FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
August 19,2011
JULIUS GENACHOWSKI
CHAIRMAN
The Honorable Kirsten E. Gillibrand
United States Senate
478 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Gill ibrand:
Thank you for your letter regarding the Commission's January 1,2013 narrowbanding
deadline. In recognition of the budgetary pressures many for public safety agencies face, the
Commission took care to determine an appropriate transition period for narrowbanding that
balanced the economic and operational impacts on ofexisting users, including rejecting calls for
a more aggressive deadline.
The transition is well-underway and many licensees have converted their systems to more
efficient narrowband operations. Licensees operating wideband systems after the deadline risk
new problems - potentially experiencing reduced interoperability with systems already converted
to narrowband, causing inadvertent harmful interference to other licensees operating on adjacent
narrowband channels, and the increasing costs ofmaintaining aging and obsolete wideband
devices.
While the future public safety broadband network has vast potential, we anticipate that
public safety agencies will need to maintain and invest in their narrowband systems until the
broadband network becomes available. For these reasons, the January 2013 narrowbanding
deadline remains important. As always, however, and as detailed in the Commission's recent
Public Notice, we are prepared to consider the particular circumstances of licensees facing
unique challenges in meeting the narrowbanding requirement. The Public Notice in enclosed for
your convemence.
I appreciate your letting me know of your concerns about this matter. Please do not
hesitate to contact me if I can be ofany further assistance.
/~
( ../Julius Genachowski
Enclosure
445 12111 STREET S.W WASHINGTON, D.C. 20554 • 202-418-1000