[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 33 (Friday, February 16, 2001)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 10632-10636]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-4027]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 90

[WT Docket No. 96-86; FCC 01-10]


Public Safety Communications

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission amends its rules to establish 
operational, technical, and spectrum requirements for the use of the 
interoperability portion of the 700 MHz public safety band. On February 
25, 2000, the Public Safety National Coordination Committee (NCC) 
released a report with recommendations on these matters. Following the 
NCC's report, the Commission issued a Fourth Notice of Proposed Rule 
Making in August 2000. These final rules are based on the NCC 
recommendations, and the comments the Commission received in response 
to those recommendations.

DATES: These rules become effective March 19, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Connelly, Policy and Rules 
Branch, Public Safety and Private Wireless Division, Wireless 
Telecommunications Bureau at (202) 418-0132.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
    1. The Commission's Fourth Report and Order, WT Docket No. 96-86, 
FCC 01-10, was adopted January 11, 2001, and released on January 17, 
2001. The full text of this Commission's 4th R&O is available for 
inspection and copying during normal business hours in the FCC 
Reference Center, Room CY-A257, 445 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC. 
The complete text may be purchased from the Commission's copy 
contractor, International Transcription Service, Inc., 1231 20th 
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20037. The full text may also be downloaded 
at: http://www.fcc.gov/wtb/releases/fcc0110.doc. Alternative formats 
are available to persons with disabilities by contacting Martha Contee 
at (202) 418-0260 or TTY (202) 418-2555.

Summary of the 4th R&O

    2. These actions promote and facilitate the achievement of 
nationwide and regional interoperability in the 700 MHz public safety 
band. These actions will enable and accommodate the expeditious 
development and deployment of public safety equipment in this band 
without compromising our goal of effective and efficient utilization of 
the spectrum. A summary of the major decisions follows.
    3. The Commission concludes that the states should administer the 
interoperability channels, with regional planning committees (RPCs) 
assuming this responsibility if the states decline to do so. States 
have until December 31, 2001 to inform the Commission whether the 
states or an RPC will administer the interoperability spectrum. If 
states decide to administer the interoperability spectrum, they will 
determine the RPC's role in reviewing applications for interoperability 
spectrum. The Commission will not require the use of memoranda of 
understanding.
    4. The Commission will not require states and RPCs to use a pre-
coordination database at this time. The Public Safety National 
Coordination Committee (NCC) is directed to revisit this matter once 
the database is developed and operational.
    5. The Commission determines that its rules allow sufficient 
flexibility to allow state and local governments to grant federal users 
access to the 700 MHz interoperability spectrum.
    6. The Commission adopts blanket licensing of mobile and portable 
units for all public safety entities if such entities are eligible to 
hold a 700 MHz band license or such entities otherwise are licensed 
under Part 90 of our Rules.
    7. The Commission rejects a mandatory trunking requirement, but 
permits trunking on eight interoperability channels on a secondary, 
non-interference basis. Under this plan, the remaining channel sets are 
limited to conventional interoperability operations. Licensees that use 
those channels for trunking must maintain continuous monitoring so that 
the channels can be released immediately when needed for 
interoperability communications.
    8. The Commission affirms the band plan it adopted in the Third 
Memorandum Opinion and Order in this proceeding.
    9. The Commission will not adopt a table of channel assignments for 
the interoperability channels, believing that such a table would be 
cumbersome and cause undue administrative burden.
    10. The Commission will not codify a new priority scheme for 
resolving conflicts when demand for interoperability channels exceeds 
supply of such channels, believing that

