Minutes

New England Region 19

700 MHz TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Cranston, RI

The meeting was convened at 10:00 AM by the Chairman, Mr. Pohorilak. Present also was the Vice-chairman, Mr. Jerry Zarwanski and Secretary, Mr. James Warakois.

Approval of Minutes

The Chairman requested that the minutes of the September meeting be reviewed for approval. Mr. Leary moved the motion for the September meeting minutes for acceptance, motion was seconded by Mr. Brown that the minutes of the September meeting be approved. The minutes were approved by unanimous voice vote.

State Updates

CT - Mr. Pohorilak stated the State of Connecticut has met the PSIC grant application submittal dead line. The State utilized a team of consultants and the SCIP planning committee to compose the PSIC grant investment justifications. The investment justifications are identified in the State of Connecticut SCIP plan. The SCIP plan has been submitted to the federal government for review and acceptance. The goal of the SCIP plan is to improve interoperability not only within the State boundaries but with adjacent states. Mr. Pohorilak stated he has taken steps to formalize discussions of interoperability between adjacent states. He suggested having monthly conference calls along with quarterly meetings with adjacent state representatives.

MA - Mr. Gutowski provided a brief synopsis of the ongoing interoperability planning for Massachusetts.

NH - Mr. Kowalik stated the State of New Hampshire had also met the submission dead line for the SCIP plan. Mr. Kowalik identified the State of New Hampshire received about 5.9 million from the Federal Government for interoperability expansion. One of the main goals at this time is to attain governance for the statewide plan.

RI - Mr. Crotty indicated Rhode Island followed a similar process for composing and submitting the SCIP plan as the other New England states. Mr. Crotty identified the State will be receiving $7.2 million. The major issue is governance, who is the governing authority to tell people what to do. This is the main issue as of right now.

 

 

ME - No report

VT - No report

 

FCC Update

FCC-07-132 Second Report and Order was discussed in some detail. A copy of the document was provided. The FCC-07-132 Second Report and Order identified that any regional plan submitted to the FCC will need to be amended by January 31, 2008. Mr. Carbonell indicated that CAPRAD has not been repacked and this may cause the plan submittal to be pushed to a later date.

Region 19 Plan

Mr. Zarwanski identified the changes that must occur for the Region 19 Plan to be brought to compliance with Second Report and Order. The current plan needs to be revised with respect to the Application Procedures and Guidelines that were provided. Mr. Zarwanski proposed that the group go through each chapter and item in the plan today and identify, propose and recommend changes. Mr. Zarwanski then identified the relevant items and phrases that needed attention. The membership agreed to review Mr. Zarwanski recommended changes. Mr. Zarwanski displayed via his laptop and projector items in the plan for change. The following items were displayed, discussed and approved by the members present for changes to the 700MHZ plan.

            Cover letter

            Wide band waiver request procedure (90.1432)

            Specific channel numbers and associated frequencies

            New (amended) band plan spreadsheet

            Cover sheet for amended plan

            FCC released documents for inclusion in plan appendix

            Reference documents

            Table of Contents old channel vs. new channel color code

            Additional Appendix of relevant documents

 

            Introduction and Summary. (Changes presented in blue)

            Frequencies applicable to this plan

            Updates to the official Committee Membership

            Remove all reference to wide-band other than noted above

            Interoperability calling channels designation changes

            Applicant compliance with Regional Plan and State Interop. Plan on general use channels

           

Motion by Mr. Leary to accept all discussed and recommended changes for the 700MHz plan amendment, Seconded by Mr. Carbonell. Unanimously approved by voice of members present.

 

Paper Reduction Request – 700MHz application copies.

A request was made to reduce the number of application paper copies to three (3) paper copies and twenty (20) CD (or equivalent media) copies. References to wide band will be deleted in the 700MHz spectrum application.

Motion by Mr. Leary that changes in the request for 700MHz spectrum application be accepted, Seconded by Mr. Kowalik, Unanimously approved by voice vote.

 

NARPC / NPSTC / CAPRAD

A discussion of the functions and interactions of the groups resulted in opinions that these groups should be observed to determine that the Public Safety community is being served by their actions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.9 GHz

Mr. Doug Kerr presented information to the committee regarding various technologies and applications for use of the 4.9 GHz band.

Mr. Zarwanski noted that Bloomfield, CT and West Hartford, CT are both intending to build out 4.9 GHZ infrastructures. These two towns are adjacent to each other. He noted that these entities should be working together for a common infrastructure and technology, which they are not presently doing.

He noted that the State of Connecticut has only ten (10) licenses while the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has well over one hundred and fifty (150) licensees.

 

New Business

No one came forward with any new business to be acted upon.

The meeting was adjourned by all present at 12:20 PM.

 

Respectfully submitted,

James A. Warakois, Secretary