[Motorola] [Fwd: 220 MHz Band]

[motorola@mailman.qth.net]

This is a FYI in case you haven't heard about it yet.

73, Dick Ertman W1NMZ



> (from the current ARRL letter)
> ==>ARRL RESPONDS TO IMPLIED 222-225 MHZ THREAT
> 
> The ARRL has taken issue with a suggestion made in a non-Amateur
> Radio-related FCC proceeding to turn the 222-225 MHz amateur allocation over
> to commercial interests. In reply comments filed this month, the League
> urged the FCC to "do nothing" with the proposal of Data Comlink (DCL), a
> consortium of 20 electrical coops and allied companies.
> 
> "ARRL presumes that the proposal by DCL for reallocation of the 222-225 MHz
> band will not be seriously evaluated by the Commission, as it is well
> outside the scope of this proceeding," the League said in its September 5
> filing with the FCC. Until DCL raised the 222-225 MHz suggestion last month
> in its own comments in WT Docket 02-224, the ARRL had remained silent in the
> proceeding.
> 
> DCL claimed in its comments that the amateur allocation at 222-225 MHz "is
> being underutilized" and that the band "would be much better utilized for
> commercial use."
> 
> ARRL asserted that the band, far from being underused, "remains a critical
> VHF allocation" for amateurs. The League noted that the ARRL 2002 Repeater
> Directory--albeit not a comprehensive listing--lists 1690 repeaters
> throughout the US, indicating an even larger number of individual users.
> 
> "Indeed the number of individual amateurs using this band has increased
> steadily since 1989, when the amateur allocation at 220-225 was reduced by
> 40 percent," the ARRL said, "and now much commercially manufactured
> equipment is available to amateurs."
> 
> DCL had claimed that "only handfuls [sic] of individuals in the Amateur
> Radio Service even use this spectrum, while hundreds of thousands of
> potential commercial users wait with no alternatives." The League
> characterized as "invalid" DCL's arguments in favor of reallocating 222-225
> MHz from the Amateur Radio Service and noted that the FCC earlier this year
> had set aside an additional 8 MHz of spectrum for Land Mobile Service
> operations.
> 
> The League's reply comments in the DCL proceeding are on the ARRL Web site
> <http:// www.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/wt02-224/arrl-comments.html>.
> 
> The ARRL has not commented in an unrelated Petition for Reconsideration
> filed by Warren C. Havens on behalf of himself and Telesaurus Holdings GB
> LLC, in which he holds a majority interest. Filing last month under PR
> Docket 92-257 and RM-9664, Havens is seeking to have the FCC reconsider its
> decision to auction certain AMTS spectrum and instead adopt his "Advanced
> Technology Land Infrastructure and Safety Service" (ATLIS) proposal. Under
> that plan, Havens wants to see 222 to 225 MHz reallocated from amateur to
> public safety use. His ATLIS plan proposes to share 902-928 MHz on which
> amateurs are secondary.