Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!bloom-beacon!mit-eddie!attctc!vector!telecom-gateway From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Use of Cellular In The Air Message-ID: Date: 23 Nov 89 07:36:46 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Organization: Green Hills and Cows Lines: 31 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 530, message 7 of 11 In article , gutierre@nsipo.arc. nasa.gov (Robert Michael Gutierrez) writes: > A traffic monitoring company in Los Angeles got busted ("fined") by > the FCC for using regular business-band radios to do traffic > reporting. They complained that there was no other way to report > traffic since they had (just back then) banned celluar in airplanes, > and the 2-way radio space allocated for that purpose was hopelessly > overcrowded. There is a small number of two-way channels that are permitted to be used for "on-air" feeds. In metropolitan areas these channels are so scarce that broadcasters have "frequency coodinating committees" made up of station representatives so that maximum use can be made of the limited resources. It has been recognized that traffic reporting services somehow need to be included in the allocation considerations for these auxillary broadcast channels. Unfortunately, at least from the meetings that I have attended and been told about, the traffic reporters are incredibly arrogant and make excessive demands concerning the use of these channels. In the San Francisco area, there are two traffic services (Traffic Central and Metro Traffic--are there others?) who seem to feel that their business takes precedence over normal broadcast licensee use of these bands. In any event, it has long been understood that under no circumstances can cellular phones be used for this purpose. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !