Federal Communications Commission DA 14-1067
Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of
Del Norte County, California
Request for Waiver of Section 90.209(b) of the 
Commission’s Rules
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WT Docket 99-87
ORDER
Adopted: July 28, 2014 Released: July 28, 2014
By the Chief, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau:
I. INTRODUCTION
1. We have before us a request for a permanent waiver of the Commission’s VHF/UHF 
narrowbanding rule filed by Del Norte County, California (Del Norte or the County).
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The 
narrowbanding rule requires private land mobile radio licensees operating in the 150-174 MHz and 450-
512 MHz bands to operate using channel bandwidth of no more than 12.5 kHz or equivalent efficiency 
after January 1, 2013.
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  By this Order, we deny the waiver request.
II. BACKGROUND
2. Del Norte County is located in Northern California at the Oregon border along the Pacific 
coast.  It has a land area of approximately 1007 square miles with a population of about 30,000 people.
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In 2012, Del Norte converted its VHF system to narrowband operation, and it is currently in compliance 
with the rule.  However, Del Norte states that as a result of narrowbanding its system, it has experienced a 
40 percent loss of coverage in its operational area.
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  The County states it has worked with its vendor and 
Commission staff to ensure that its existing equipment is operating at optimum efficiency, but that these 
improvements have not restored the system’s coverage that existed prior to narrowbanding.
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  Del Norte 
states that the lack of coverage caused by narrowband operation in compliance with the Commission’s 
                                                     
1
Letter, dated June 19, 2013, from Sheriff Dean D. Wilson (Waiver Request).
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47 C.F.R § 90.209(b).  See Implementation of Sections 309(j) and 337 of the Communications Act of 1934 as 
Amended; Promotion of Spectrum Efficient Technologies on Certain Part 90 Frequencies, Second Report and Order 
and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, WT Docket No. 99-87, RM-9332, 18 FCC Rcd 3034 (2003); 
Implementation of Sections 309(j) and 337 of the Communications Act of 1934 as Amended; Promotion of Spectrum 
Efficient Technologies on Certain Part 90 Frequencies, Third Memorandum Opinion and Order, Third Further 
Notice of Proposed Rule Making and Order, WT Docket No. 99-87, RM-9332, 19 FCC Rcd 25045 (2004);
Implementation of Sections 309(j) and 337 of the Communications Act of 1934 as Amended; Promotion of Spectrum 
Efficient Technologies on Certain Part 90 Frequencies, Order, WT Docket No. 99-87, RM-9332, 25 FCC Rcd 8861 
(2010) (Narrowbanding Waiver Order).
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Waiver Request.
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Id. 
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Id.
Federal Communications Commission DA 14-1067
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rules places its first responders at risk.
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  Accordingly, Del Norte asks for a permanent waiver of the 
narrowbanding rule allowing it to resume wideband operations and to operate in wideband mode 
indefinitely.
3. In support of its waiver request, Del Norte states that the only way for it to restore system 
coverage while continuing to comply with the narrowbanding rule would be to construct between three to 
five additional towers to augment its existing two-tower system.
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  Del Norte states that it lacks the 
funding to undertake such an endeavor.
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  Del Norte also claims that it did not need to convert from 
wideband to narrowband operations because there is no spectrum congestion in the County.
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III. DISCUSSION
4. The Commission initiated the narrowbanding process in 1995 to remedy congestion in 
the UHF and VHF frequency bands, which limited the amount of spectrum available for system 
expansion or implementation of new systems.
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The migration to 12.5 kHz efficiency technology requires
licensees to operate with greater spectral efficiency, either on narrower channel bandwidths or increased 
voice paths on existing channels. This allows creation of additional channels within the same spectrum, 
thereby supporting more users. The efficient use of scarce VHF/UHF spectrum and freeing of capacity 
for potential new spectrum uses are key goals of the narrowbanding program.
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5. Del Norte seeks permanent relief from the narrowbanding rule pursuant to Section 1.925 
of the Commission’s rules, which provides that to obtain a waiver of the Commission’s rules, a petitioner 
must demonstrate either that: (i) the underlying purpose of the rule(s) would not be served or would be 
frustrated by application to the present case, and that a grant of the waiver would be in the public 
interest;
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or (ii) in view of unique or unusual factual circumstances of the instant case, application of the 
rule(s) would be inequitable, unduly burdensome, or contrary to the public interest, or the applicant has 
no reasonable alternative.
