Pursuant to the Public Notice of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration[1] (“the Notice”), t he United Telecom Council (“UTC”), Critical Infrastructure Communications Coalition (“CICC”), American Public Power Association (“APPA”), Edison Electric Institute (“EEI”), American Public Gas Association (APGA), National Association of Water Companies (NAWC), American Petroleum Institute (“API”), American Gas Association (AGA), Association of Oil Pipelines (AOPL), Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), American Electric Power Service Corporation and the Nuclear Energy Institute (collectively, the “Joint Commenters”) are pleased to offer their comments in the above-referenced matter. The American Water Works Association (“AWWA”) offers its support for these comments.

I. Executive Summary

The Joint Commenters collectively represent thousands of electric and gas utilities, gas pipelines, railroads, and water companies, both municipally and investor-owned, that make up the critical infrastructure of the United States. In spite of the differences among these many systems, there is an overriding similarity: critical infrastructure (CI) systems have extensive telecommunications requirements. The expansive nature of their infrastructure, whether it be transmission lines, water pumps, railroads or electric substations, requires maintenance, remote control and monitoring, and repair. Such needs can be met effectively only through telecommunications -- and traditionally, the most critical component in a CI entity’s telecommunications arsenal has been its wireless network.

In addition to needing access to wireless communications, CI entities have a separate requirement: control over the communications system, to ensure safety and reliability. This control can be satisfied only through the use of private radio spectrum.

These comments seek to provide useful information to NTIA about the details of CI wireless systems, and to answer the questions posed in the Notice. They focus on three primary points:

Critical infrastructure entities in the United States currently have no spectrum allocated exclusively for their use;
Commercial wireless services, while useful to meet some communications needs, are highly unlikely ever to offer the specialized coverage, service and reliability needs of critical infrastructure;
Due to energy deregulation, regulatory requirements and system growth, wireless systems will be increasingly important to critical infrastructure entities in the future.

II. Introduction

The Joint Commenters are pleased to participate in NTIA’s study of spectrum use by the CI service providers of the United States. The study is an important step in providing an understanding of how CI entities use spectrum today, as well as their likely needs in the future.

Since its formation in 1948, UTC has been the national representative on communications matters for the nation’s electric, gas, water and steam utilities and natural gas pipelines. UTC’s members provide public safety and public service-related services throughout the United States and its possessions. UTC’s members range in size from large combination electric-gas-water utilities that serve millions of customers, to smaller, rural electric cooperatives and water districts that serve only a few thousand customers each.

Formed in December 1999, CICC represents industries that operate telecommunications systems to maintain and protect the nation’s critical infrastructure, and includes representatives of the electric, gas, water, railroad and petroleum industries. CICC promotes legislative and regulatory policies that protect the internal communications systems of these vital industries. The energy, water and railroad industries have unique operational needs that make consistent and immediate access to spectrum a necessity. These industries affect the lives of every American, and disruptions to these industries’ communications capabilities can threaten public safety. The safe and reliable operation of the nation’s critical infrastructure depends on access to spectrum and protection from interference and encroachment by other users whose operations generally do not have the same urgent need for communications to protect large segments of the American population from harm. Among CICC’s participants are:

American Gas Association

American Petroleum Institute

American Public Power Association

American Water Works Association

Association of American Railroads

Association of Oil Pipe Lines

Edison Electric Institute

Interstate Natural Gas Association of America

National Association of Water Companies

United Telecom Council

APPA is the national service organization for more than 2,000 community and state-owned electric utilities. Municipalities own most public power systems, with others owned by counties, public utility districts, and states. While several large cities operate their own electric utilities, approximately three-quarters of APPA’s members serve rural communities with populations of less than 10,000. Public power systems serve nearly 40 million Americans in 49 states and U.S. territories and possessions and own approximately 12% of the total installed electric utility generating capacity in the United States.

The Edison Electric Institute is the association of the United States’s investor-owned electric utilities and their industry associates worldwide. Its U.S. members serve over 90 percent of all customers served by the shareholder segment of the U.S. industry. It frequently represents its U.S. members before Federal agencies, courts, and Congress in matters of common concern.

The American Public Gas Association is a nonprofit trade organization representing America's publicly owned natural gas local distribution companies (LDCs). APGA works closely with Congress, federal agencies and other natural gas groups to advance the safety and technology of public gas. In addition, the association provides training material, organizes seminars and workshops, and represents public gas nationally on issues of importance to public gas systems.

The National Association of Water Companies (NAWC) is the only national trade association that exclusively represents the private and investor-owned water utility industry. Its members provide safe, reliable drinking water to 22 million American across the country.

NAWC seeks to strengthen America’s investor-owned drinking water supply industry by affording its members the means to develop responses to federal legislative and state regulatory initiatives having broad impacts on the industry. The association’s relations with federal legislators and agency directors, as well as with public service commissions and staff, improve its members’ effectiveness in addressing common concerns of the industry.

Industry concerns range from federal legislation and water quality regulations to state regulatory decisions having broad implications. NAWC will continue to pursue:

· Favorable amendments to the SDWA;

· Favorable tax legislation;

· Involvement in state regulatory decisions that may set national precedent;

· Education of PUCs concerning the economic realities related to SDWA for investor owned utilities; and

· Sharing of information, through NAWC’s various publications.

Other associations and companies among the Joint Commenters represent the interests of gas and oil distribution pipelines, oil and gas producers, the U.S. nuclear energy industry, or are large regional power providers.

Additionally, attached as an appendix is company-specific information about spectrum use in both everyday and emergency situations. In addition to providing answers to NTIA’s questions posed in the Notice, in many cases these companies offer anecdotal evidence concerning problems arising from the requirements of sharing the spectrum; specific channels used; and basic equipment information and services provided on the equipment. This information was gathered from Joint Commenters’ member companies who wished to participate in this important study, but who were not, due to lack of resources or other reasons, able to submit separate comments.[2]

All of these entities either are themselves, or represent, companies and municipalities making up the critical infrastructure of the United States and using spectrum to carry out a wide variety of functions. All are vitally interested in the future availability and viability of spectrum and will be impacted directly by any actions taken pursuant to NTIA’s conclusions and recommendations in this matter. Thus, all entities represented in these comments are qualified to participate in this proceeding. In addition to these comments, the Joint Commenters look forward to a continuing dialogue with NTIA as it moves forward toward completion of this important study, and will be happy to provide what further information may be required.

III. Background

In December 2000, Congress passed Public Law 106-553, containing a provision directing the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to submit to Congress a study of the current and future use of spectrum by providers of energy, water and railroad services to protect and maintain the nation's critical infrastructure. Pursuant to that directive, NTIA is conducting an investigation of current and future use of radio frequency spectrum in the United States by providers of energy, water and railroad services. The report will examine the current and emerging technology trends affecting the use of the radio spectrum.

NTIA has requested commenters to respond to the following questions:

               1. How much spectrum is presently available for the energy, water and railroad industries?

               2. In which spectrum bands and in which radio services do these industries operate radio communications equipment?

               3. What kinds of spectrum-dependent telecommunications equipment are currently being used by the energy, water and railroad industries?

               4. Are there non-spectrum dependent alternative technologies or commercial services currently available?

               5. What part of the spectrum do the energy, water and railroad industries foresee for possible future use? What is the rationale for these additional spectrum requirements?

6. What non-spectrum dependent communications technologies or commercial alternatives will be available in the future for the energy, water and railroad industries?

NTIA’s conclusions and recommendations from this study are to be published in a final report, to be presented to Congress within twelve months after passage of the statute. The report will also be presented to the FCC for appropriate action on its recommendations.

IV. Discussion

All critical infrastructure entities depend on reliable and secure communications to assist them in carrying out their internal system operations and obligations to provide service to the public. The Joint Commenters’ members rely on technology implemented in the Private Land Mobile Radio Service (PLMRS), the Multiple Address Service (MAS), Fixed Microwave Service and others to provide a variety of critical services, including voice and data communications and control and monitoring of power, water and pipeline distribution systems. These systems utilize allocations in the frequency bands below 50 MHz, 150-174 MHz, 450-470 MHz, 470-512 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz bands. Microwave systems can be located on various bands between 900 MHz and 19 GHz or higher.

The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, in a 1996 report, noted the wide uses and importance of private wireless systems, including those of critical infrastructure.[3] The FCC noted that private radio system use dates back more than 70 years, with various types of industries using private systems for a variety of purposes, and the systems themselves operating on a number of different frequency bands. Though there are general commonalities across private wireless services and systems, such as a common base of infrastructure equipment, each entity has unique needs, and the different frequency bands used have different technical characteristics.[4] Consequently, “private radio systems are often customized to meet the specialized and unique needs of the entity that owns and operates the system. Thus, there is no “typical” private system or private system user. Likewise, it is more appropriate to think of the private wireless entities as a collection of user groups with varying communication needs rather than as a one-dimensional ‘industry’.”[5]

The Wireless Bureau specifically noted the importance of private wireless systems to critical infrastructure: “Utility companies, railroad and other transportation providers, and other infrastructure-related companies, use their systems to provide vital day-to-day control of their systems (including both control and monitoring, as well as routine maintenance and repair), and also to respond to emergencies and disasters – often working with public safety agencies.[6]

Wireless services and systems in general continue to change, grow and develop. The advent and growth of new commercial mobile radio services (CMRS) such as cellular, Personal Communications Services (PCS), enhanced specialized mobile radio (SMR), paging, and now mobile satellite services, have raised questions within government about the need for radio services dedicated to serving private needs. However, Congress recognized the dependence of the nation’s infrastructure on the use of spectrum, and the importance of continued access to non-commercial spectrum to critical infrastructure entities, in 1997, when it specifically added utilities and pipelines to its definition of “public safety radio services,” those internal wireless services that would continue to be exempt from the requirement that they acquire new spectrum through competitive bidding.[7]

The Joint Commenters are unaware of any previous federal study of spectrum use by CII. The results of this study are crucial to future safety and security efficiency of critical infrastructure. The Joint Commenters have therefore examined the spectrum uses and needs of the members of the CI industries and the technical, competitive, and regulatory environment that exists. We believe that these comments will provide detailed, specific, real-world information about the use of spectrum by critical infrastructure entities.

Three major points arose during our collection of information for these comments:

I. There is no exclusive spectrum allocated to critical infrastructure entity use. This condition marks a significant difference between the status of CI systems and the often closely related Public Safety systems.

II. The increasing development of commercial wireless systems and services offer some opportunities to meet non-essential CI spectrum needs. However, commercial wireless systems are unlikely ever to satisfy the broad range of CII spectrum requirements, especially for emergency and control purposes.

III. Given increases in demand, deregulation and other factors, spectrum use will be increasingly important to the reliability, safety and security of the Nation’s critical infrastructure in coming years.

A. There is no exclusive spectrum allocated to critical infrastructure entity use.

There is no wireless spectrum allocated exclusively for internal use by critical infrastructure entities, and therefore, no existing spectrum that can be used without the danger of harmful interference from other users. ALL current wireless spectrum used by these entities is in frequency bands shared with other wireless services such as taxi fleets and general service businesses.

