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Overview of Reconfiguration Prioritization Plan:
> Summary of the Regional Prioritization
Plan
Overview of Regional Prioritization Plan
Summary of the Regional Prioritization Plan
As required by the FCC, the TA developed a Regional Prioritization Plan (RPP)
that lists the order in which the 55 NPSPAC regions will start the process of
reconfiguration. NPSPAC, the National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee,
was set up by the FCC in the 1980s to determine how public safety communications
in the 800 MHz channels were going to be used. NPSPAC developed a usage plan for
public safety that divided the country into many different NPSPAC regions.
The TA recognizes that NPSPAC regions have not been used for licensing Critical Infrastructure
Industries (CII), Business and Industrial/Land Transportation (B/ILT)
and commercial systems. The FCC's R&O and the TA's RPP use NPSPAC regions to divide
the nation geographically for purposes of administering an orderly reconfiguration
of the 800 MHz Band for all users. The concept of NPSPAC regions will be applied
to such entities solely for reconfiguration timing purposes. If you want to know
which Wave or NPSPAC region you fall under, you can go to the TA
Tools section of the TA's website and type in your call sign (if it is a non
EA license) or review the map on the same page.
The FCC approved the RPP on March 11, 2005. The TA considered many factors in
crafting the RPP, including the FCC's reconfiguration timeline targets, population,
existing instances of interference to public safety systems, the need to reconfigure
interconnected regions together, workload balance, seasonal cycles, and the need
for new border area frequency plans.
Beginning with the official start date for reconfiguration, June 27, 2005, the
RPP defines four "Waves" or groupings of NPSPAC regions to be reconfigured. Each
Wave contains groups of NPSPAC regions that will begin reconfiguration at the
same time. Each Wave is divided into two "Stages." Stage 1 consists of Channels
1-120 licensees and Stage 2 consists of NPSPAC licensees, which reconfigure after
Stage 1. Figure 3 shows the NPSPAC Regions within each prioritization Wave.
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Figure 1:
NPSPAC Prioritization Map
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Within each NPSPAC region, licensees operating at 806-809 MHz/851-854 MHz (Channels
1-120) must relocate prior to NPSPAC licensees. The start date of each Wave triggers
the beginning of the Channels 1-120 "Stage" of licensee relocation negotiations
with Sprint Nextel. Physical reconfiguration will occur after licensees complete
negotiations with Sprint Nextel and the TA approves the related agreements. Figure
4 shows the prioritization schedule established in the RPP.
As of September 2, 2005, the RPP was amended, moving Louisiana (NPSPAC Region
18) from Wave 2 to Wave 3 in response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.
The TA will continue to monitor the recovery efforts from Hurricane Katrina and
work with the public safety community and other affected 800 MHz licensees.
As of February 3, 2006, the RPP was further amended, moving Puerto Rico and the
U.S. Virgin Islands (NPSPAC Regions 47 and 48 respectively) from Wave 2 to Wave
3. The TA determined that there are unique and complex spectrum issues in Puerto
Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands that were affected by the FCC's MO&O that required
this amendment of the RPP.
The MO&O required certain areas that are not associated with NPSPAC regions to
be included in reconfiguration. These areas - the Gulf of Mexico, Guam, American
Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands - will be added to Wave 4.
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Figure 4:
Prioritization Schedule
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Thirty days before the start of reconfiguration for Channels 1-120 in each Wave,
the FCC will issue a Starter Public Notice (PN) announcing the start date. The
FCC will release another PN announcing the start date for the NPSPAC Stage of
reconfiguration for each Wave. The start date for Wave 1, Stage 1 (Channels 1-120)
was June 27, 2005 and, accordingly, the FCC released the Starter PN for Wave 1,
Stage 1 (Channels 1-120) on May 27, 2005 (PDF).
Wave 2, Stage 1 (Channels 1-120) started on October 3, 2005 and the FCC released
a Starter PN on September 2, 2005 (PDF).
Wave 3, Stage 1 (Channels 1-120) started on January 3, 2006 and the FCC released
a starter PN on December 2, 2005 (PDF).
The start date for Wave 1, Stage 2 (NPSPAC) was February 1, 2006 and the FCC released
a Starter PN on December 30, 2005 (PDF).
Wave 4, Stage 1 (Channels 1-120) started on July 3, 2006 and the FCC released
a Starter PN on June 2, 2006 (PDF).
Wave2, Stage 2 (NPSPAC) started on August 1, 2006 and the FCC released a Starter PN on June 30, 2006
(PDF).
Wave 3, Stage 2 (NPSPAC) started on November 1, 2006 and the FCC released a Starter PN on October 2, 2006
(PDF).
Wave 4, Stage 2 (NPSPAC) started on Febuary 1, 2007 and the FCC released a Starter PN on December 29, 2006
(PDF).
On March 31, 2006, the FCC released a Public Notice approving TA recommendations
for adjustment of start dates for Wave 2, Stage 2 (NPSPAC) and Wave 3, Stage 2
(NPSPAC). The "new" adjusted start date for NPSPAC licensees in Wave 2 is August
1, 2006, and in Wave 3 is November 1, 2006. On May 26, 2006, the FCC released
another Public Notice approving the TA's recommendation to extend the mandatory
negotiation period for Wave 1, Stage 2 (NPSPAC) by three months. The "new" adjusted
end date for the mandatory negotiation period for NPSPAC licensees in Wave 1 is
October 31, 2006.
Wave 4 of the RPP consists of NPSPAC regions with complex licensing environments
along the Canadian and Mexican borders. These regions cannot be reconfigured until
border area frequency plans are adopted. The voluntary
negotiation period for Wave 4, Stage 1 (Channels 1-120), originally scheduled
to start on April 3, 2006, started on July 3, 2006 based upon the FCC's March
3, 2006 Public Notice. The FCC issued additional Public Notices on December 27, 2006
and March 30, 2007 extending the mandatory negotiation period through July 1, 2007
for Wave 4, Stage 1 licensees within the international border areas.
The full text of the RPP and related materials can be found on the TA's website
at http://800TA.org/content/documents/rpp_docs.asp.
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