4.2.1.1 Impacts

The Ministry’s research indicates that there is no equipment available for purely simplex LMR operation at 819-820 MHz. Equipment capable of trunked land mobile applications and also simplex operation is available for this frequency range, but is more expensive and such investment may not be justified for simplex users unless they are planning to set up small networks. This would affect numerous users; there are currently 157 simplex land mobile radio licences registered at 868-869 MHz.

Users of the SRD band at 819-824 MHz may need to retune equipment to take account of the narrower band allocation available to them.

The users of European-standard SRDs that operate in the 862-870 MHz band would be able to use this band with less risk of interference if the LMR simplex allocation is relocated.

Conservative interference analysis of the interface between SRDs and CDMA2000/W CDMA at 870 MHz concluded that interference is likely to occur for which considerable distance separation between the services will be required. CDMA technology is, however, more effective in regards to interference rejection, and in fact quite small separation distances would likely be sufficient. Testing would be required to determine if SRDs could operate next to the 870 MHz cellular boundary, although as simplex land mobile services currently operate satisfactorily up to 869 MHz, it is likely that SRDs could do the same.

As an alternative, it might be possible to licence SRD use in the 864-870 MHz band without relocating the land mobile services, with acknowledgement that there would be a potential risk of interference which may be difficult in practice to remedy by controlling the SRD use under a general user licence. The Ministry would welcome views on this alternative scenario.

Question 21

If your organisation has licences in the TX band (868-869 MHz) for simplex land mobile radio, do you still require access to spectrum for this purpose? If so, how long does your organisation intend to use this technology (do you have any plans to transition to different technology)? Is there any other band that could you use for your land mobile radio services instead?

Question 22

If the simplex LMR use was not relocated from 868-869 MHz, would use of the full 864-870 MHz band by SRDs be practicable by acknowledging the risk of potential interference to land mobile radio usage?

Question 23

What, if any, provisions might be necessary to protect the cellular services operating in the private management right above 870 MHz from interference from SRDs if they operated up to 870 MHz?