The congestion arising on traditional private radio frequency bands worsens each year. The industry estimates that these bands now house more than one half-million licenses, with upwards of twenty million end users. While some industry associations charged with managing the spectrum through frequency coordination (including some of the Joint Commenters) do their best to minimize overlapping, incompatible systems and the resulting interference, the demand for these channels continues to increase. Further, other entities representing general business users simply (and understandably) do not have CI interests in mind. Given the existing FCC Rules, there is no means by which CI associations can protect existing critical systems on these bands, let alone meet future needs.

1. Frequency Bands

CI entities use frequencies across a wide range of licensed and unlicensed bands; however, systems are most often found in the 150-174 MHz PLMR service (VHF), 450-512 MHz PLMR service (UHF), 806-821/851-866 MHz PLMR service, 896-901/935-940 MHz PLMR service, 902-928 MHz and 2.4/5 GHz unlicensed bands, 928/932/941/952/956/959 MHz Multiple Address Service, and on microwave links from 2 GHz to 19 GHz or higher. Each of these bands has a slightly different regulatory structure. CI systems enjoy some slight protection on some of these frequencies; however, all of these bands are shared with non-CI users.

a. 150-512 MHz PLMR

The most commonly used frequency bands for both routine and emergency voice communications, as well as many data applications, are the 150-512 MHz PLMR channel pools. These frequencies have been allocated for private, internal communications use for decades: their default status is for shared use, meaning that multiple users may be licensed at a single location, or with overlapping coverage areas.[8] There are hundreds of thousands of licenses and millions of end users on these bands, considered the workhorse frequencies for all of private wireless across the country, from taxi services to manufacturing complexes to utilities and police.

For many years, PLMR frequencies in these bands were allocated to up to twenty individual Private Radio services, including the Power Radio Service, Petroleum Radio Service and Railroad Radio Service. In 1986, the FCC codified long-standing industry practice by assigning a Frequency Advisory Committee (“FAC” or “frequency coordinator”) to each service. Applicants in particular industries were expected to license and build systems on those frequencies allocated for their use, and concurrence from the frequency coordinator of another service was required prior to licensing a system in a different frequency pool.

This regulatory system changed drastically as a result of the FCC’s “refarming” proceeding, PR Docket 92-235.[9] In a series of decisions designed to expand capacity on these heavily used frequencies, the Commission created a new channel bandplan for PLMR frequencies between 150-512 MHz, including narrower frequencies offset from the original 25 kHz or 30 kHz channels. Most tellingly for CI entities, the refarming proceeding resulted in the consolidation of the twenty private radio services into two pools: Public Safety and Industrial/Business. CI frequencies formerly allocated to the Power, Petroleum and Railroad services were included in the Industrial/Business (I/B) pool.[10]

Under the new rules, in effect since 1997, all entities eligible for those services consolidated into the I/B frequency pool are eligible for all frequencies in the pool. However, CI entities did receive some limited means of protecting critical systems: the FAC formerly responsible for a Power, Petroleum, Railroad (and more recently, Auto Emergency) frequency formerly allocated exclusively to that pool must still coordinate the application, or consent to another coordinator’s processing the application.[11] This limited spectrum management responsibility has allowed CI coordinators to try to protect critical incumbent systems by choosing the least-used frequency available; however, it does not prevent the licensing and construction of incompatible systems near CI communications infrastructure.

Recently, the FCC has provided some limited protection for systems operating on frequencies formerly shared by Power, Petroleum, Railroad and Auto Emergency services.[12] Where a proposed new system’s projected coverage area would overlap an incumbent system, concurrence is now required from the incumbent licensee or the frequency’s former coordinator. [13] Concurrence cannot be denied without a written showing that the proposed new system would cause a “demonstrable material adverse effect on specific safety-related communications.”[14] This measure, also, provides only limited protection to critical systems.

The 150-470 MHz PLMR frequencies are increasingly congested, not only in major metropolitan areas, but across the country. Moreover, their popularity will continue, as they are among the only PLMR frequencies still available for licensing by all of private, and some commercial, wireless eligibles without entering and winning an FCC spectrum auction.[15] The Joint Commenters, especially those certified as FACs, are aware of increasing instances of harmful interference between systems on these frequencies as the number of systems continues to increase. In spite of attempts to work together, the private wireless industry has no doubt that such interference will continue to escalate as more systems are added, especially as analog and digital systems attempt to co-exist and the overlapping, offset frequencies of the refarming bandplan are put to use. The 150-470 MHz frequencies have been the primary home of CI voice systems, but they cannot be the only available home in future without substantial risks to the safety, security and reliability of CI infrastructure and personnel.

b. 806-821/851-866 MHz and

896-901/935-940 MHz PLMR

Pools of frequencies for Business and Industrial/Land Transportation use were created in the 800 MHz and 900 MHz land mobile frequency bands in the 1970s and 1980s. Again, CI entities are eligible for these frequencies, but share them with all private wireless users other than traditional Public Safety services.[16] 800 MHz frequencies have a channel bandwidth of 25 kHz, while 900 MHz frequencies are allocated at 12.5 kHz.

The major difference between these PLMR frequencies and those in lower bands is that 800/900 MHz channels are licensed on an exclusive basis; i.e., “first-come, first-served.”[17] Base stations are licensed using mileage separation criteria. Radio signals do not travel as far on higher frequencies; therefore, some CI entities find 800/900 MHz PLMR frequencies less desirable due to the need for more base stations to provide coverage to the same geographic area. However, the ability to have exclusive use of frequencies has made these channels extremely popular, and few are available for licensing in other than remote areas.

c. Unlicensed Bands

Part 15 of the FCC’s Rules makes some frequencies in the 902-928 MHz band available for a variety of services on an unlicensed basis, and these frequencies are heavily used for low-power services. Along with cordless telephones and other consumer wireless products, CI entities make use of the 902-928 MHz unlicensed band, usually purchasing services provided by another entity.[18] As mentioned by Consumer’s Energy of Michigan and Portland General Electric (see Appendix), this band is used by at least one provider of automated meter reading services; there are also other internal wireless data services provided on these frequencies. Also, some CI entities use unlicensed spread spectrum in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands for data functions (see Appendix).

Due to the heavy and varied use of the bands, unlicensed spectrum generally is not appropriate for emergency communications or other functions where 100% reliability or system control is needed.

d. Multiple Address Service

Many CI entities rely on 900 MHz private, internal multiple address service (MAS) frequencies for extremely critical control functions that require point-to-multipoint configurations. These frequencies are especially favored for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems.

These systems allow a user to control and monitor equipment without having to deploy staff where the equipment is located. Additionally, they provide for very fast monitoring; usually the master can poll all remotes in a matter of seconds. These systems are point-to-multipoint networks usually configured in a “star” architecture. In each area, one “master” station communicates with multiple Remote Terminal Units (RTUs).[19]

SCADA systems are a critical part of CI architecture, especially for water companies and power utilities. Their ability both to control and monitor critical functions enables CI entities to avert problems and repair deficiencies rapidly and efficiently (see, e.g., Comments of Southern Company in Appendix).

The FCC split its original MAS allocation into frequencies for commercial use, licensed via auctions, and for private, internal use. Because of their suitability for SCADA and other data functions, the private, internal MAS frequencies are in heavy demand, and are not readily available in many areas.

e. Fixed Microwave Service

The WTB’s 1996 PLMR Paper offers a succinct description of terrestrial fixed wireless use by private wireless entities:

In addition to their mobile operations, many private companies, public utilities, and state and local governments, also make extensive use of Private Operational-Fixed Microwave Systems. These systems connect specific locations in either a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint configuration, and can carry or relay voice, data (including teletype, telemetering, facsimile, and other digital communications), and video communications. Such fixed links often connect mobile radio base stations or far-flung offices, but are also used for a variety of other purposes, including to operate unattended equipment; open and close switches or valves; record data such as pressure, temperature, or speed of machines; telemeter voltage and current in power lines; and perform other control or monitoring functions, such as would be necessary for pipelines, railroads, and highways.[20]

Many CI microwave links have been in place for many years; especially in areas of rough terrain, microwave offers the best, if not only, means of covering long distances with reliable communications. Traditionally, CI links were found on the lower microwave bands, such as 960 MHz and 2-4 GHz;[21] however, the overwhelming pressure for spectrum in recent years has forced relocation of many such links to higher frequency bands. For example, the FCC permitted forced relocation of microwave incumbents to accommodate new licensees in both the broadband PCS and mobile satellite services.[22]

The CI industries have had limited success in obtaining additional spectrum to improve microwave systems. Optimal service frequencies below 10 GHz are becoming harder to come by, especially with the loss of the 2 GHz band to emerging technologies and the difficulty in persuading other users to relinquish their “growth” channels. There appears to be an abundance of 10 GHz and 18 GHz spectrum, but these channels are highly susceptible to rain fades, which is especially critical to utilities that have to remotely monitor critical sites and maintain communications during storm situations with heavy rains. Moreover, as links move into higher frequencies, communications distances become much shorter, necessitating more links across the same terrain. Additionally, links become much more difficult to engineer at high frequencies, making the higher bands less reliable and much less desirable to CI operations.

2. Interference and Additional Spectrum

In accordance with the 1997 Congressional directive, the FCC determined in November 2000 that CI non-commercial, internal wireless services should be classified as “public safety radio services.” [23] However, the FCC has not identified any spectrum to be made available for such entities, and has not made these entities eligible for traditional public safety (i.e., police and fire) spectrum. While recognition is appreciated that CI entities should be exempt from a requirement that they obtain all new spectrum via auction, such an exemption is meaningless without access to spectrum. Moreover, the FCC in its BBA Decision stated that it believes that it retains the authority to allocate “Public Safety” spectrum according to the former, traditional Public Safety definition, which excludes CI. The Joint Commenters oppose this conclusion in general.[24]

PLMR users continue to experience increasing levels of ambient noise on various frequency bands, as well as harmful interference (see Appendix). Notwithstanding the FCC’s public safety radio services determination for critical infrastructure, UTC has noted in previous comments that, “adjacent channel interference remains a threat to the safe and reliable operation of utilities and pipelines”[25] As private wireless spectrum grows more congested, there are increasing reports of harmful interference to energy activities, including critical power restoration. As the FCC has correctly recognized, utilities and pipelines are critical, public safety-related services that use radio “to respond to emergencies that could be extremely dangerous to the general public;”[26] and services for which ”[a]ny failure in their ability to communicate by radio could have severe consequences on the public welfare.”[27] However, in spite of acknowledging the importance of CI systems, the FCC has refused to provide them protection. In its November 2000 BBA decision, the Commission denied the CI industry’s repeated calls for a third, Public Service frequency pool in the refarmed bands.[28]

Given the FCC’s acknowledgement of the critical nature of utility and pipeline communications, the FCC must not wait until these severe, life-threatening consequences occur before enacting sufficient protections, in the form of spectrum protected from harmful interference from incompatible uses. The Joint Commenters are extremely concerned that interruption of energy company communications, either voice or data, could lead to tragic consequences.

The Joint Commenters recognize that spectrum is scarce, and that demand is high. However, the security and reliability of the nation’s infrastructure desperately depends on a small amount of exclusive spectrum to meet future needs and permit protection of key systems.

