Outside of Dallas, a trio of communities have banded together to upgrade communications for their fire and police departments. The first responders of Cedar Hill, DeSoto and Duncanville are the ones pursuing the upgrade, according to The Dallas Morning News. The problem is, the tests are setting off radio controlled water sprinklers 30 miles away in Plano. The three communities think that public safety comes before watering plants, but it is no small or laughing matter for Plano, which spent $5M on its system. It’s taken its case to the FCC, where it is a pending matter.
RBR/TVBR observation: We again reiterate that we are not technical experts. But it strikes us that cautionary tales such as this may become more and more frequent in the event unlicensed devices are unleashed in white spaces between television stations, or if the FM dial is suddenly flooded with LPFMs just when FM incumbents are trying to get HD service established. The FCC should proceed with all due caution, unless it wants to spent the bulk of its time resolving interference disputes.
