On Monday, January 23, 2012 Audrain County’s public-safety officials began Phase 1 of the process to switch from wideband VHF radio communications to narrowband VHF radio communications. Phase 1 included reprogramming mobile and portable radios and repeaters in Farber, Martinsburg, Mexico, and Vandalia. Phase 2 was completed on Tuesday, January 24, and included transitioning the radios and repeater in Laddonia. The narrowbanding project was finished on Wednesday, January 25, with the completion of Phase 3 that involved the narrowbanding of the county-wide simulcast system serving the Audrain Ambulance District, Audrain County Sheriff’s Office, and Little Dixie Fire Protection District. At 6:30 p.m. on January 25, all law enforcement agencies, fire districts, and ambulance services in Audrain County were operating on narrowband radio frequencies.
“The narrowbanding transition was very smooth thanks to the excellent preparation and coordination of Audrain County’s public-safety organizations, the Audrain County E-911 Joint Communications Center, and area radio vendors,” said Assistant 911 Director Dan Barnett. “We had very few issues and those that did occur were minor.”
In December 2004, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued its Third Memorandum Opinion and Order and Third Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making and Order (FCC 04-292) establishing January 1, 2013 as the mandatory deadline for Part 90 Land Mobile Radio licensees to migrate to narrowband radio emissions. This mandate requires all Part 90 licensees in the Industrial/Business Radio Pool and Public Safety Radio Pool operating in the 150-174 MHz and 421-512 MHz bands to migrate from wideband (25 kHz) channels to narrowband (12.5 kHz or 6.25 kHz) channels before January 1, 2013. The narrowbanding mandate is designed to ensure more efficient use of the limited radio spectrum which will result in increased channel availability for industrial/business and public safety VHF/UHF radio systems.
For more information about the narrowbanding mandate, please visit the FCC’s Narrowbanding website at: http://www.fcc.gov/narrowbanding