In 1998, UTC, with the help of many key utility members, published an industry study that sought to assess the need for additional utility spectrum.[29] Using historical data, UTC’s Utilities Spectrum Assessment Taskforce extrapolated a need for 6.3 MHz of protected spectrum for utility voice and data communications by 2010.[30] Compared with spectrum demands for new commercial services, or even the amount of new spectrum recently provided to traditional Public Safety services, this is not a large allocation. The importance of some allocation for CI growth perhaps arises more from a promise of protected status – now provided nowhere – than from total bandwidth. Due to heavy use of existing shared allocations, the Joint Commenters reluctantly assume that any protected spectrum must come through a new allocation.

At this time, the Joint Commenters do not offer a specific recommendation concerning the appropriate amount of new spectrum; however, a small allocation will be necessary. We anticipate that the development of efficient technologies and use of the spectrum for compatible and even shared CI systems would permit maximum use in minimum bandwidth. The Joint Commenters look forward to discussing this issue, as well as possible frequency bands, with NTIA and the FCC.

B. Commercial service providers cannot meet the unique and varied needs of critical infrastructure entities.

CI licensees are not in the communications business and do not derive their profits from providing communications services. Rather, as described above and in the Appendix, CI entities use radio as a tool to provide vital day-to-day control of their systems and to respond to emergencies and disasters. As such, their perspective is entirely different from that of CMRS providers such as PCS, cellular, and SMR operators who sell their services as the end product.

This difference in purpose is significant because it has historically been the foundation of different developments of networks and services. Unfortunately, the FCC’s authority to auction commercial wireless spectrum, coupled with the initial demand for consumer voice services, also led to a wide disparity in frequency allocations and regulatory treatments afforded to the different communities. There have been no new private wireless allocations in the past fifteen years, compared with well over 200 MHz allocated to commercial services since 1993.

1. Unique Characteristics of Private Wireless Systems

The transmission and distribution of gas and electricity pose unique problems. The two commodities are inherently hazardous and require "real-time" control to effectively administer them. Water systems also require substantial control: loss of water supply to an urban area, community or to the site of a fire could cause disastrous consequences. It also goes without saying that a water main break needs to be addressed in short order.

Private wireless users, especially CI entities, have long noted the inability of commercial providers to meet their essential communications needs.

In the 1998 USAT Final Report, UTC noted:

One serious shortcoming of commercial service providers is that they often do not provide service throughout the utility service territory. For example, a cellular operator may deem it unprofitable to deploy sites in remote areas where usage is likely to be little if not nonexistent . . .[A]nother shortcoming of commercial systems is that they may not be designed to the exacting tolerances required in the daily operation of a utility system. Often response times of milliseconds [ms] are required to avert disasters catastrophic in nature. For example, high-speed teleprotection systems require 20 ms or less response times. Many event-monitoring systems require a resolution of 1 ms . . . [C]ommercial systems, designed for voice traffic, may not be designed to these robust standards. [31]

There is also a sense on the part of some entities that if they were to use commercial systems, they would have to adapt or re-engineer their production and/or business process to match the capabilities of the commercial service provider, something most companies are not willing to do for fear of losing productivity.[32]

Control of the communications system is very critical during heavy storms and other serious weather events. In these situations, commercial systems become saturated with traffic or even weather-damaged, and, as a result, experience outages. Additionally, because commercial systems must provide indiscriminate service to the general public, there is no priority access to the system for customers engaged in critical public service.[33] CI entities have no greater likelihood of gaining access to a channel than the average subscriber. It is precisely during these natural weather events that utilities require unencumbered, clear radio channels to address downed lines and other power outage problems. Further complicating matters is the fact that most commercial systems depend upon reliable power to keep their systems running. If power is interrupted, these communications systems will be interrupted also, further impeding progress on power restoration. Private communications networks ensure that utility systems are brought back on line in the most timely manner possible; for example, power utility wireless systems are often located at or near electrical substations, and thus can remain “on the air” when commercial, and even traditional Public Safety, systems fail.

There is also the issue of cost. Private systems are economically efficient and contribute to increased efficiency, lower costs of production and business. Forcing CI entities to use commercial entities -- which must recoup the costs of spectrum acquisition through auctions and construction of infrastructure, and make a profit -- not only would reduce their coverage and effectiveness, and thus the safety of their systems, but would add significantly to overall costs. In an era of industry deregulation and corresponding pressure to lower consumer rates, CI entities subject to local and state regulation would find it extremely difficult to win approval of such expenditures.

2. Regulatory Requirements

There are numerous Federal agency regulations affecting CI operations, such as the power restoration requirements cited above. In addition, some regulations effectively mandate the use of radio to meet safety requirements. For example, the Department of Transportation’s Office of Pipeline Safety’s regulations state:

Section 195.408 Communications. (a) Each operator must have a communication system to provide for the transmission of information needed for the safe operation of its pipeline system. (b) The communication system required by paragraph (a) of this section must, as a minimum, include means for: (1) Monitoring operational data as required by Sec. 195.402(c)(9); (2) Receiving notices from operator personnel, the public, and public authorities of abnormal or emergency conditions and sending this information to appropriate personnel or government agencies for corrective action; (3) Conducting two-way vocal communication between a control center and the scene of abnormal operations and emergencies; and (4) Providing communication with fire, police, and other appropriate public officials during emergency conditions, including a natural disaster.[34]

Regulations such as these necessitate a higher level of performance than commercial services can generally provide.

3. Use of Commercial Services

As noted by several contributors in the Appendix, CI entities do use commercial providers when they find it economical and safe to do so. This is particularly true for non-emergency voice communications. For example, First Energy notes that it leases facilities from wireline carriers, while NiSource is among those CI entities using cellular or PCS for some mobile communications (see Appendix). Such use, especially of wireless service, is expected to increase as commercial services move beyond basic consumer voice service into niche services designed to meet industrial needs, particularly for data transmission.

CI entities are not opposed to commercial services. They have, however, witnessed a strong regulatory preference in recent years for commercial wireless services while their own vital need for additional spectrum – critical to keep the country powered, with safe water and efficient transportation – goes ignored. While new commercial telecommunications services offer exciting opportunities, the inherent differences in purpose, perspective and coverage of commercial services ensure that they will never meet all the needs of CI entities.

C. Spectrum use will be increasingly important to the Nation’s Critical Infrastructure in coming years.

The key to any discussion of energy is reliability. Energy utilities consider the reliable – both constant and consistent -- provision of power as their primary mission. It was the need for reliable production and transmission that led utilities to become some of the first users of wireless telecommunications some 50 years ago. Utilities now rely heavily on radio communications systems that they must own and operate themselves to ensure that they meet their needs at all times.

As the world of telecommunications continues its rapid change, CI industries are going through extreme change, as well. Railroads are merging and upgrading technology; the energy industry faces deregulation simultaneously with sharp increases in demand. While individual states currently are re-examining their rapid push toward energy deregulation in the wake of California’s serious difficulties, the overall trend is not expected to end. Most states eventually are expected to end monopoly power generation, transmission and sales in favor of a competitive environment; many have already done so.

CI entities will deal with the challenges imposed by forced disaggregation of their traditional functions. However, in spite of power generation, distribution and retail sales in a given market coming from different companies, the overall system must continue to operate smoothly. That means continued constant control and monitoring, and ideally, integrated communications systems among various portions of the network.

In an era of deregulation, CI’s reliance on wireless telecommunications (voice, data, fixed, mobile) becomes ever more important to reliable, efficient production and distribution of energy. Increased interoperability is also very important as the industry becomes more diverse and fragmented, while different sectors retain the need to communicate rapidly and reliably with each other. Wireless systems have proved themselves the best option for most CI communications functions. Thus, the Joint Commenters believe strongly that CI dependence on wireless will only grow as these industries change and develop.

In May 2001, the National Energy Policy Development Group (NEPD), directed by the President to “develop a national energy policy designed to help the private sector, and, as necessary and appropriate, State and local governments, promote dependable, affordable, and environmentally sound production and distribution of energy for the future,” released its findings and key recommendations for a National Energy Policy. The report is in response to principle challenges the United States faces, namely: 1) promoting energy conservation, 2) repairing and modernizing our energy infrastructure, and 3) increasing our energy supplies in ways that protect and improve the environment.[35]

While not the direct focus of the report, UTC believes that the energy-related telecommunications issues outlined above are of critical concern, adding to the current “energy situation” and even posing a future danger. The submissions offered by CI entities in the Appendix show clearly that the improved infrastructure called for by the Administration is dependent on the telecommunications functions that are an integral part of systems. CI entities are committed to improving their networks to improve their services; more and better spectrum use will be a key part of that effort.

V. Conclusion

The Joint Commenters welcome NTIA’s study of spectrum use by critical infrastructure industries, believed to be the first such effort by the federal government. The Joint Commenters stress that critical infrastructure currently has no exclusively allocated or protected spectrum for its essential communications functions, but shares many widely dispersed frequency bands with all private wireless users. CI entities use commercial wireless providers for non-essential communications services, and will continue to do so; however, the Joint Commenters do not believe that commercial systems will ever, or could, be configured to meet all critical infrastructure communications needs. Finally, deregulation and the continued growth in demand for reliable CI service will inevitably result in increased dependence on the spectrum–based systems that already serve the nation’s infrastructure. The Joint Commenters look forward to continued discussions with NTIA concerning these issues, and will be pleased to offer any additional information possible.

Appendix

The following submissions are made by member companies of one or more of the Joint Commenters. Members were requested to provide company-specific answers to the questions posed in the NTIA’s Public Notice, along with anecdoctal evidence concerning their use of wireless systems and services.

Ameren

Spectrum Requirements for Distribution Automation

Electric utilities are becoming increasingly dependent on Distribution Automation to provide safe, reliable electrical service to their customers. The ability to reconfigure distribution circuits remotely and/or automatically and to collect data from remote sites provides significant benefits to the public. Service can be restored in seconds or minutes as opposed to hours. This obviously not only improves reliability but more importantly improves safety to our customers and the public at large. The reliability of electric power has become a major factor in the well being of the economy in the United States. For both public safety and economic health of the United States, electric utilities must have spectrum readily available to allow them to provide this essential service to the American public. Without the availability of licensed RF utilities will be greatly handicapped in their ability to maintain and improve the reliability of the electric distribution system.

The application of automation on utility distribution systems is still in its early stages. New technologies and equipment are coming on the market each year. As utilities become aware of these new technologies and understand how to incorporate them into the distributions systems the need for additional frequencies will increase. If these frequencies are not available utilities will not be able to integrate these types of technologies into their systems. A situation where frequencies are very limited or not available at all will greatly impact the ability of utilities to provide safe, dependable electric service to their communities and may impact the over all economic growth of the United States.

Ameren and other utilities are also part of the Civil Defense Network and Emergency Management System. DA is an important tool that can be utilized by these systems in cases of emergencies.

Licensed RF is the most effective, cost efficient, and reliable way to communicate to remote switching devices used for DA. It is critical that more spectrum be reserved to accommodate larger and more complex DA networks.

Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE)

Responses to NTIA Notice questions:

1. no further comment to UTC information

2. We at BGE operate in the 150, 450, 800 and 900 MHz one way paging, load control, and two way mobile radio bands and the 4 and 6, 10 and 18 GHz Microwave bands.