[[Page 10633]]

the states can determine priority use and resolve disputes.
    11. The Commission does not adopt a rule requiring that all mobile 
units be capable of displaying an interoperability channel label, but 
it directs the NCC to consider the development of an industry 
standardized scheme for display labeling.
    12. The Commission amends it rules to designate two of the 700 MHz 
interoperability channels as nationwide calling channels. Public safety 
entities, particularly those from ``outside'' a given public safety 
``system,'' can use the calling channels to access the public safety 
communications infrastructure in the area where they are located.
    13. The Commission amends its rules to adopt the Project 25 Phase I 
standard as the digital voice standard for interoperability channels. 
The Commission retains its present 4.8 kilobytes per second (kbps) per 
6.25 kHz standard rather than require one voice channel per 6.25 kHz 
bandwidth. The Commission will revisit this issue no earlier than 2005. 
The Commission also determines that any migration path it adopts will 
allow stations planned or built prior to our final decision on this 
issue to operate for at least ten years from the commencement of the 
system's operations. In addition, we will require that such migration 
path include a standard that is backward compatible with the Project 
Phase I standard so that the achievement of interoperability will not 
be compromised while these systems remain in operation.
    14. With respect to the General Use channels, the Commission 
determines that any migration path it establishes to a voice efficiency 
standard of one voice channel per 6.25 kHz bandwidth will allow 12.5 
kHz-based systems constructed and placed in operation prior to December 
31, 2005 to continue to purchase and deploy 12.5 kHz equipment for 
system expansion or maintenance. The Commission also determines that 
such 12.5 kHz systems will not be required to cease operations and 
convert to 6.25kHz technology prior to December 31, 2015, at the 
earliest. In addition, the Commission concludes that in any specific 
migration plan for the General Use channels, the earliest date the 
Commission would require new systems to have 6.25 kHz technology would 
be December 31, 2005.
    15. The Commission amends its rules to reserve two interoperability 
channels for data transmission and set a standard for data 
transmission. The Commission concludes that the Project 25 suite of 
standards is the correct data interoperability standard. Finally, end 
user equipment can be single purpose: units designed for data-only 
applications are not required to be voice-capable, and voice-only 
applications need not have data transmission capability.
    16. The Commission allows encryption on the interoperability 
channels, except the two nationwide calling channels. The Commission 
adopts TIA/EIA IS 102 AAAAA Project 25 DES encryption protocol as the 
encryption standard.

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis:

    17. As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), an Initial 
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) was incorporated into the Fourth 
Notice of Proposed Rule Making (Fourth Notice) of this proceeding. The 
Commission sought written public comment on the IRFA. The present Final 
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) conforms to the RFA.

A. Need for, and Objectives of, the Fourth Report and Order

    18. Our objective is to promote the early and efficient use of 
public safety spectrum in the frequencies at 764-776 MHz and 794-806 
MHz (the 700 MHz band). Specifically, this action will: promote 
spectrum efficiency through allowing secondary trunking on the 
Interoperability channels; assist in delineating the roles of Regional 
Planning Committees (RPCs) and establishment of State Interoperability 
Executive Committees (SIECs); promote efficient administration of the 
Interoperability channels by state or local entities; designate calling 
channels; permit encryption on the Interoperability channels; and 
establish digital voice standards and efficiency standards for the 
Interoperability channels, and digital data standards and channel 
reservation for the Interoperability channels.

B. Summary of Significant Issues Raised by Public Comments in Response 
to the IRFA

    19. No comments were submitted in response to the IRFA. Some 
comments, however, raised issues that may be of particular concern to 
small entities, including Interoperability standards, migration, and 
administration. Other issues include equipment display characteristics. 
The Commission carefully considered all comments in reaching the 
decision set forth herein, and each decision consider any impact on 
small entities.

