The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has taken steps to ease channel access for certain types of telecommunications devices, a change it says will lead to a more efficient use of the affected spectrum.
The Commission’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NRPM), which was issued on May 4th, affects unlicensed personal communication service (UPCS) devices operating in the 1920-1930 PCS spectrum band. According to the NRPM, current rules prevent UPSC devices from accessing transmission channels where a certain level of radio noise is detected, even though those channels remain useable. The proposed rule changes would increase the radio noise level (the so-called least-interfered channel threshold) at which a channel would be deemed usable.
In addition, the Commission has also proposed reducing from 40 to 20 channels the number of duplex system access channels that a UPCS device must monitor and use under the revised model. The Commission says that this change would increase the number of channels that could be used by UPCS devices, and facilitate the introduction of new devices capable of providing access to broadband services.
Comments on the Commission’s proposed rule changes were due in early June. View complete text of the Commission’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking affecting unlicensed personal communication service (UPCS) devices.