3. 150 MHz Emergency Paging, 900Mhz Power System restoring automation. 450 and 800 MHz two-way simulcast emergency restoring mobile radio. 4, 6, 10, 18 GHz Microwave Radio for power system protection and power system control.

4. NO NO NO and if that wasn't clear..... NO, NO, NO. There are no alternative services that can be leased that would work in each of these areas because during times of weather emergencies such as severe storms and hurricanes the public systems are of no use since they are not always operating. Fiber technologies are prone to the same issues as leased copper or fiber services. Trees fall on fiber lines just as easily as they do on copper while going from point to point. In fact, we do use fiber routes as well as microwave; however, only in redundant configuration which is extremely expensive.

We would like to see the lower bands be freed up for use for power services -- more 150, 450, and 800 900 MHz bandwidth freed up for power utility use. The best penetrations occur at the 150 MHz band. If we had more bandwidth and more frequencies for the deployment of SCADA and other control functions it would be much less expensive. The non-licensed 2.4 GHz Spread Spectrum band is nearly useless in suburban areas today. A licensed spread spectrum band would be useful in the 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz band for protection of these small industrial generators now making their appearances on many power networks.

6. More utilization of fiber-based technology.

Remember, there has to always be licensed exclusive-use spectrum for protection and emergency restoration use by all Utilities. Leased services always fall short in times of need. Actually, why the Electric and Gas utilities are not considered public safety has always been a mystery to me. How safe is an arcing, better yet, a live feeder on the ground that is NOT arcing immediately after a storm?

Central Electric Power Cooperative

1. How much spectrum is presently available for the energy, water and railroad industries?

Answer: Central Electric Power Cooperative owns and operates an extensive RF communications system consisting of microwave and vhf systems. These RF communications systems play a critical role in the delivery of electrical power to eight distribution Cooperatives in 27 counties in central Missouri. Central is the electrical transmission link in a central Missouri Cooperative system that delivers power to about 120,000 electric meters.

1. In which spectrum bands and in which radio services do these industries operate radio communications equipment?

Answer: Central operates RF systems in the 48 MHz, 153 MHz, 457 MHz, 650 MHz, 2 GHZ, and 6 GHz spectrum bands. The radio services include Private Land Mobile, Private Fixed Microwave, and MAS. Central currently holds 100 FCC licenses, which cover hundreds of transmitters.

2. What kinds of spectrum – dependent telecommunications equipment are currently being used by the energy, water and railroad industries?

Answer: Central’s telecommunications equipment include vhf voice radios, 6 GHz and 2 GHz 300 channel analog microwave baseband radios, MAS radios for use with SCADA, load control radios, and multi-channel 960 MHz radios for voice and data channels.

3. Are there any non- – spectrum dependent alternative technologies or commercial services currently available?

Answer: In certain limited situations non-spectrum alternative technologies do exist, such as fiber optics. The majority of Central’s communication links are best suited for RF spectrum technologies due to the very high installation cost of fiber and the associated optical equipment.

Central’s reliance on interference free RF spectrum continues to grow just as people continue to demand high quality, reliable electrical power. Areas that are critical to Central everyday are as follows:

Collection of real time operating data from electrical substations.
Voice communications with field crews during routine maintenance operations.
Voice communications with repair crews during emergency weather conditions.
Command and control of the transmission system during periods of peak electric loads.
Control of electrical load control devices to save electricity during peak demand periods.

Allan D. Johnston, P.E.

Central Electric Power Cooperative

P.O. box 269

Jefferson City, MO 65102

Cinergy Corporation

How much spectrum is presently available for the energy, water, and railroad industries?

Not much due to spectrum auctions. While utilities were recently included in the arena of public safety, there was no spectrum allocated. We are attempting to obtain additional 800 MHz channels in the Business and Industrial Land Transportation Band. There may still be 6 GHz microwave channels available.

In which spectrum bands and in which radio services do these industries operate radio communications equipment?

· 800 MHz Business Industrial Land Transportation Band (YO & GO)

800 MHz General Category (GO)
150 & 450 MHz Industrial Business Category (IB & IW)
150 MHz Ship Communications (SHIP)
450 MHz Industrial Power Category (IW)
900 MHz Microwave Category (MG)
900 MHz Unlicensed Spread Spectrum
2 GHz & 6 GHz Microwave Category (MG)
11 GHz Microwave Category (MG)
2 GHz & 5 GHz Unlicensed Spread Spectrum

What kinds of spectrum-dependent telecommunications equipment are currently being used by the energy, water and railroad industries?

2 Way Radio
Private Paging
Electric and Gas Distribution System Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA)
Generation Control
Generation Scheduling & Dispatch
Electric System Protective Relaying via Private Microwave
Computer Aided Dispatch to computers in Field Service Trucks (Mobile Data)
Electrical Feeder Lockout Alarms
Residential & Business Meter Reading – Real Time Pricing, Load Shedding Verification
Phone Service
Automatic Ringdown & Dial Dispatch Service in event of public network failure
Data Network Communications to computers and servers

Are there non-spectrum dependent alternative technologies or commercial services currently available?

Public Telephone Network – phone service, analog & digital special circuits

i. 2002 & 3002 analog for phone, radio, and SCADA

ii. T1 digital for data network and combining several analog services where it’s deemed cost effective

iii. ISDN (in some areas)

iv. ADSL (in some areas)

Long Distance Services
Internet Service Providers
Virtual Private Network Services
Fiber – own, lease, or joint venture

What part of the spectrum do the energy, water and railroad industries foresee for possible future use? What is the rationale for these additional spectrum requirements?

6 GHz, 11 GHz – Our company has migrated some hops from analog to digital microwave. Since analog microwave equipment is no longer manufactured, we desire to migrate the remaining analog system to digital also. We’re receiving requests from power plants and field offices for digital network services which analog microwave cannot provide. It will help us gain bandwidth efficiency and increase our capacity.

800 MHz – Our Company is creating a business case for a new cohesive radio system based on the iDEN technology. As we migrate to competition, we’ve seen a major increase of web-based applications requiring increased network bandwidth. It is desired to have applications such as Service Dispatch (Mobile Data), Global Positioning Satellite (GPS), Real Time Pricing (remote meter reading), & Distribution Substation SCADA. Our company has a Digital Utility initiative working, where customers can do things such as schedule service and obtain their account information via the Internet.

What non-spectrum dependent communications technologies or commercial alternatives will be available in the future for the energy, water and railroad industries?

Fiber

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS / DETAILS

Cinergy was formed with the merger of two utilities, Cincinnati Gas & Electric & PSI Energy in October 1994. Cinergy has about 1.2 million customers. PSI Energy has about 31 hops of analog and 19 hops of digital microwave covering about 22,000 square miles in Indiana. They also have an 800 MHz conventional radio system with 65 sites. Cincinnati Gas & Electric has about 21 hops of analog and 2 hops of digital microwave covering about 3,000 square miles in Ohio, Indiana, & Kentucky. They have an 800 MHz trunked simulcast radio system with 9 sites.

Much of PSI Energy’s service territory is rural. It covers all 10 of the established telephone company Local Access Transport Areas (LATAs). There are at least 30 Local Exchange Carriers in Indiana (36 listed in 1997). Cincinnati Gas & Electric covers around 3000 square miles of the Greater Cincinnati Area. There are about 4 Local Exchange Carriers and about 4 LATA boundaries. Any public carrier special circuits that have to cross a LATA boundary have to be routed through a long distance provider at a significantly higher cost. Routing the circuit through the existing private microwave network normally pays for itself in less than a year.

Cinergy is experiencing a major increase in communications needs. Some sources are expansion of the existing transmission and distribution electric and gas systems, increase in merchant power plants, centralizing operations, and data network connections to outlying field offices and trucks. Much of this expansion is in the rural areas. We are finding that the smaller rural exchange carriers are not experienced in installing and maintaining the special circuits we require. There are special protection issues and address issues for 911 requirements to connect to the public network. Our construction lead times get increased about 10-12 weeks, which doesn’t set well with our deregulated environment. There are web-based applications coming out that allow the customer to schedule service and look up account information. It is inevitable that data communications will be required in the field trucks. This will increase efficiency and reduce cost.

Cinergy is experiencing a decrease of public network service reliability. The “last mile” public network infrastructure in many areas is deteriorated with nothing in the short term to remedy the situation. One of the major carriers is being penalized by the Public Service Commissions for poor service and response times. Too often, it is taking days to weeks to get critical circuits repaired by the public phone company. Our own technicians too often have to prove the problem is theirs and troubleshoot it for them. There appears to be no accountability for these circuits to be repaired quickly. There appears to be no incentive at this time for other competitive providers to extend fiber and other services to the rural areas because of expense and few potential customers.

We have installed cellular type dial-up SCADA devices in several of our substations. We are finding in storm restoration situations that we are competing with public users and are not able to get through to these devices.

Cinergy is preparing business cases to replace the radio systems with one cohesive system and the remaining analog microwave hops with digital. This will help us be more efficient with our bandwidth and increase our service capabilities.

In summary, as Cinergy is preparing for competition, there is an increased need for communications. The public network at this time is not able to provide services at the reliability utilities need, especially during storm damage situations. The current Cinergy radio systems are at the end of their life span and are not capable of meeting the future needs. The analog microwave hops are not capable of carrying our data network needs. Non-spectrum based solutions are too costly to install because of the wide territory served. Obtaining more spectrum will allow us to increase our efficiency in service, especially restorations, reduce our dependence on unreliable public networks, and allow us to be more accessible to our customers.

Colorado Springs Utilities

Comments of Colorado Springs Utilities concerning spectrum availability and future requirements.

Colorado Springs Utilities is a municipally owned utility serving combined services to approximately 550,000 customers in the Colorado Springs metropolitan area. This area is generally Western El Paso and Eastern Teller counties.

1. How much spectrum is available for the energy, water and railroad industries?

The City of Colorado Springs which is in the County of El Paso, Colorado. El Paso County is positioned along the front range of the Rocky Mountains between the Cities of Denver, Boulder, Aurora and others to the North, and Pueblo, Pueblo West and Colorado City to the South. Because of the propagation characteristics of radio waves, especially VHF, the number of channels available to the Colorado Springs Metropolitan area is reduced due to interference. The 800 MHz and 900 MHz bands are not always available, due to channel sharing requirements.

The 150-160 MHz, 450-470 MHz and 800-1000 MHz frequencies and channels are essentially used. A usable frequency or frequency pair can be found only after an exhausting search, and usually involves a co-channel or adjacent channel sharing agreement.

The VHF and UHF frequencies that were supposed to be released after the conversion to 800 MHz trunked radio have not in general, materialized. The entities that were supposed to release them are requesting to keep them for paging, mobile data, specialized communications, or other uses.

The 2 GHz microwave band has been relinquished in this area. The users have moved to 6 GHz, 10 GHz, 18 GHz and 23 GHz with varying degrees of success. The 12 GHz band was relinquished a few years ago.

Microwave frequencies, especially 6 GHz wide band is becoming very hard to engineer.