C. Description and Estimate of the Number of Small Entities to Which 
Rules Will Apply

    20. The RFA directs agencies to provide a description of and, where 
feasible, an estimate of, the number of small entities that may be 
affected by the proposed rules, if adopted. The RFA generally defines 
``small entity'' as having the same meaning as the terms ``small 
business,'' ``small organization,'' and ``small governmental 
jurisdiction.'' In addition, the term ``small business'' has the same 
meaning as ``small business concern'' under the Small Business Act. A 
small business concern is one which: (1) Is independently owned and 
operated; (2) is not dominant in its field of operations; and (3) 
satisfies any additional criteria established by the Small Business 
Administration (SBA). A small organization is generally ``any not-for-
profit enterprise which is independently owned and operated and is not 
dominant in its field. Nationwide, as of 1992, there were approximately 
275,801 small organizations. ``Small governmental jurisdiction'' 
generally means ``governments of cities, counties, towns, townships, 
villages, school districts, or special districts, with a population of 
less than 50,000.'' As of 1992, there were approximately 85,006 such 
jurisdictions in the United States. This number includes 38,978 
counties, cities, and towns; of these, 37,566, or ninety-six percent, 
have populations of fewer than 50,000. The Census Bureau estimates that 
this ratio is approximately accurate for all governmental entities. 
Thus, of the 85,006 governmental entities, we estimate that 81,600 
(ninety-one percent) are small entities.
    21. Public Safety Radio Pool Licensees. As a general matter, Public 
Safety Radio Pool licensees include police, fire, local government, 
forestry conservation, highway maintenance, and emergency medical 
services. Spectrum in the 700 MHz band for public safety services is 
governed by 47 U.S.C. 337. Non-Federal governmental entities as well as 
private businesses are licensees for these services. All governmental 
entities with populations of less than 50,000 fall within the 
definition of a small entity.
    22. Radio and Television Equipment Manufacturers. We anticipate 
that at least six radio equipment manufacturers will be affected by our 
decisions in this proceeding. According to the SBA's regulations, a 
radio and television broadcasting and communications equipment 
manufacturer must have 750 or fewer employees in order to qualify

[[Page 10634]]

as a small business concern. Census Bureau data indicate that there are 
858 U.S. firms that manufacture radio and television broadcasting and 
communications equipment, and that 778 of these firms have fewer than 
750 employees and would therefore be classified as small entities. We 
do not have information that indicates how many of the six radio 
equipment manufacturers associated with this proceeding are among these 
778 firms. However, Motorola and Ericsson, two of the six 
manufacturers, are major, nationwide radio equipment manufacturers, 
and, thus, we conclude that these manufacturers would not qualify as 
small businesses.
    23. Television Stations. This proceeding will affect full service 
TV station licensees (Channels 60-69), TV translator facilities, and 
low power TV (LPTV) stations. The SBA defines a TV broadcasting station 
that has no more than $10.5 million in annual receipts as a small 
business. TV broadcasting stations consist of establishments primarily 
engaged in broadcasting visual programs by TV to the public, except 
cable and other pay TV services. Included in this industry are 
commercial, religious, educational, and other TV stations. Also 
included are establishments primarily engaged in TV broadcasting and 
which produce taped TV program materials. Separate establishments 
primarily engaged in producing taped TV program materials are 
classified under another SIC number.
    24. There were 1,509 TV stations operating in the Nation in 1992. 
That number has remained fairly constant as indicated by the 
approximately 1,551 operating TV broadcasting stations in the Nation as 
of February 28, 1997. For 1992, the number of TV stations that produced 
less than $10.0 million in revenue was 1,155 establishments, or 
approximately 77 percent of the 1,509 establishments. There are 
currently 95 full service analog TV stations, either operating or with 
approved construction permits on channels 60-69. In the DTV Proceeding, 
we adopted a DTV Table that provides only 15 allotments for DTV 
stations on channels 60-69 in the continental United States. There are 
seven DTV allotments in channels 60-69 outside the continental United 
States. Thus, the rules will affect approximately 117 TV stations; 
approximately 90 of those stations may be considered small businesses. 
These estimates may overstate the number of small entities since the 
revenue figures on which they are based do not include or aggregate 
revenues from non-TV affiliated companies. We recognize that the rules 
may also impact minority-owned and women-owned stations, some of which 
may be small entities. In 1995, minorities owned and controlled 37 (3.0 
percent) of 1,221 commercial TV stations in the United States. 
According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, in 1987 women owned and 
controlled 27 (1.9 percent) of 1,342 commercial and non-commercial TV 
stations in the United States.
    25. There are currently 4,977 TV translator stations and 1,952 LPTV 
stations. Approximately 1,309 low power TV and TV translator stations 
are on channels 60-69, which could be affected by policies in this 
proceeding. The Commission does not collect financial information of 
any broadcast facility and the Department of Commerce does not collect 
financial information on these broadcast facilities. We will assume for 
present purposes, however, that most of these broadcast facilities, 
including LPTV stations, could be classified as small businesses. As 
indicated earlier, approximately 77 percent of TV stations are 
designated under this analysis as potentially small businesses. Given 
this, LPTV and TV translator stations would not likely have revenues 
that exceed the SBA maximum to be designated as small businesses.

