowbanding requirement.
Resources
FCC
Narrowbanding Mandate: A Public Safety Guide for
Compliance 
Narrowbanding: What You Must Know
Republished from January 2010 Public Safety Communications with permission of APCO International. For membership and subscription information, visit www.apcointl.org
PSIC
Narrowbanding Presentation
FCC: Private Land Mobile Radio Refarming History
FCC: Tech
Topic 16: Narrow Banding Public Safety Communication
Channels
|