2. In which spectrum bands and in which radio services do these industries operate radio communications equipment?

All bands are used. 150-160 MHz, 170 MHz, 450-470 MHz, 800-1000 MHz. are used for voice radio, paging, SCADA and mobile data terminals. All microwave bands from 900 MHz to 23 GHz are commonly used by private and municipal utilities.

3. What kinds of spectrum – dependent telecommunications equipment are currently being used by the energy, water and railroad industries?

Microwave is used extensively. This includes digital, spread spectrum, and analog. The microwave is used both as point to point, and Multiple Address Systems. Microwave is used as a transport, and as part of the system in its own right.

4. Are there any non- – spectrum dependent alternative technologies or commercial services currently available?

Yes, copper and fiber are available, and can be used in some instances. Copper and fiber are not available throughout the CSU service area, where CSU has facilities. Commercial conventional, trunked radio, and mobile data systems areavailable, although at a much higher cost.

Reliability, cost, and control of the transport medium are high priorities with CSU. Reliability, and service, especially with QUEST, is extremely poor.

Leased airtime for the mobile data system cost so much the original service (ARDIS) had to be terminated.

Colorado Springs Utilities now uses CDPD.

NEXTEL, and similar services are available for voice, paging and telephone use.

5. What part of the spectrum do the energy, water and railroad industries foresee for possible future use? What is the rational for these additional requirements?

One of the most critical needs for Utilities is channels to use for high and low speed SCADA. The 900 MHz MAS frequencies are exhausted in this area. The 700 MHz band would be ideal for both types of SCADA.

SCADA requirements are becoming more stringent. There are constant demands for more and faster data. Pipeline flow and pressure are increasing, requiring higher speed SCADA to accurately monitor and control pumps, tanks, valves and other components. This is true of electric, gas and water applications.

Colorado Springs Utilities is purchasing a number of 1-megawatt turbine generators to use for localized power needs (peaking generators). These units will require intense monitoring and control, using high speed SCADA. Increased use of television for security, and facility monitoring will require more low to medium speed bandwidth.

Load shedding applications and remote meter reading promise to use a lot of bandwidth. As fuel for generating stations and commercial power on the spot market becomes more expensive, these applications will become extremely important.

6. What non- – spectrum dependent communications technologies or commercial alternatives will be available in the future for the energy, water and railroad industries?

New technology for using commercial power lines to transport high bandwidth traffic is under development and may be practical in the near future. Existing Power Line Carrier is available for low bandwidth applications. External and internal fiber capacity is increasing.

Consumers Energy

Providing both electric and natural gas services across Michigan’s entire lower-peninsula, Consumers Energy has recently completed the implementation of a 800 MHz trunking technology radio system. Covering 31,000 square miles, this radio system provides a radio communication link with thousands of field employees on a daily basis. With both voice and data capabilities, the system allows field employees to respond to customer needs and to communicate with each other while coordinating inherently hazardous work.

Spectrum In Use

Consumers Energy has almost 300 individual 800 MHz channels licensed across a 67 tower site system throughout Michigan’s lower peninsula, with over 3,500 mobile and portable radios in daily service. Licensing such a system was particularly challenging due to our proximity to Canada. Making efficient use of spectrum has always been a basic requirement for us. This 800 MHz system is used for voice and data communication with field work forces. We send approximately 2 million digital work orders to field employees each year. We are moving to significantly increase our ability to send packetized data to field employees. A major consulting firm has forecasted that our wireless data throughput requirements will increase by 8000% over the next 10 years due primarily to expanded packet data systems.

Conventional VHF and UHF systems support geographic specific locations such as power plants and large natural gas facilities. Over 35 such systems are in service. Conventional radio systems also support mandated Emergency Public Warning Systems near our nuclear electric generating plant installations. If 800 MHz spectrum were available we would seriously consider migrating a number of these conventional systems to trunked technology.

Alternative Technologies

Are private radio systems really needed? We answer with an emphatic yes! A significant portion of Michigan’s lower-peninsula is rural. The residents of those areas rightfully expect the same quality emergency service from Consumers Energy as those customers living in cities. The plain fact is that radio common carriers do not currently provide their services in these low revenue potential areas. We believe they may never extend their systems into rural areas without a significant financial incentive. Consumers Energy has used private radio systems to dispatch field service personnel since 1948, and understands the need to continue.

We have responded to similar inquiries from our own management. Why not just use cellular telephones was asked. The cellular industry offers wireless coverage across most of our utility service area but not as thoroughly as our private radio system. Our employees rely on the ability to be in communication at all times. Their very lives depend on it.

Cellular does not offer a push-to-talk function for communication, a large well-known SMR does. That company’s system currently covers far less of Michigan that the cellular carriers do, and questions remain about their ability to carry the vast volume of one-on-many messages a private system such as ours must. The reliability of these public systems is of concern as well. In major disasters will such public systems be there? Experience tells us that they have not been available in the past during major storms. For the year 2000, our private radio system posted a 99.9434% availability record, at a cost per minute far below the biggest “bucket of minutes” offered by any carrier.

In 1987 Consumers Energy Company began digital packet dispatching of service orders. This helps us provide a better informed service representative who is better prepared to provide a high quality service on the first trip to the customers home. With our internal heavy and growing dependence on packet data delivery of service order information, celluar systems cannot meet our need. Even with the major carriers (Cingular, Verizon, CenturyTel, etc.) presence in Michigan they have not seen fit to offer Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) services outside of the metropolitan Detroit market.. That leaves approximately 25,000 square miles without data system coverage.

Without the wide area coverage and the functionality of packet data available, high reliability and low operating costs, subscriber based systems simply do not measure up to the requirements.

Future Spectrum Needs

As noted above our wireless communication needs are expanding exponentially. This is due primarily to the need for ever increasing amounts of energy delivery system information in the field. The ability to request a simple one line drawing of the location of underground natural gas pipelines or a key portion of a safety procedural manual for an electric substation can mean life or death to the utility employees involved. Access to information by utility field workers translates directly to safe reliable delivery to energy services to the American public.

Work is underway to capture efficiencies of higher data transfer rates, and to limit voice radio traffic in favor of data communications. These improvements while significant and expensive still cannot meet the growing need.

Radio Use at Consumers Energy

The residents of Michigan rely upon Consumers Energy to safely deliver the electric and natural gas energy that fuel business and industry as well has their homes. All too often we are reminded via newspaper headlines of the dangers inherent in providing and using utility services.

Locally, in June of 1998 three homes and a restaurant were destroyed, and another three homes damaged when a contractor using a directional-boring machine gouged a six-foot hole in a four-inch gas main. Arriving at the scene within ten minutes and working throughout the night Consumers Energy crews repaired the damaged gas main and visited 800 homes to re-light appliance pilot lights. Consumers Energy field employees also helped rescue a handicapped customer who was unable to leave his home. The fast response, the evacuation of nearby residents, the gas main repair, and restoration of natural gas service to 800 homes was made possible by the responsiveness of employees who were radio dispatched from six locations across the state of Michigan.

The year 1998 also saw the worst summer storms to ever plague Michigan. At the end of May a windstorm left 670,000 residents without electric service. An army of electric field workers from Consumers Energy and twelve other utilities labored to restore services. Tragically, two Consumers Energy line workers lost their lives during this restoration effort. One month later a summer thunderstorm caused electric service outages for over 100,000 customers. Again in July another thunderstorm resulted in 200,000 customers losing electric service. Electric service worker crews from Pennsylvania and Illinois were called to speed restoration efforts.

As if three major storms were not enough, in November high winds caused service interruptions to another 320,000 of our electric customers across Michigan. The ability to respond to these challenges requires highly reliable radio services with coverage across all 31,000 square miles of Michigan’s lower peninsula. Such services simply are not available by public, by-the-minute type services.

Energy industry field workers face life-threatening situations on a daily basis. Electrical line workers handle high voltage lines, and Gas line workers work with natural gas lines with pressures up to 600 pounds-per-square-inch. Close coordination of such work is mandatory, for the safety of the employees themselves, and for the public at large. America’s utilities, such as Consumers Energy, have historically responded to the responsibility to protect the public from the dangers lurking in energy delivery. We understand the role that energy plays in our daily lives, from driving a vital economy to providing countless recreational options. As noted above, the public is at risk every single day from significant injury just being around energy delivery systems. We depend upon our energy delivery utility to keep us safe. Utilities are often asked by police and fire agencies to respond to the scene of fires and natural disasters to assist in making the scene safe to allow those same Public Safety agency personnel to accomplish their jobs. Consumers Energy relies exclusively on its private radio system to dispatch personnel to the scene of customer reported emergencies.

Please feel free to call or write with any questions.

Sincerely,

WAAnderson

William A. Anderson

Wireless Network Technology Team Leader

Consumers Energy Company

517-788-8954

waanderson@cmsenergy.com

Comments Regarding Dominion’s Use of Spectrum

1. How much spectrum is presently available for the energy, water, and railroad industries?

Obtaining additional and/or new spectrum, as authorized for users in the Industrial/Business Pool (Part 90) and for Private Operational Fixed Point-to-Point Microwave Services (Part 101), is virtually impossible for a majority for Dominion’s two-way mobile radio systems and is becoming increasingly difficult for microwave and multiple address systems. Dominion has been unsuccessful in attempts to obtain additional frequencies for congested two-way mobile radio systems in urban service territories. This lack of available mobile radio spectrum has limited the company’s options for mobile communications. In addition, interference in shared frequency bands has increased and coordination in these bands has become more difficult where more than one coordinating body is involved. In the past, utilities could rely upon secure channels on exclusive frequencies coordinated solely by utility coordinators. Now with the elimination of exclusive frequencies and more shared bands among the various services, the possibilities for interference have increased. In addition, coordination above Line A in portions of Dominion’s territories has become very difficult and time consuming due to long processing delays. As a result, Dominion has contracted with providers of wireless services in come cases; however, reliance on outside parties to provide critical communications can result in systems which are not uniform throughout the company’s service territories and which may prove unreliable in emergency situations when public networks become saturated with traffic. Dominion has had limited success in obtaining additional spectrum for improving the company’s microwave system, but those frequencies below 10 GHz are becoming harder to come by, especially with the loss of the 2 GHz band to emerging technologies and the difficulty in persuading other users to relinquish their “growth” channels. There appears to be an abundance of 10 GHz and 18 GHz spectrum, but these channels are highly susceptible to rain fades, which is especially critical to utilities that have to remotely monitor critical sites and maintain communicates during storm situations with heavy rains.

2. In which spectrum bands and in which radio services do these industries operate radio communications equipment?

Dominion operates Company owned wireless communications systems per the rules and regulations of Part 90 “Private Land Mobile Radio Services” and Part 101 “Fixed Microwave Services.” Dominion operates in the following bands: 48 MHz, 150 MHz, 450 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 2 GHz, 6 GHz, 10 GHz, and 18 GHz. Dominion currently leases commercial wireless services in the following bands: 150 MHz (paging), 800 MHz (paging, cellular, and data), 900 MHz (paging, cellular, and data), 1.5 MHz (satellite voice and data), and 1.9 MHz (cellular). Dominion owns and operates an automatic metering reading system but the system uses 1.4 GHz frequencies licensed by Itron.