D. Description of Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other 
Compliance Requirements

    26. The Fourth Report and Order adopts rules that will entail 
reporting, recordkeeping, and/or third-party consultation, including 
the requirement that a state notify the Commission regarding the 
state's intentions regarding administration of the Interoperability 
channels. The Commission believes, however, that these requirements are 
the minimum needed. For example, the Fourth Report and Order requires 
that, while public safety entities are not required to enter into a 
formal Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with a state regarding use of 
Interoperability channels, applicants must secure approval from the 
state. To minimize any Federally-imposed paperwork burden, we have left 
the procedure for such an agreement up to the state. Because we are 
requiring monitoring of the Interoperability channels, there is the 
possibility that additional resources may be required. This type of 
monitoring may be routine for some, while others may require additional 
resources. In any event, we believe the impact will not be substantial.

E. Steps Taken To Minimize Significant Economic Impact on Small 
Entities, and Significant Alternatives Considered

    27. The RFA requires an agency to describe any significant 
alternatives that it has considered in reaching its proposed approach, 
which may include the following four alternatives (among others): (1) 
the establishment of differing compliance or reporting requirements or 
timetables that take into account the resources available to small 
entities; (2) the clarification, consolidation, or simplification of 
compliance or reporting requirements under the rule for small entities; 
(3) the use of performance, rather than design, standards; and (4) an 
exemption from coverage of the rule, or any part thereof, for small 
entities. 5 U.S.C. 603.
    28. The NCC, comprised of representatives from government, the 
public safety community, and the communications equipment manufacturing 
industry, was chartered by the Commission as a Federal Advisory 
Committee, effective February 25, 1999. The NCC made recommendations 
concerning various issues addressed in the Fourth Notice. We note that 
in several instances, to benefit all entities, including small 
entities, we did not propose a particular recommendation.
    29. In formulating the rules in the Fourth Report and Order, we 
reduced economic burdens wherever possible. The regulatory burdens that 
we adopted are necessary to ensure that the public receives the public 
safety benefits of innovative new services in a prompt and efficient 
manner. For example, we adopted technical and operational rules that 
will promote competition in the equipment market. We believe that the 
rules must be as competitively and technologically neutral as possible, 
in order to allow for competing equipment designs and to avoid 
hindering future innovative technological developments. We note that 
tighter technical specifications generally allow more intense spectrum 
use, but may result in higher equipment costs. Conversely, although 
wider tolerances may allow manufacturers to use less costly component 
parts in transmitting equipment, they also may result in less efficient 
spectrum use. With these considerations in mind, we believe that the 
technical regulations we adopt herein provide a reasonable balance of 
these concerns.
    30. Under the regional planning process, frequency coordination is 
competitive. Frequency coordination is the process by which a private 
organization recommends to the

[[Page 10635]]

