Subject: [NEXTEL-1] WARREN C. HAVENS- To Deploy Tait VHF Software Defined Radios Radios By Q3 2005.

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 21:11:44 -0400

WARREN C. HAVENS- To Deploy Tait VHF “Software Defined Radios” Radios By Q3 2005.
=========================================================================================

Before the Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554

In the Matter of

WARREN C. HAVENS

Request to Extend Construction Deadline for Certain VHF Public Coast
Station Geographic Area Licenses )

File Nos. 0001603151-0001603163

ORDER

Adopted:  April 19, 2004 Released:  April 21, 2004

By the Chief, Public Safety and Critical Infrastructure Division,
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau:

1. Introduction.  On February 2, 2003, Warren C. Havens (Havens)
requested  a waiver and two-year extension of the five-year construction
requirement applicable to his licenses for thirteen VHF public coast
(VPC) Station Areas (VPCSAs).   For the reasons that follow, Havens’s
request is granted.

2. Background.  Public coast stations are commercial mobile radio
service (CMRS) providers that allow ships to send and receive messages
and to interconnect with the public switched telephone network.
Licensees may, however, modify their licenses to permit private mobile
radio service (PMRS) instead of CMRS,  and may provide service to units
on land.   VHF public coast station coverage generally extends twenty to
thirty miles from the transmitter.   Geographic VPC licensees must
demonstrate that they are providing substantial service within five
years of the initial license grant, and again within ten years of the
initial license grant.   For inland VPCSAs, the Commission has stated
that the five-year substantial service requirement can be satisfied by
coverage to one-third of the population of in the service area.   Havens
is the licensee for thirteen inland VPCSAs.  The licenses were granted
on May 19, 1999, so the first construction date is May 19, 2004.

3. Havens states that he has contracted with Tait Radio Communications
to provide innovative new “software defined radios” that will
accommodate multiple open-standard digital over-the-air protocols and
multiple frequency bands.   Havens argues that this equipment will
provide major technical and economic advantages over other equipment
that is available for use in the VPC band, and will greatly facilitate
the use of VPC licenses for wide-area PMRS systems.   He states that the
new equipment will not be commercially available until the third quarter
of 2005.   Therefore, Havens requests a new deadline of May 19, 2006.
Havens also states that he plans to permit the National Interagency Fire
Center (NIFC), a Federal entity which coordinates responses to major
fires and other emergencies in the United States, to use his VPC
frequencies until he commences operations.

4. On May 7, 2003, we sought comment on Havens’s request.   Comments
were received from MariTEL, Inc. (MariTEL) and the Wyoming Department of
Transportation (Wyoming DOT), and reply comments were received from
Havens.

5. Discussion.  Section 1.925 of the Commission’s Rules provides that a
waiver of the Commission’s Rules may be granted if it is shown that (i)
the underlying purpose of the rule(s) would not be served or would be
frustrated by application to the instant case, and that a grant of the
requested waiver would be in the public interest; or (ii) in view of
unique or unusual circumstances, application of the rule(s) would be
inequitable, unduly burdensome or contrary to the public interest or the
applicant has no reasonable alternative.   We agree with Havens that a
waiver is warranted under the circumstances presented.

6. Unique or unusual circumstances.  Havens argues that inland VPC
licenses do not have sufficient spectrum for viable competition in the
CMRS marketplace, but do have sufficient spectrum for major private
wireless systems.   He also notes that the VHF band is particularly
well-suited for cost-effective multi-site wide-area coverage.   Havens
argues that the most appropriate technology and equipment for such
systems would be “software defined radios” that will accommodate
multiple open-standard digital over-the-air protocols and multiple
frequency bands, but such equipment is not yet commercially available.
Havens states that he has a contractual arrangement with the only
manufacturer that is developing such equipment to provide the equipment
when it is ready.

7. We disagree with Wyoming DOT’s assertion that “[t]here is no evidence
that [Havens] has taken action to implement any service offerings in the
subject spectrum.”   Rather, based on information before us, it appears
that Havens had studied the market he plans to serve and identified
specific advanced new equipment for that purpose.   Moreover, Havens
represents that he is prepared to implement old analog equipment to
satisfy the construction requirement if his request is denied, but
argues that the Commission should not, in effect, compel the
construction of an obsolete network when a better alternative will soon
be available.

8. Public interest.  Havens argues that denial of his request will
result in the use of inferior equipment that will not serve users’ needs
as well, and will retard the development of new equipment by cutting off
development thereof and additional innovation.   In addition, Havens
argues that grant of a construction extension would serve the public
interest because, during the interim, he will make spectrum available on
a no-cost or not-for-profit basis to NIFC,  which needs additional
spectrum in the areas covered by his licenses because a substantial
proportion of the Nation’s forest fires occur there.

9. In similar circumstances, construction deadlines have been extended
in order to permit licensees to implement new and innovative
communications technologies.   We conclude that in this instance, it is
in the public interest to extend Havens’s construction deadline to May
19, 2006, so that he may have additional time to procure and implement
equipment that will enable him to offer advanced PMRS services.

10. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED pursuant to Sections 4(i) and 303(r) of
the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. §§ 154(i), 303(r),
and Section 1.925 of the Commission’s Rules, 47 C.F.R. § 1.925, that the
waiver request filed by Warren C. Havens on February 2, 2004 IS GRANTED.

11. This action is taken under delegated authority pursuant to Sections
0.131 and 0.331 of the Commission’s Rules, 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.131, 0.331.

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

D’wana R. Terry
Chief, Public Safety and Critical Infrastructure Division
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau

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