3. What kinds of spectrum dependent telecommunications equipment are currently being used by the energy, water, and railroad industries?

Dominion owns, operates, and maintains an extensive microwave system made up of a mix of OC-3, DS-3, nDS-1 (both licensed and unlicensed technology), and analog microwave paths. This system links most of the Corporate, Regional, Field Offices, Power Stations, and Storage Facilities throughout the Company’s service territories. Dominion’s two-way mobile radio system is made up of several autonomous systems in the VHF-LB, VHF-HB, UHF, 800 MHz, and 900 MHz frequency bands. Most of these systems operate in a conventional base station or repeater configuration. Three of the systems are trunked. The Company owned Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems utilize Multiple Address System (MAS) and UHF frequencies and leased wireless data services. Dominion owns, operates, and maintains and Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) system that operates in the 1.4 GHz band on channels licensed by Itron. The Company currently leases wireless data services for Mobile Data Dispatch (MDD) system. Dominion leases satellite services for an emergency back-up two-way radio communications system. Nuclear Power Stations have Early Warning Systems (EWS) that use wireless technology (MAS and VHF-HB frequencies) to activate sirens. Dominion owns a load management system for load curtailment that operates in the VHF-HB band. A Company owned paging system also operates in this same band. The Company owns various wireless systems in the VHF-HB and UHF frequency bands that are used to control cranes and locomotives in the Power Stations.

4. Are there non-spectrum dependent alternative technologies or commercial services currently available?

Most of the Company owned and operated fixed station (fixed point-to-point or point-to-multipoint) wireless technologies have alternative solutions utilizing non-spectrum dependent technologies or commercial services. These alternative solutions are evaluated during the planning stages of a project to determine the feasibility of each technology. In some cases these alternative solutions are viable options but in most cases they are impractical due to their high expense and/or poor reliability and lack of control.

5. What part of the spectrum do energy, water, and railroad industries foresee for possible future use? What is the rationale for these additional spectrum requirements?

Dominion’s most glaring need for additional spectrum is in the two-way mobile radio and MDD systems. Dominion was unable to secure the required number of frequencies to expand or implement these private systems and has had to lease commercially available wireless voice (cellular/PCS) and data (satellite and packet-switched land mobile radio). The problem with leased wireless services it generally coverage and uniformity throughout Dominion’s service territories. Most commercially available wireless providers concentrate in metropolitan and urban corridors and cover major highway routes. Coverage is lacking in the more rural areas that are critical to utilities. Satellite systems have been used in these areas, but are expensive, bulky and often hard to use, depending upon the application. Although commercially available services have been found to be more expensive and less reliable than a privately owned system, the Company doesn’t have any other options currently available due to a lack of spectrum. Another difficulty is that spectrum which may become available from time to time may or may not be useful depending upon equipment that is available from radio manufacturers to operate in the bands of interest and/or availability of the bands throughout the Company’s service territories.

6. What non-spectrum dependent communications technologies or commercial alternatives will be available in the future for the energy, water, and railroad industries?

This is a difficult question for Dominion to answer at this time. Indeed, there appears to be no alternative for mobile communications other than use of the radio frequency spectrum. Some fixed point-to-point and point-to-multipoint sites may be able to utilize fiber-optic technology in the future, as more fiber becomes available and at lower costs. However, for the immediate future, there absolutely is no viable alternative for private operational fixed point-to-point microwave and point-to-multipoint MAS systems in most areas.

Duquesne Light Company

1. Radio Services and Spectrum bands which Duquesne presently operates in:

IG - Industrial/Business Pool Conventional

(25 to 50) MHz

(150 to 174) MHz

(421 to 512) MHz

YO - Other Ind/Land Trans 806 - 821/851 - 866 Trunked

MG - Microwave Industrial/Business Pool

(2110 to 2200) MHz

(6525 to 6875) MHz

2. Types of Spectrum-Dependent Equipment used:

FB - Base Station

FB2 - Mobile Relay

MO - Mobile

MO3 - Mobile/Vehicular Repeater

FXO - Operational Fixed

Michael J Zamba [mzamba@dqe.com]

Entergy

Answers to the Notice questions:

2. Entergy currently operates radio communications equipment in the following bands:

a. H.F. 2.194 – 8.1 MHz

b. VHF 37.44 – 49.58 MHz

c. VHF 150 – 170 MHz

d. UHF 450 – 470 MHz

e. UHF 806 – 824/851 – 869 MHz

f. UHF 928 –952 MHz

g. UHF 1850 – 1990 MHz

h. UHF 2130 – 2160 MHz

i. SHF 5925 – 6425 MHz

3. Throughout its four-state, 133,000 – square-mile service territory, Entergy operates spectrum-dependent telecommunications equipment in the following services.

SVC Code # Licenses Description

AC 4 Aircraft

AF 3 Aeronautical and Fixed

GO 9 Other Industrial/Land Transportation (800 MHz conv.)

IG 273 Industrial/Business Pool – conventional

LN 2 902-928 MHz Location Narrowband

MC 2 Coastal Group

MG 199 Microwave Industrial/Business Pool

RS 1 Land Mobile Radiolocation

SA 1 Ship Voluntarily Equipped

YO 66 Other Industrial/Land Transportation (800 MHz

Trunked)

YX 26 800 MHz SMR, trunked

Total 586

Examples of how the various systems are used:

a. Dispatch systems

b. Load control systems

c. Multiple Address Systems

d. 2 GHz Microwave systems

e. 6 GHz Microwave systems

f. Wireless microphones

g. Base-to-mobile systems

h. Mobile repeater systems

i. Nuclear and Fossil power plant control and dispatch systems

j. 800 MHz trunking dispatch systems

k. 800 MHz mobile data systems

l. Aircraft voice systems

m. Ship-to-shore

n. Fuel tank level monitoring

First Energy

1. How much spectrum is presently available for the energy, water and

railroad industries?

The following is a partial list of FirstEnergy's use of available spectrum:

five low band VHF channels

three high-band VHF splinter channels

one high band VHF voice channel

12 - 450 MHz frequency pairs

27 - 800 MHz trunked frequency pairs

4 conventional 800 MHz frequency pairs

five site - 10 channel simulcast 800 MHz system

three 960 MHz point-to-point pairs

one 928-952 MHz MAS frequency pair

16 - 2 GHz point to point microwave frequency pairs

48 - 6 GHz point to point microwave frequency pairs (most 10 MHz

channels)

assorted 450 MHz offset channels, 900 MHz and 2 GHz spread spectrum

channels, and other miscellaneous channels.

2. In which spectrum bands and in which radio services do these industries

operate radio communications equipment?

Most licenses are in the Industrial/Business and Industrial/Land

Transportation radio services.

3. What kinds of spectrum-dependent telecommunications equipment are

currently being used by the energy, water and railroad industries?

FirstEnergy uses the following spectrum-dependent telecommunications

equipment:

Two-way radio for time sensitive, critical communications with field

personnel, both for individual and group communications. This both

expedites restoration of service and is important in maintaining safe

work practices.

Point-to-point radio equipment for remote, real time control of

locomotives, substations, and generating units; electric transmission

line protection; transmission of corporate data; networking two-way

radio systems; and critical corporate voice communications

Point-to-multi-point equipment for remote control of substations.

One-way equipment for reducing electric load in times of severe loading

conditions, which is very important in maintaining system stability

during peak loading periods or unusual system conditions.

4. Are there non-spectrum dependent alternative technologies or commercial

services currently available?

There are non-spectrum and commercial alternatives, such as leased

facilities from communications wireline carriers and wireless providers

which are used by FirstEnergy to a large extent. However, leased wireline

service has always posed a reliability problem, as circuits fail for a

variety of reasons, many caused by the carriers' personnel, and circuit

restoration times continue to lengthen, to the point now that it can be

several days to a week or more before a circuit is restored.

Wireless services have improved significantly, but still have problems with

lack of coverage in certain areas and not offering priority service or

other features important to maintaining a safe work environment and timely

service restoration, especially during times of heavy usage (such as

hurricane, earthquake, tornado, ice storm, blizzard, etc.). In situations,

the time we need the service the most, the commercial service is most

likely unavailable due to their facilities being out of service or no

service available due to all their facilities being in use. For this

reason, commercial services can not be depended on as the sole means of

communications.

We have some private fiber optic facilities that are used to carry

corporate traffic. This works well but cost is such that only a few of our

facilities are connected by fiber.

While we use these leased services to supplement our frequency dependent

and private fiber facilities, to rely on leased facilities as our main

network would be totally unacceptable.

5. What part of the spectrum do the energy, water and railroad industries

foresee for possible future use? What is the rationale for these additional

spectrum requirements?

FirstEnergy foresees need for spectrum for two-way radio communications,

preferably in the 800 MHz band so crews from one area can travel to

different areas and use the same radio.

Increased point-to-point wireless services will most likely be required as

we have need to connect more locations into our network and the need for

increased capability of connections to the network.

If reliability of leased wireline services continues to deteriorate, the

use of point-to-point and point to multi-point systems will become more

desirable, if not necessary.

6. What non-spectrum dependent communications technologies or commercial

alternatives will be available in the future for the energy, water and

railroad industries?

Wireless carriers will continue to offer more varied services, some of which

we will use. However, unless these carriers can provide the

infrastructure necessary to have the service as available and reliable as

our internal facilities, they will not replace the need for our own

systems.

Unless there is a major change in the wireline carriers, there is reason to

believe that their service will continue to deteriorate as their plant ages

and demand for their services increase. We will use leased service to

supplement our network and provide last-mile service, but private radio

spectrum will be needed to meet the utilities' future needs.

Lincoln Electric System

1. Lincoln Electric System (LES) provides electric power to the City of Lincoln, NE, is a public power company, and as part of the City of Lincoln is a governmental entity.

2. LES operates radios in the Industrial/Business Pool, 150-174 MHz, in the Power Pool multiple address radio system, 928-952 MHz and 932-941 MHz bands, Private Operational Fixed point-to-point Microwave, 2130-2150 MHz and 2180-2200 MHz bands, and unlicensed Spread Spectrum, 902-928 MHz and 2400-2483.5 MHz bands.

3. LES currently uses conventional PLMR, MAS data radio, unlicensed spread spectrum radio, analog microwave radio, and one-way VHF radio for capacitor control.

4. Non-spectrum dependent technology and services available are fiber optic systems, commercial cellular systems, City of Lincoln trunking system, and other local commercial radio systems.

5. Future use of spectrum by LES could include AMR at 1.4 GHz, more VHF frequencies, more 900 MHz MAS frequency pairs, a paging frequency, 950 MHz point-to-point radio, broadband radio to extend the fiber optic systems, and unlicensed radio in the 5 GHz band.

6. Same as 4

Real Life Situations Involving LES Communications:

The only phone cable to a 345kV substation was out and all communications to the substation were lost except SCADA, which was on MAS radio. The local phone company’s batteries failed resulting in loss of all LES’s talk phones, substation alarms, and substation SCADA on leased phone lines. The outage lasted several hours. We couldn’t even call the phone company to report it. Our primary radio repeaters were never out of service, however, back-up repeaters on leased phone lines were also lost.