Commission the most appropriate frequencies for private land mobile 
radio service applicants. Frequency coordinators provide a valuable 
service to the Commission by eliminating common application errors, 
thereby improving the quality of the applications and resolving 
potential interference problems at the source. We continue to believe 
that the encouragement of competition among coordinators promotes cost-
based pricing of coordination services and provides incentives for 
enhancing service quality. Therefore, we will continue to allow any of 
the certified public safety coordinators to provide coordination in the 
700 MHz band.
    31. Recognizing the budgetary constraints that public safety 
entities face as a matter of course, we have adopted rules that 
encourage broad-based efforts, such as projects on the state and 
regional level, to coordinate and consolidate operations that are 
critical to meeting the needs of public safety with cost effective, 
spectrally-efficient radio systems. For example, we have adopted 
permissive trunking on certain public safety channels in the 700 MHz 
band. Trunked systems provide service to many governmental entities in 
a specific geographic area and offer a higher degree of efficiency than 
some smaller, non-trunked systems. A difficulty in establishing these 
types of shared systems is that they require individual agencies to 
surrender some autonomy in return for the efficiencies and better 
coverage of a larger system. In addition, the funding required to 
develop the infrastructure necessary to support some of the newer 
technologies is often too great to permit small public safety agencies 
to participate in new, sophisticated, spectrum efficient, wireless 
radio systems. These same agencies, however, might be able to 
participate in a county-wide or state-wide system. For these, and other 
reasons, we encourage the use of shared systems in the public safety 
community.
    Report to Congress: The Commission will send a copy of the Fourth 
Report and Order, including this FRFA, in a report to be sent to 
Congress pursuant to the SBREFA, see 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A). In 
addition, the commission will send a copy of the Fourth Report and 
Order, including this FRFA, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 
Small Business Administration. In addition, the Fourth Report and Order 
and FRFA (or summaries thereof) will be published in the Federal 
Register. See 5 U.S.C. 604(b).

Ordering Clause

    Authority for the issuance of this Fourth Report and Order and 
Fifth Notice of Proposed Rule Making is contained in Sections 4(i), 
4(j), 7(a), 302, 303(b), 303(f), 303(g), 303(r), 307(e), 332(a), and 
332(c) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(i), 
154(j), 157(a), 302, 303(b), 303(f), 303(g), 303(r), 307(e), 332(a), 
332(c).
    Part 90 of the Commission's Rules, 47 CFR Part 90 is amended as 
specified in the rule changes.
    This Fourth Report and Order will be effective March 19, 2001.
    The Commission's Consumer Information Bureau, Reference Information 
Center, shall send a copy of this Fourth Report and Order and Fifth 
Notice of Proposed Rule Making, including the Final and Initial 
Regulatory Flexibility Analyses, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of 
the Small Business Administration.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 90

    Communications equipment, Radio.

Federal Communications Commission.
Magalie Roman Salas,
Secretary.

Final Rules

    For the reasons discussed, 47 CFR part 90 is amended as follows:

PART 90--PRIVATE LAND MOBILE RADIO SERVICES

    1. The authority citation for part 90 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: Sections 4(i), 11, 303(g), 303(r), and 332(c)(7) of 
the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(i), 161, 
303(g), 303(r), 332(c)(7).

    2. Section 90.179 is amended by adding paragraph (j) to read as 
follows:


Sec. 90.179  Shared use of radio stations.

* * * * *
    (j) On the Interoperability Channels in the 700 MHz Public Safety 
Band (See 90.531(b)(1)), hand-held and vehicular units operated by any 
licensee holding a license in the 700 MHz Public Safety Band or by any 
licensee for any public safety frequency pursuant to part 90 of the 
Commission's rules may communicate with or through land stations 
without further authorization and without a sharing agreement.

    3. Section 90.421 is amended by adding paragraph (a)(3) to read as 
follows:


Sec. 90.421  Operation of mobile units in vehicles not under the 
control of the licensee.

* * * * *
    (a) * * *
    (3) On the Interoperability Channels in the 700 MHz Public Safety 
Band (See Sec. 90.531(b)(1)), hand-held and vehicular transmitters may 
be operated by any licensee holding a license in the 700 MHz Public 
Safety Band or by any licensee holding a license for any other public 
safety frequency pursuant to part 90 of the Commission's rules. 
Therefore, individual licenses are not required for hand-held and 
vehicular transmitters in the 700 MHz Band.

