Path: utzoo!telecom-request Date: 11 Apr 91 15:41:43 GMT From: "Fred R. Goldstein" Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Apple Data-PCS Petition for Rulemaking Message-ID: Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA USA Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 285, Message 6 of 10 Lines: 45 In article , 0004133373@mcimail.com (Donald E. Kimberlin) writes... > "The Utilities Telecommunications Council" woodwork DO all these outfits come out of?> "also objected to Apple's > petition, noting that water, gas and electric utilities have invested > more than $360 million in radio equipment to operate in the > 1,850-1,990 MHz band." company'a annual rate ...> The utilities are among the major users of the 2 GHz fixed microwave band. Back before cheap fiber optics, a lot of companies had private radio systems there. Many still do. Utilities and railroads are the major users, since they have rights-of-way and lots of data to send. > "That investment - which supports roughly 2,000 licenses" > license. WOW! That's some AWFULLY expensive 2 Gigahertz microwave, > folks!> "-could be stranded if private microwave users are relocated > to other frequencies, resulting severe economic hardships, according > to the council." It's not cheap stuff. To build a microwave network, you need radios, towers, antennas, etc. The 2 GHz band has a longer hop range than the alternatives (higher frequencies). So a utility might stick one 2 GHz dish on a tower every 40-50 miles or so. If they were displaced to the 6 or 12 or 18 GHz ranges (and I'm not sure 12 is still available), then they'd need towers every 20-30 miles (at 6 GHz) or even closer. These don't come cheap! I don't think Apple really apreciates that. Voice and data PCNs are both neat ideas. But the private microwave users have a good case. You can't replace all radios with glass; glass is only suitable to high-density routes, and much private microwave crosses inhospitable terrain, mountain peak to peak. A huge amount of spectrum is reserved for government use, and the FCC currently only gets to divvy up the rest. It's not an easy business. Fred R. Goldstein Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA goldstein@delni.enet.dec.com voice: +1 508 952 3274 Do you think anyone else on the planet would share my opinions, let alone a multi-billion dollar corporation?