A foot of heavy wet snow in October 1997 caused electrical outages throughout a substantial part of the LES’s Service Area for several days due to extensive damage caused by the storm, cell phone usage was very heavy during the early days, PLMR and microwave communications were absolutely essential to assist in the restoration of service.

Our MAS radio experienced intermittent interference due to what is know as “ducting”. The interference was eliminated by changing polarization of all our MAS antennas.

Occasional “skip” interference to our VHF LMR system was minimized by changing the PL tone frequency.

Our 2 GHz microwave radio is maintained and services by Nebraska Public Power Technicians. All other radios are maintained and serviced in-house.

Jim Mannel

Chief Engineer

Transmission & Substation Design

Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation

Question 1

Spectrum availability has been decreased dramatically in the past 4-5 years due to the expansion of various wireless technologies and the need for increased operationally efficiency in the private sector. The concept of information being transferred by "paperless" methods has increased in all segments of industry and especially in service oriented businesses. This has caused high demands for spectrum and since this is typically shared spectrum, the supply has and will continue to deplete rapidly.

Question 2

Traditional utility companies utilize multiple frequency bands. Many voice-related systems such as land mobile are heavily utilizing frequencies below 470 MHz for crew dispatch and emergency restoration efforts. Higher frequency bands such as microwave are being utilized for multiple address telemetry applications, point to point microwave for data and voice telco communications and special applications such as control of electric power and natural gas SCADA networks.

Question 3

As stated in question 2, wireless equipment is utilized by utilities for a variety of purposes. The key to this question is not only what equipment utilizes spectrum but one systems or processes are crucial to the general health and welfare of the public and are solely dependent on spectrum availability. Insuring that the consumer has a continuous flow of energy services is dependent on support systems requiring wireless. Customer

service systems are often tied together with wireless networks which significantly reduces the time customers must wait for critical services.

Question 4

Alternatives to wireless technologies are considered on a regular basis and often implemented. However, operational needs for secure and reliable communications media often mandates no alternative to spectrum dependent technologies. Informational or notification type applications such as paging can and are often dependent on public carriers. However, sudden loss of these services can cause serious and often reportable incidents with far-reaching consequences. Private wireless networks are often the only solution to insure all parties assume little of no risk in safety of life situations. A classic example is cellular phones. These devices are used by virtually every utility in the country for various functions. However, during major emergencies these devices are often rendered useless due to heavy volumes of users. This forces utilities to rely on private systems or alternative methods to dispatch or relay information to critical service staff.

Most utilities now own or operate many non-spectrum technologies such as fiber optic networks. These provide a reasonable alternative but cost factors often limit the ability to expand on these systems in addition to geographical limitations in areas with mountainous and rugged terrain.

Question 5

Clearly the technological revolution will continue to provide new opportunities for utilities to become more efficient and provide better service to the general public. Since traditional frequency bands under 450 MHz have been saturated for such things as voice communications, higher frequencies are likely to be the target for future wireless needs. Providing customers with real time data on energy usage and offering opportunities to save the consumer money through such systems as time of use metering, all will require long and short haul wireless spectrum. Since lower frequency bands become limiting due to propagation issues and co-channel interference, it is logical that higher -- above 470 MHz -- spectrum will be required. The goal will be to provide wide area system deployment with low power high frequency devices. Utilities will continue to take advantage of their infrastructure such as right of ways, buildings, poles, etc. to deploy these technologies. However, this will require private, non-interference spectrum.

Question 6

Most certainly utilities will continue to expand the use of fiber optic alternatives and will continue the process of such things as Internet-based services. In addition, research continues to be done on utilizing power lines as carriers of information. But the basic concept of todays modern service company is to become more "mobile" and that requires information flow in a point to point methodology. The wireless boom is driven by this philosophy and thus alternative solutions are not as plentiful as one might

expect.

General Comments

The earth has become wrapped in a large shrink wrap package which is continuing to tighten through the global economy and technological explosion. There is a continued trend to link world wide critical infrastructure systems both from a non-spectrum perspective and from a spectrum dependent methodology. There will be no stopping the trend to deploy real time consumer based products and services. Utilities will continue to develop and implement wireless technology to benefit operational efficiency and provide better service to the general public. This trend will require open access to spectrum, unencumbered by traditional regulatory philosophies and delegated in a spirit of cooperation amongst end users and regulators.

The one primary incident we experienced was the 1998 Ice Storm. This was the worse storm in our company’s 50-year history. Public wireless services

were completely out of commission and ONLY the private systems stayed in

operation. In addition, we had to acquire emergency temporary authorities

to operate frequencies not licensed at certain locations just to keep up with the increased demand for voice communications. There simply was not enough spectrum to go around during this period. In this particular incident, there were over 700 crews working in an area that normally has around 75 crews. This is typical of electric utility scenarios during storm restorations. On a nice sunny day we get by with what spectrum we have. But when it hits the fan, spectrum becomes rare.

NiSource

Notice questions 1-3:

VHF Lo and Hi Band employed for 2 way mobile voice (33 MHz, 48 MHz, 100 MHz)
450 MHz conventional voice and data for dispatching gas service technicians
800 and 900 MHz trunked voice and data networks for gas and electric service dispatching
MAS systems (952MHz) Part 101 microwave, and 902-928MHz band under FCC Part 15
Fixed Point-to-Point telemetry links (150 MHz and 450-470 MHz bands plus 2.4GHz unlicensed spread spectrum)
Fixed Microwave backbone (900 MHz, 2 GHz, 6 GHz, plus 5.8 GHz Part 15 band spread spectrum)

4. Are there non-spectrum dependent alternative technologies or commercial

services currently available?

Commercial cellular carriers are used for some mobile communications needs but are not adequate for high reliability transmissions.

5. What part of the spectrum do the energy, water and railroad industries

foresee for possible future use? What is the rationale for these additional

spectrum requirements?

Need to migrate many applications into UHF spectrum to achieve higher data

rates for an increasingly mobile workforce. Additionally, foresee large demand for wireless telemetering spectrum.

6. What non-spectrum dependent communications technologies or commercial

alternatives will be available in the future for the energy, water and railroad

industries?

Growing reliance on high speed leased telco landlines for WAN connectivity.

Portland General Electric

The Network Communications group offers the following comments to be included in the Joint Comments regarding the use of radio spectrum by Critical Infrastructure Entities.

Portland General Electric relies heavily on radio spectrum to provide reliable electric service to the public in the Portland and Salem, OR metropolitan areas.

PGE currently uses private, licensed spectrum as follows:

· Land Mobile Radio Systems use VHF Low Band (~50 MHz, voice), VHF High Band (~150 MHz, voice and data), and UHF (~450 MHz, voice). These land mobile radio systems support generation, transmission, and distribution activities.

· Critical substation information is monitored with SCADA systems using 900 MHz MAS spectrum.

· Automated metering is performed with systems operating in the 902 - 928 MHz ISM band.

· Operational fixed microwave systems operate at 70 MHz, 960 MHz, 2 GHz, 6 GHz, 11 GHz, and 18 GHz. These systems carry mission-critical voice and data traffic that supports most of PGE's internal business activities.

PGE uses commercial services as follows:

· Hundreds of numeric and alphanumeric pagers have been deployed. They operate at 150 MHz and 900 MHz.

· PGE also uses several hundred cellular (800 MHz) and PCS (1950 MHz) telephones. Both analog and digital services are used.

· PGE owns and uses approximately 700 subscriber units on an 800 MHz enhanced SMR system.

· Several satellite telephones have been purchased to provide coverage in extremely remote locations and serve as a backup to other systems.

General comments on Spectrum

The following are general comments regarding the use of radio spectrum.

For mobile communications, radio spectrum is really the ONLY alternative. PGE's mobile traffic is almost exclusively voice. This will probably change in the future with more data communications being transported in support of our mobile workforce.

Today, mobile data operations are not mission-critical. In an emergency event, activities currently supported by mobile data would be terminated until resolution of the emergency. However, in the future, we anticipate that even mission-critical restoration activities will make use of mobile data. The information conveyed might include dispatch and work orders, mapping information, electrical system status, and maybe real-time permissives and lock-outs.

For PGE, the VHF high band (~150 MHz), provides the best balance of coverage, availability, and cost when considering the physical topography and vegetation found in our service territory. Higher frequencies (although "cleaner" and perhaps more readily available) do not penetrate the dense foliage and produce significant "shadowed" areas in canyons and valleys. PGE is actively seeking additional spectrum in this band.

Refarming, although implemented with the best of intentions, has placed our current land mobile systems in jeopardy. No "exclusive use" channels exist below 512 MHz. In practice, shared channels have serious drawbacks. Field crews easily become confused, distracted, and annoyed by non-pertinent traffic. Some activities are coordinated over a large geographic area and require quick response time. Properly monitoring and clearing a channel in these situations introduces unacceptable delays, perhaps compromising safety.

In the past, frequency coordinators for each radio service provided necessary oversight to minimized mutual interference. About the only path available to critical infrastructure entities is to implement a centrally trunked system. The FCC has made allowances for exclusivity for these systems. Practically, clearing enough channels in any particular geographic area is extremely difficult if not impossible. PGE is currently seeking additional VHF channels for this purpose. We have had very little success to date yet we hear that others (maritime, public safety, and military) have channels near this band that are unused or under-utilized.

For fixed communications, hardwired alternatives certainly exist and are being used within PGE. However, when an extremely reliable system is required, the diverse paths afforded by a wireless media are invaluable.

Furthermore, PGE operates large and complex facilities in remote areas to which commercial providers may be unable to economically build infrastructure. In these cases, PGE has deployed private communications infrastructure (both hardwired and wireless).

General comments on Commercial vs. Private systems

Commercial systems certainly play a role within PGE and most critical infrastructure entities. Some of the normal, day-to-day communications needs are best met by commercial providers. However, PGE requires more than commercial carriers can provide. Listed below are some of the requirements NOT met by commercial carriers.

· Ubiquitous Coverage - No commercial carrier (or combination of commercial carriers) provides required mobile and fixed communications services to all of PGE's service territory and facilities. Due to the business drivers, that fact is unlikely to change in the future. Buildout in rural areas is generally not supported by the modest revenue generated by so few customers.
However, critical infrastructure entities cannot choose to only conduct business in highly populated areas. Wherever we conduct business, we need communications services.

· Dispatch and Broadcast functionality - With the exception of Nextel, no commercial carriers provide this functionality. Even Nextel does not provide the flexible hardwired dispatch options required by PGE's field operations.
PGE regularly conducts field activities that require close coordination between crews spread about the service territory. A wide-area, multi-party communications channel is required. The broadcast/multicast capabilities of a land mobile radio system meet these needs.

· Availability - Like many critical infrastructure entities, PGE relies most heavily on its communications systems at the very time when commercial systems are least available. Earthquakes, ice storms, and volcanic events render commercial systems useless in supporting emergency and restoration activities.

Recently, the Seattle area was shaken be a relatively minor earthquake. Portland sustained almost no damage but the impact to commercial mobile communications in Portland was very apparent. Cellular and PCS channels were quickly busied out, and even our ESMR became unavailable (due to high traffic, we are told). What if Portland would have been severely shaken?