    4. Section 90.525 is added to read as follows:


Sec. 90.525  Administration of Interoperability channels

    (a) States are responsible for administration of the 
Interoperability channels in the 764-776 MHz and 794-806 MHz frequency 
bands. Base and control stations must be licensed individually. A 
public safety entity meeting the requirements of Sec. 90.523 may 
operate mobile or portable units on the Interoperability channels in 
the 764-776 MHz and 794-806 MHz frequency bands without a specific 
authorization from the Commission provided it holds a part 90 license. 
All persons operating mobile or portable units under this authority are 
responsible for compliance with part 90 of these rules and other 
applicable federal laws.
    (b) License applications for Interoperability channels in the 764-
776 MHz and 794-806 MHz frequency bands must be approved by a state-
level agency or organization responsible for administering state 
emergency communications. States may hold the licenses for 
Interoperability channels or approve other qualified entities to hold 
such licenses. States may delegate the approval process for 
Interoperability channels to another entity, such as regional planning 
committees.

    5. Section 90.531 is amended by adding paragraphs (b)(1)(i) through 
(b)(1)(iii) and (b)(7), and by revising paragraphs (b)(2) and (d) to 
read as follows:


Sec. 90.531  Band plan.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (1) * * *
    (i) Narrowband data Interoperability channels. The following 
channel pairs are reserved nationwide for the express purpose of data 
transmission only: 279/1239, 280/1240, 921/1881, and 922/1882.
    (ii) Narrowband calling Interoperability channels. The following 
channel pairs are dedicated nationwide for the express purpose of

[[Page 10636]]

Interoperability calling only: 39/999, 40/1000, 681/1641, and 682/1642. 
They may not be used primarily for routine, day-to-day communications. 
Encryption is prohibited on the designated calling channels.
    (iii) Narrowband trunking Interoperability channels. The following 
interoperability channel pairs may be combined with the appropriate 
adjacent secondary trunking channel pairs and used in the trunked mode 
on a secondary basis to conventional interoperability operations: 23/
983, 24/984, 63/1023, 64/1024, 103/1063, 104/1064, 143/1103, 144/1104, 
183/1143, 184/1144, 223/1183, 224/1184, 263/1223, 264/1124, 303/1263 
and 304/1264. For every ten general use channels trunked at a station, 
entities may obtain a license to operate in the trunked mode on two of 
the above contiguous Interoperability channel pairs. The maximum number 
of Interoperability channel pairs that can be trunked at any one 
location is eight.
    (2) Narrowband reserve channels. The following narrowband channels 
are undesignated and reserved: 37, 38, 77, 78, 117, 118, 157, 158, 197, 
198, 221, 222, 237, 238, 277, 278, 317, 318, 643, 644, 659, 660, 683, 
684, 699, 700, 723, 724, 739, 740, 763, 764, 779, 780, 803, 804, 819, 
820, 843, 844, 859, 860, 883, 884, 899, 900, 923, 924, 939, 940, 997, 
998, 1037, 1038, 1077, 1078, 1117, 1118, 1157, 1158, 1181, 1182, 1197, 
1198, 1237, 1238, 1277, 1278, 1603, 1604, 1619, 1620, 1643, 1644, 1659, 
1660, 1683, 1684, 1699, 1700, 1723, 1724, 1739, 1740, 1763, 1764, 1779, 
1780, 1803, 1804, 1819,1820, 1843, 1844, 1859, 1860, 1883, 1884, 1899, 
1900.
* * * * *
    (7) Secondary trunking channels. The following channels pairs are 
reserved for secondary trunking operations: 21/981, 22/982, 61/1021, 
62/1022, 101/1061, 102/1062, 141/1101, 142/1102, 181/1141, 182/1142, 
221/1181, 222/1182, 261/1221, 262/1222, 301/1261 and 302/1262. They may 
be used only in combination with the appropriate adjacent 
Interoperability channel pairs specified in (b)(1)(iii) of this section 
in trunked systems.
* * * * *
    (d) Combining channels. Except as noted in this section, at the 
discretion of the appropriate regional planning committee, contiguous 
channels may be used in combination in order to accommodate 
requirements for larger bandwidth emissions, in accordance with this 
paragraph. Interoperability channels may not be combined with channels 
in another group except for channels for secondary trunking channels.

