06/10/2016
The FCC has denied[1] the 2015 petition of a Missouri radio amateur seeking to
have the Commission authorize low-power experimental activity on Amateur Radio
frequencies. James Edwin Whedbee, N0ECN, of Gladstone, sought to amend FCC Part
97 Amateur Service rules to let radio amateurs conduct experiments on all
amateur radio bands, subject to certain limits on duration, power, and
bandwidth. The FCC declined to seek comments on the petition.
"[T]he Commission's rules contain numerous provisions for experimentation and
development of new radio equipment and techniques," the FCC said in a June 9
letter to Whedbee. "The Experimental Radio Service (ERS) rules contained in
Part 5 permit a broad range of experiments, including in the Amateur Service,
and prescribe the manner in which the radio spectrum may be made available to
experiment with new radio technologies, equipment designs, characteristics of
radio wave propagation, or service concepts related to the use of the radio
spectrum."
The letter pointed out that the FCC "recently revised and streamlined" its Part
5 rules "to provide additional flexibility to innovators" and noted that
Whedbee did not discuss in his petition whether those rule changes might
address his concerns.
In the same stroke of the pen, the FCC denied a 2016 petition from Whedbee
seeking to delegate to the chiefs of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau
(WTB) and the Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) authority to dispose
of certain requests for exemptions, waivers, and rulemaking regarding new
technologies or new application of existing technologies.
"The Commission has already delegated to WTB and OET authority to act on
applications, waiver requests, petitions, and even some rulemaking matters, so
long as they do not raise novel questions of law or policy which cannot be
resolved under outstanding Commission precedents and guidelines," the FCC told
Whedbee.
"[W]e conclude that [both] petitions present no evidence of an existing problem
or other evidence meriting a rule change, and we dismiss the petitions," the
FCC concluded. "Both petitions' underlying premise is that the Commission's
current processes for granting experimental licenses, rule waivers, and other
authorizations for use of new technological developments are burdensome and
impede innovation. In neither petition, however, do you provide an example of
an experiment or technology that was unduly delayed by the existing rules and
would have been expedited by your proposed procedural changes. Nor do you
demonstrate that your proposed changes would have a substantial effect."
Whedbee is no stranger to the FCC petition process. Earlier this year he
petitioned[2] the FCC to designate Morse (radiotelegraphy) Amateur Radio band
segments as "symbol communication" subbands, and the FCC invited public comment
on his request (RM-11769[3]). In 2012, the FCC turned down Whedbee's request
that the FCC declare homeowners associations' covenants, conditions, and
restrictions (CC&Rs) unenforceable.
[1] https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-16-645A1.pdf
[2] http://www.arrl.org/news/missouri-radio-amateur-petitions-fcc-to-designate-s
ymbol-communication-subband
[3] http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/comment/view?id=60001692464
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