The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a Public Notice, reminding manufacturers that it will no longer certify certain types of private land mobile radio equipment as January 1, 2011.
The deadline applies to equipment designed to operate in the 150-174 MHz or 421-512 MHz bands but capable of operating with only one voice path per 25 kHz of spectrum. After the January 1, 2011 date, the Commission will only consider for certification equipment which either operates on 12.5 kHz or narrower channels, or which employs a technology that achieves the narrowband equivalent of one channel per 12.5 kHz of bandwidth.
Equipment with a 25 kHz mode that has previously been certified can continue to be manufactured and/or imported until January 1, 2013.
The new restrictions are part of the Commission’s efforts to reduce spectrum congestion, and increase overall access for spectrum users. Read additional information about the Commission’s narrowbanding efforts.