    6. Section 90.531(b)(2) is amended by removing the following 
channels: 21, 22, 37, 38, 61, 62, 77, 78, 101, 102, 141, 142, 181, 182, 
221, 222, 261, 262, 277, 278, 301, 302, 317, 318, 981, 982,997, 
998,1021, 1022, 1037, 1038, 1061, 1062, 1101, 1102,1141, 1142, 1181, 
1182, 1221, 1222, 1237, 1238, 1261, 1262, 1277, and 1278.

    7. Section 90.537 is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 90.537  Trunking requirement.

    (a) General use channels. All systems using six or more narrowband 
channels in the 764-776 MHz and 794-806 MHz frequency bands must be 
trunked systems, except for those described in paragraph (b) of this 
section.
    (b) Interoperability channels. Trunking is permitted only on 
Interoperability channels specified in Sec. 90.531(b)(1)(iii). Trunked 
use must be strictly on a secondary, non-interference basis to 
conventional operations. The licensee must monitor and immediately 
release these channels when they are needed for interoperability 
purposes.

    8. Section 90.547 is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 90.547  Interoperability channel capability requirement.

    Except as noted below, mobile and portable transmitters operating 
in the 764-776 MHz and 794-806 MHz frequency bands must be capable of 
operating on all of the designated nationwide narrowband 
Interoperability channels pursuant to the standards specified in this 
part.
    (a) Mobile and portable transmitters that are designed to operate 
only on the Low Power Channels specified in Secs. 90.531(b)(3) and 
(b)(4) are exempt from this Interoperability channel requirement.
    (b) Mobile and portable transmitters that are designed to operate 
only on the narrowband data Interoperability channels specified in 
Sec. 90.531 (b)(1)(i) are exempt from this Interoperability channel 
requirement.
    (c) Mobile and portable transmitters that are designed to operate 
only in the voice mode do not have to operate on the narrowband data 
Interoperability channels specified in Sec. 90.531 (b)(1)(i).

    9. Section 90.548 is added to read as follows:


Sec. 90.548  Interoperability technical standards.

    (a) Transmitters operating on those narrowband channels in the 764-
776 and 794-806 MHz band designated for interoperability (See 90.531) 
shall conform to the following technical standards:
    (1) Transmitters designed for voice operation shall include a 12.5 
kHz bandwidth mode of operation conforming to the following standards: 
ANSI/TIA/EIA 102.BAAA-1 (common air interface) for operation in the 
12.5 kHz FDM mode; ANSI/TIA/EIA 102.BABA (vocoder).
    (2) Transmitters designed for data transmission shall include a 
12.5 kHz bandwidth mode of operation conforming to the following 
standards: ANSI/TIA/EIA 102.BAEA (data overview); ANSI/TIA/EIA 102.BAEB 
(packet data specification); ANSI/TIA/EIA 102.BAEC (circuit data 
specification); ANSI/TIA/EIA 102.BAEA (radio control protocol); ANSI/
TIA/EIA 102.BAAA-1 (common air interface) for operation in the 12.5 kHz 
FDM mode.
    (b) Copies of the standards listed in this Section that are 
incorporated by reference can be purchased from the American National 
Standards Institute, Washington, DC Headquarters, 1819 L Street, NW, 
6th Floor, Washington, DC 20036.
    (c) Copies of the standards listed in this Section that are 
incorporated by reference may be inspected at the Federal 
Communications Commission, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 
(Reference Information Center) or at the Office of the Federal 
Register, 800 North Capitol Street, NW, Suite 700, Washington DC.

    10. Section 90.553 is added to read as follows:


Sec. 90.553  Encryption.

    (a) Encryption is permitted on all but the two nationwide 
Interoperability calling channels. Radios employing encryption must 
have a readily accessible switch or other readily accessible control 
that permits the radio user to disable encryption.
    (b) If Encryption is employed then the following encryption 
protocol must be used: TIA/EIA IS AAAA-A Project 25 DES.
    (c) Copies of the standards listed in this Section that are 
incorporated by reference can be purchased from TIA/EIA, 2500 Wilson 
Boulevard, Arlington, VA, 22201, or Global Engineering Documents, 155 
Inverness Way East, Englewood, CO 80112.

[FR Doc. 01-4027 Filed 2-15-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P