PGE tracks system availability on a monthly basis. On a scale of 0 to 100, private microwave, mobile radio, and telephone systems score approximately 98. Using similar scoring metrics, communications circuits leased from commercial providers typically score 88.

· The business drivers for commercial wireless carriers are very different from those of a critical infrastructure entity. The commercial carriers are naturally interested in maximizing profits. Most of their customer base is unwilling to pay a higher price for services that would be available even in the worst of scenarios. Therefore, it would be a bad business decision by a commercial carrier to engineer and build their systems to that level of availability required by critical infrastructure entities.

· Vested Interest - No commercial communications carrier has a vested interest in PGE's core business. They provide adequate communications services for the lowest cost possible. If an ice storm hits Portland, their technicians stay home until PGE crews restore power.

In general, critical infrastructure entities are at risk if current spectrum planning policies are preserved. The requirements of these users do not line up with those of the average consumer. Systems targeted and designed for the average consumer will not provide the services required by critical infrastructure entities.

We recommend that adequate spectrum be allocated specifically for critical infrastructure entities. Currently, government and public safety entities have dedicated spectrum.

Southern Company

Southern Company is a registered holding company under the Public Utility Holding

Company Act of 1935, as amended. Southern Company, through five operating electric

utility subsidiaries, Alabama Power Company, Georgia Power Company, Gulf Power

Company, Mississippi Power Company, and Savannah Electric and Power Company

(collectively the “Operating Companies”), provides retail and wholesale electric

service to approximately 4.5 million customers throughout Georgia, most of Alabama

and parts of Florida and Mississippi. It is crucial to the Operating Companies that

sufficient spectrum be made available in order to further automate their power

distribution as well as environmental and nuclear monitoring system. Currently the

Operating Companies use frequencies in the 450 MHz, the 928/952/956 MHz (“MAS”)

and the 1.4 GHz bands to automate their power distribution and monitoring systems.

Specific Situations In Which Spectrum Was Used To Remotely Control The Electric Power Distribution System

1993 Snowstorm

In 1993, Birmingham, Alabama, was hit by a snow and ice storm that left over a foot of snow on the ground. The storm caused more than 40 circuit breakers to automatically close and prohibit the flow of electricity because their sensors indicated it was unsafe to continue providing power. As a result, many large areas of Birmingham were left without electricity. The snow and ice had made passage on the roads so difficult that the National Guard was using Humvees to get around the city. A supervisor at the Birmingham central control center used Alabama Power's MAS systems to try to remotely reset the circuit breakers (unless there is actually a problem with the equipment and not just a perceived problem by the sensors, breakers can be reset). The supervisor was able to immediately reset nearly half of the closed breakers, thus restoring power to a large portion of Birmingham and freeing substation maintenance workers to focus on the remaining breakers that had actual problems. If not for the MAS system, the workers would have had to manually check and reset all the breakers.

1996 Christmas Blackout

On a busy shopping day prior to Christmas at the Quintard Mall in Anniston, Alabama, a truck ran into a power pole causing the the mall and streets surrounding it to completely lose power. Using the MAS systems, it took just two minutes for workers in the area's central control center to isolate the problem, close off that portion of the line, and re-route power to the mall and surrounding area from another substation.

Hospital Incident

A problem at a substation caused it to cease distributing electricity, thus cutting off power to its entire service area, including a hospital. The hospital's emergency generators provided power for the critical areas of the hospital, such as the intensive care unit and operating rooms, but many other areas, including patients rooms, were left without electricity. Using the MAS systems, workers in the control center were able to reroute electricity from another substation and restore power to the entire area within two minutes.

1999 Repair Incident

In early October 1999, a field crew was working on an energized overhead line. One worker was in the “cherry picker,” and the other worker was on the ground. As they were working, the pole started to lean at an angle and fall toward the worker in the cherry picker. As he unsuccessfully tried to maneuver himself away from the path of the oncoming pole and its electrified lines, the worker on the ground called the central control center. The control center was able to de-energize the lines before they could made contact with the worker. Had it not been for the capability to do that using the MAS systems, the line could not have been de-energized in time, likely causing serious injury to the worker.

Airport Incident

A van hit a pole near Birmingham International Airport. The line remained energized so an alarm did not sound at the central control center. However, by-standers notified the control center of the incident and a lineman was dispatched to review the situation. The lineman observed that the accident had knocked the line down such that it was in contact with the van. The passengers inside were not injured because the rubber tires grounded the van. However, everybody outside the van who might have worked with it, such as fire and rescue crews, were endangered by the line. Additionally, had the people inside the van attempted to get out, they also would have been endangered. The only place the line could be turned off manually was at an unmanned substation four miles away. However, because the substation was served by the MAS systems, the lineman simply called the control center and the line was immediately de-energized from there.

Need for Continued Growth In Access Spectrum

The Operating Companies' MAS systems are large, in total they currently have 2,775 remotes and 268 master radios, but the system is far from complete. These systems yield invaluable benefits. Accordingly, like many utilities and other critical infrastructure providers, the Operating Companies are trying to grow their systems to cover their entire service areas. Up to the point of the freeze on the 928/952/956 MHz bands, they were diligently adding master radios and remotes nearly every month.

The Operating Companies were instrumental is urging the FCC to lift the freeze on the MAS frequencies. The FCC recognized the merits of the Operating Companies’, and other infrastructure industries arguments, and not only lifted the freeze on new MAS frequencies in late 1999, but also allocated additional spectrum to the infrastructure industries. Despite this additional allocation, the demand for spectrum was so great that the additional allocation was quickly licensed. In major metropolitan areas, such as Atlanta, spectrum for primary use is unavailable. .

Conclusion

While the foregoing illustrates how the use of spectrum are essential components

of Southern Company’s power distribution system, the significant issue is the availability

of spectrum. The Operating Companies are committed to an aggressive build-out ofan

automated power distribution system. The Southern Operating Companies have

committed to spend $300 million over the next five years in this effort. This build-out

requires spectrum, spectrum that is readily attainable at an affordable price. The

Operating Companies respectfully recommend that the FCC allocate a sufficient amount

of spectrum to infrastructure industries such as utilities, pipelines and railroads. This

spectrum should not be subject to auction or under the control of a “for profit” band manager.

[2] The Joint Commenters are aware that additional comments are forthcoming from individual companies and representative industry groups. The Joint Commenters support filings, such as those offered by the American Water Works Association and Joint Commenter member companies, that are substantially in accord with this submission.

[3] Michele Farquhar, et al. "Private Land Mobile Radio Services: Background." Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Staff Paper. FCC, 1996 (“WTB PLMR Paper”).

[7] Pub. L. No. 105-33, Title III, 111 Stat. 251 (1997).

[8] Frequencies between 470-512 MHz are available only in the top eleven markets of the U.S., and on a limited basis to protect broadcast channels 14-20 allocated in each market. These frequencies, commonly referred to as the “T-band”, may be licensed on an exclusive basis upon a showing of adequate loading of mobile units by the licensee. Given their limited allocation and potential for exclusive use, T-band channels are highly desirable, and few are routinely available for new licensing.

[9] Replacement of Part 90 by Part 88 to Revise the Private Land Mobile Radio Services and Modify the Policies Governing Them and Examination of Exclusivity and Frequency Assignments Policies of the Private Land Mobile Services, PR Docket No. 92-235 (“Refarming Proceeding”).

[10] Refarming Proceeding, Second Report and Order, 12 FCC Rcd 14307 (1997). Joint Commenters that are certified as frequency coordinators have provided NTIA with data concerning frequencies formerly allocated exclusively or on a shared basis to CI radio services, and such data is herein incorporated by reference. Unfortunately, due to rule changes and the structure of licensing databases, more detailed information about CI systems licensed on all of the 150-512 MHz channels is not available without a check of each individual license on each frequency, a monumental task.

[11] 47 C.F.R. §90.35(b)(3); 47 C.F.R. §90.175.

[12] See, Refarming Proceeding, Fifth Memorandum Opinion and Order, FCC 00-439 (rel. December 29, 2000)(Fifth MO&O).

[15] Many entities submitting comments attached in the Appendix note the important of these frequencies to their systems; nearly all use them, and in spite of congestion, would prefer a protected CI “home” on these frequencies to other frequency bands.

[16] As in the refarmed bands, traditional Public Safety eligibles enjoy a protected channel pool in the 800 MHz band. There are no Public Safety frequencies allocated in the 900 MHz band.

[17] For licensing rules, see generally, 47 C.F.R. § 90.600 et seq.

[21] See, e.g., submissions of Portland General Electric, Cinergy and Baltimore Gas & Electric, included in Appendix.

[22] See, e.g., Amendment to the Commission’s Rules Regarding a Plan for Sharing the Costs of Microwave Relocation, WT Docket No. 95-157.

[23] Implementation of Sections 309(j) and 337 of the Communications Act of 1934 as Amended, WT Docket No. 99-87, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 15 FCC Rcd 22309 (2000), at ¶ 64 (“BBA decision").

[24] See, e.g., Petition For Reconsideration of the United Telecom Council, WT Docket No.99-87 (filed February 1, 2001), at 6.

[25] Id. at 4-5, citing UTC Petition For Reconsideration of the Second Memorandum Opinion and Order, PR Docket No. 92-235, filed August 5, 1999.

[26] Refarming Proceeding, 2^nd R&O, at ¶41 (emphasis added).

[29] UTC, Utilities Spectrum Assessment Taskforce (USAT) Final Report, released June 30, 1998.

[30] USAT Final Report at 23. The USAT conclusions are not adopted herein by the Joint Commenters; they are provided as an example from recently collected data.

[32] Among the CI entities contributing to the attached Appendix, many offer company-specific reasons for their strong preference for private, internal systems. As an example, Portland General Electric cites issues of commercial deficiencies in coverage, functionality and availability, their differences in business drivers and a different perspective: “No commercial communications carrier has a vested interest in PGE's core business. They provide adequate communications services for the lowest cost possible. If an ice storm hits Portland, their technicians stay home until PGE crews restore power.”

[33] The Joint Commenters note that FCC Rules now permit CMRS providers to introduce priority access into their infrastructure; however, such equipment is not widely available, and with a general consumer focus, most CMRS providers have little incentive to encourage its use. Moreover, priority access for CI operations (behind traditional Public Safety functions such as police and fire) does not overcome the likelihood that commercial systems will not function in many natural disaster situations, when CI restoration or protection becomes more critical.

[35] National Energy Policy Development Group, United States Government. National Energy Policy Report, at viii. Washington, DC: GPO, May 2001.

Department of Commerce

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

Comments of the Joint Commenters

Table of Contents

Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………..ii

III. Background………………………………………………………………………..…………6

II. Introduction

IV. Discussion

1. Frequency Bands

e. Fixed Microwave Service

V. Conclusion

Appendix

Ameren

Spectrum Requirements for Distribution Automation

Central Electric Power Cooperative

· 800 MHz Business Industrial Land Transportation Band (YO & GO)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS / DETAILS

Colorado Springs Utilities

Consumers Energy

Duquesne Light Company

Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation

General comments on Spectrum

General comments on Commercial vs. Private systems

1993 Snowstorm

1996 Christmas Blackout

Hospital Incident

1999 Repair Incident

Airport Incident

Need for Continued Growth In Access Spectrum

Conclusion