June 2002
Minutes
New England Region 700MHz
Technical Advisory Committee Meeting
Seventh Meeting
Tuesday 11 June 2002
The seventh quarterly meeting of the New England Region 700MHz
Technical Advisory Committee was held on Tuesday, June 11, 2002
at 10:00 AM at the New Hampshire Department of Public Safety,
Concord, NH
The meeting was convened at 10:18 AM.
The Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary present as well as 28 others in attendance
Order of Business:
1. Moved to ACCEPT the March 12, 2002 minutes as distributed. Seconded and CARRIED by unanimous vote.
2. The chairman announced that letters soliciting candidates
for membership according to the Bylaws have been sent to all of
the eligible categories throughout the New England States. Returns
for permanent members returned as of this date include;
State Affiliation Name
Connecticut Office of Emergency Management Tom Walsh
Massachusetts Executive Offices of Health and Human Services Elliot Derdak Connecticut Division of State Police Mike Stemmler
New Hampshire Division of State Police Jim Kowalik Massachusetts Emergency Management Tom Muise
New Hampshire Emergency Medical Services William Wood Massachusetts Highway Arthur Obrien
New Hampshire Emergency Management Mead Herrick Rhode Island EMS an inquiry from Paul Leary Connecticut Department of Health Gordon Shehan Connecticut Fire New Haven CMED John Gustafson
APCO International - Florida received letters for State appointment for membership which have been forwarded to Mark Poole, Atlantic Chapter President. He will be making a decision for how APCO will appointment an eligible state member. The Chairman proposed the choice of an At Large member. Bill Mansfield, Nashua, NH Police Department has expressed an interest in becoming a committee member.
MOVED and SECONDED that Bill Mansfield be made the At Large committee member for New Hampshire.
VOTED to AFFIRM Bill Mansfield, Nashua New Hampshire, Police Department is the At Large member from New Hampshire.
3. PLAN DEVELOPMENT:
The Chairman referred to information distributed to the group at the opening.
This will serve to become sections of the plan. Much of this information is from the National Coordination Council (NCC)
First is a table of interoperability channels generated by the NCC. This shows the suggested interoperability channels. (Exhibit I )
Second is a template of a Memorandum of Understanding that affirms the applicant's willingness to comply with proper use of designated Interoperability Channels. (Exhibit II ).
Third is a sharing agreement template (Exhibit III). This document
would be used to formally acknowledge the operation of units from
other agencies on the frequencies licensed to the Agency holding
the FCC operating license
Fourth is a sample agreement that delineates the method of dispute resolution (Exhibit IV ).
Fifth was document showing the population profile of New England
and is broken down by further by county population by state. (Exhibit
V )
4. PROCEDURES
Jim Kowalik discussed the proposed procedures at length. The topics included the basic direction the formulation of procedures could take based on current information. The NCC guideline is used for guidance but not the only possible reference. Jim has reviewed most of the relevant documents available on the Internet. There appears to be two options: One plan is outlined by the FCC where the authority lies with the Regional Planning Committee (RPC) over general use spectrum. The Interoperability Committee has control over the shared interoperability frequencies. The State Band manager would control the state-licensed spectrum. The Reserve Spectrum would be under the RPC.
Page 6 of this exhibit (Exhibit VI) proposed option 1 is similar to NCC suggestion. First review by committee, then send to coordinators for review and acceptance.
Option 2 proposes the Regional Planning committee first performs evaluations prior to submitting information for frequency selections to the pre-coordination database and the RPC would conduct all of the evaluations of technical parameters.
A discussion evolved for the proper steps and sequence of questions to be addressed by the Committee when processing an application.
Bill Topliff requested consideration of the multiple steps involved in obtaining frequencies for an 800 MHz system. Mr. Zarwanski indicated that, in the case of the Region 19, 800 MHz RPC the data base can be searched and information provided to frequency availability which can be made available to potential applicants. It could be possible to do the same with the 700 MHz applicants.
Mr. Kowalik noted that pre-coordination would be necessary to smooth the development of systems without causing conflict between applicants co-channel and adjacent systems. Geographic licensing would be based on the prioritization of the traditional functions of police, fire, and EMS.
Mr. Warakois noted that another entity might be developed in the form of
"homeland security." The chairman noted that the committee is currently bound by the definitions promulgated by the FCC.
Mr. Kowalik noted that the concept of the 700 MHz band seems to be directed toward more wide area systems.
Further discussion was directed toward the history of the 800 MHz evaluations. The result of the current methods was reviewed with regard to the effect of the weighting process on the final decisions.
The summation of the discussion pointed out that the importance of each category is reflected on the type of incident activity being described.
Frequency give back was discussed. The various scenarios of lapsed, forfeited, and promised giveback were discussed.
Mr. Kowalik noted that his second option had more validity and further thought and discussion would focus on that path.
Mr. Carbonell emphasized that preliminary decision for any
frequency allotment should be focused on the service area proposed.
This "footprint" would constitute a specific area of
coverage in the award of frequencies
Discussion turned to the requirement of applicants to demonstrate that system signal coverage would not exceed the service area although past practice has been to prove adequate signal within the operating area. This creates a double set of signal boundaries that must be in compliance with the agreement to some specified degree.
Mr. Kowalik noted that the system performance is gauged with respect to the requirements of TSB-88-A and similar accepted documents. In final approval of frequency selection the requirement will be to control extraneous signal and potential interference.
5. STATE LICENSING UPDATE
The chairman noted that all of the Region 19 states have filed for licenses as required in the current scheme development. A State Interoperability Executive Committee has been proposed by the State of New Hampshire. The other states in the region have no formal committees developed.
6. NCC UPDATE
No new information is available for presentation at this time.
7. FCC UPDATE
The Chairman updated the committee with FCC proposed guidelines for TV broadcasters to vacate the 700MHz spectrum.
8. NEW BUSINESS
No new business was presented.
MOVED TO ADJOURN. SECONDED AND CARRIED.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 AM
Respectfully submitted
James Warakois, secretary.
Documents distributed to the attendees
Exhibit I - Table of Interoperability Channels for Specific Users/Services
Exhibit II - Memorandum of Understanding Template
Exhibit III - Sharing Agreement Template
Exhibit IV- Regional Committee Dispute Resolution Process
Exhibit V- New England Region Listing by States, Counties and Cities
Exhibit VI - FCC Region 19 New England Regional Planning Committee 700 MHZ
Channel Application Procedure