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  Applying this standard to narrowbanding, we have stated in the 
Narrowbanding Waiver Guidance Notice, jointly issued by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, the 
Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, and the Office of Engineering and Technology that 
narrowbanding waiver requests “will be subject to a high level of scrutiny” under the waiver standard.
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Id.
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Id.
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Id.
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Id.
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See Replacement of Part 90 by Part 88 to Revise the Private Land Mobile Radio Services and Modify the Policies 
Governing Them, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making, PR Docket No. 92-235, 10 FCC 
Rcd 10076, 10077 ¶2 (1995).  Narrowbanding is one of several initiatives the Commission instigated as part of its 
efforts to address frequency congestion.  See Spectrum Efficiency in the Private Land Mobile Radio Bands In Use 
Prior to 1968, Notice of Inquiry, PR Docket No. 91-170, 6 FCC Rcd 4126, 4131-32 ¶¶40-44 (1995).
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Id.
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47 C.F.R. § 1.925(b)(3)(i).
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47 C.F.R. § 1.925(b)(3)(ii).
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Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Public Safety And Homeland Security Bureau, And Office Of Engineering 
And Technology Provide Reminder Of January 1, 2013 Deadline For Transition To Narrowband Operations In The 
150-174 MHz And 421-512 MHz Bands And Guidance For Submission Of Requests For Waiver And Other 
Matters, Public Notice, 26 FCC Rcd 9647 (2011) (Narrowbanding Waiver Guidance Notice).
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6. The Bureau has granted temporary waivers of the narrowbanding rule to licensees that 
have been able to demonstrate that “(i) they have worked diligently and in good faith to narrowband their 
systems expeditiously; (ii) their specific circumstances warrant a temporary extension of the deadline; and 
(iii) the amount of time for which a waiver is requested is no more than is reasonably necessary to 
complete the narrowbanding process.”
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  However, Del Norte seeks a permanent waiver of the rule, not a 
temporary waiver.  
7. We conclude that Del Norte has not presented sufficient facts to support its request for a 
permanent waiver.  We recognize the financial constraints Del Norte faces to construct additional towers, 
but this circumstance is not unusual or unique among licensees that have been subject to the 
narrowbanding requirement.  Thousands of public safety licensees have converted their systems to 
narrowband operation, and many of them have had to enhance system infrastructure as part of their 
conversion.  While Del Norte’s financial constraints could weigh in favor of a temporary waiver to afford 
the County additional time to upgrade its system, they do not justify a permanent waiver.  
8. Similarly, we are not persuaded by Del Norte’s argument that a permanent waiver is 
justified because it is not in a spectrally congested area. This argument presupposes that the lack of 
spectral congestion is a permanent condition and that other parties will never seek access to spectrum 
there.  We are not prepared to make this assumption, which would undermine the underlying purpose of 
the narrowbanding rules to ensure that additional spectrum is available for future use – including for use 
that may not be anticipated.   
9. Del Norte also fails to demonstrate how a permanent waiver would serve the public 
interest, in light of the fact that the Commission’s rules prohibit the manufacture, marketing and sale of 
wideband-capable equipment.
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  The Commission adopted these equipment restrictions to prevent the 
development and sale of equipment whose use would negate any spectral efficiencies gained through 
narrowbanding.   Even if we were to allow Del Norte to operate in wideband mode indefinitely, these 
restrictions would prevent the County from being able to properly maintain or replace its equipment, and 
as a result its system would become increasingly less reliable as well as progressively more obsolete.   We 
fail to see how such a situation would serve the public interest.  For all of the above reasons, we deny the 
request for a permanent waiver.
IV. ORDERING CLAUSES
10. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED pursuant to Section 4(i) of the Communications Act of 
1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. § 154(i), and Section 1.925(b)(3) of the Commission’s rules, 47 C.F.R. 
§ 1.925(b)(3), that the Request for Waiver, filed by the Del Norte County, California IS DENIED.
11. This action is taken under delegated authority pursuant to Sections 0.191 and 0.392 of the 
Commission’s rules, 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.191, 0.392.
                                      FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
David G. Simpson, Rear Admiral, USN (Ret.)
Chief, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau
                                                     
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Id. at 9649.
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See 47 C.F.R. § 90.203(j)(10).