5.209 The use of the bands 137-138 MHz, 148-150.05 MHz, 399.9-400.05 MHz, 400.15-401 MHz, 454 456 MHz and 459-460 MHz by the mobile-satellite service is limited to non geostationary-satellite systems. (WRC 97)
5.271 Additional allocation: in Belarus, China, India, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan, the band 420-460 MHz is also allocated to the aeronautical radionavigation service (radio altimeters) on a secondary basis. (WRC 07)
5.286A The use of the bands 454-456 MHz and 459-460 MHz by the mobile-satellite service is subject to coordination under No. 9.11A. (WRC-97)
5.286AA The frequency band 450-470 MHz is identified for use by administrations wishing to implement International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) - see Resolution 224 (Rev.WRC 19). This identification does not preclude the use of this frequency band by any application of the services to which it is allocated and does not establish priority in the Radio Regulations. (WRC 19)
5.286B The use of the band 454-455 MHz in the countries listed in No. 5.286D, 455-456 MHz and 459-460 MHz in Region 2, and 454-456 MHz and 459-460 MHz in the countries listed in No. 5.286E, by stations in the mobile-satellite service, shall not cause harmful interference to, or claim protection from, stations of the fixed or mobile services operating in accordance with the Table of Frequency Allocations. (WRC-97)
5.286C The use of the band 454-455 MHz in the countries listed in No. 5.286D, 455-456 MHz and 459-460 MHz in Region 2, and 454-456 MHz and 459-460 MHz in the countries listed in No. 5.286E, by stations in the mobile-satellite service, shall not constrain the development and use of the fixed and mobile services operating in accordance with the Table of Frequency Allocations. (WRC-97)
5.286E Additional allocation: in Cape Verde, Nepal and Nigeria, the bands 454-456 MHz and 459-460 MHz are also allocated to the mobile-satellite (Earth-to-space) service on a primary basis. (WRC-07)
US64 (a) In the band 401-406 MHz, the mobile, except aeronautical mobile, service is allocated on a secondary basis and is limited to, with the exception of military tactical mobile stations, Medical Device Radiocommunication Service (MedRadio) operations. MedRadio stations are authorized by rule on the condition that harmful interference is not caused to stations in the meteorological aids, meteorological-satellite, and Earth exploration-satellite services, and that MedRadio stations accept interference from stations in the meteorological aids, meteorological-satellite, and Earth exploration-satellite services.

(b) The bands 413-419 MHz, 426-432 MHz, 438-444 MHz, and 451-457 MHz are also allocated on a secondary basis to the mobile, except aeronautical mobile, service. The use of this allocation is limited to MedRadio operations. MedRadio stations are authorized by rule and operate in accordance with 47 CFR part 95.

Wiki entries

FCC Narrowbanding Mandate

Current Use 421–512 MHz FCC Narrowband Mandate for PLMR and Industrial/Business Radio Pool systems

The FCC has mandated that all Private Land Mobile Radio (PLMR) and Industrial/Business Radio Pool systems operating in the 150-174 and 421-512 MHz bands must operate using a channel bandwidth of no more than 12.5 kHz, or "a technology that achieves the narrowband equivalent of one channel per 12.5 kHz of channel bandwidth (voice) or 4800 bits per second per 6.25 kHz (data) if the bandwidth for transmissions specified in the modification application is greater than 12.5 kHz."

The deadline for narrowbanding is January 1, 2013. Prior to this date, systems in these bands were allowed up to 25 kHz channel bandwidth.

Narrowbanding of the 470-512 MHz portion ("T-band") has been put on hold by the FCC. Congressional action in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Jobs Creation Act mandated that this sub-band be cleared of all mobile systems in light of the TV band incentive auction and the eventual creation of the nationwide public safety broadband network.

3GPP 4G/5G Bands

Current Use 451–456 MHz 3GPP 4G LTE FDD band 72 Uplink (Europe) 452.5–457.5 MHz 3GPP 4G LTE FDD band 31 Uplink (Brazil)

3GPP is the global standards organization for 4G LTE and 5G NR radio technologies. It designates multiple bands throughout the radio spectrum for 4G/5G use. Different combinations of bands are used in different countries and regions.

Bands designated with a "B" are standardized for 4G LTE; bands designated with an "N" are 5G. Some bands are designated for both.

Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) uses paired bands, where one band is used for downlink (DL) transmissions from the base station to the user terminal (i.e., handset), and the other band is used for uplink (UL) transmissions from the user terminal to the base station.

Time Division Duplex (TDD) uses the same band for both uplink and downlink, which share the same frequency in time over ~millisecond timescales.

Medical Micropower Networks (MMNs) in 413-457 MHz

Current Use 451–457 MHz MMN MedRadio Transmitters

Medical Micropower Network (MMN): An ultra-low power wideband network consisting of a MedRadio programmer/control transmitter and medical implant transmitters, all of which transmit or receive non-voice data or related device control commands for the purpose of facilitating functional electric stimulation, a technique using electric currents to activate and monitor nerves and muscles. [FCC R&O in ET Docket No. 09-36 at Para. 19]

Standard LTE Bands

Current Use 452.5–457.5 MHz LTE band 31 FDD uplink

The following bands have been defined by 3GPP as standard LTE bands for Frequency Division Duplex (FDD, where mobile and base stations transmit in separate bands) and Time Division Duplex (TDD, where mobiles and bases transmit and receive on the same frequency). These bands are defined in 3GPP TS 36.101 (link below).

Note that bands 15 & 16 and 30-32 are not defined, and the FDD band 29 is used for downlink-only for carrier aggregation, so it has no corresponding uplink band.

Uplinks refer to the frequencies used for handsets and other user devices to transmit to the base station, and downlinks refer to frequencies used by base stations to transmit to the user devices.

History of the Beep

Current Use 454–460 MHz Paging (portions of band)

Cleveland electronics engineer Al Gross invented radio paging in the early 1950s. Gross was a pioneer in portable VHF-UHF devices and an early proponent of “citizens radio,” now called “personal radio” (see 462.5375—462.7375 MHz). He provided paging systems for use in hospitals, though doctors initially resisted the technology.

The basic paging receiver beeps when it receives a distinctive code from a transmitter controlled by a “paging terminal,” connected to the public telephone network. Today’s more sophisticated pagers display the telephone number of the calling party, or alphanumeric messages. The World Wide Web is now the principal data input medium for alphanumeric paging.

Pagers often are used to signal waiting voice mail messages and are increasingly connected to electronic mail services. Voice paging declined in the 1980s, but was supposed to resurge with the advent of digital voice storage in the pager. Considerable investment was made in voice paging in the Narrowband Personal Communications Service (see 901—902 MHz). The reinstituted voice paging services failed to attract enough subscribers, however.

Delighting Guests

Paging also is used to control industrial equipment, to summon animals to feeding, and—in perhaps the most entertaining use we have discovered—to activate fireworks contained in banquet floral decorations.

Today most paging is provided by FCC licensees on a commercial basis. Traditionally, the two types of for-profit paging companies were designated radio common carriers (RCCs), which enjoyed interference-protected service areas and, in some cases, were required to have state utility certification; and Private Carrier Paging (PCP) providers, who operate on channels shared with other such carriers and are supposed to be exempt from state regulation.

Federal budget legislation in 1993 requires similar or comparable treatment, or “regulatory symmetry,” for substantially similar Commercial Mobile Radio Services (CMRS).

CMRS describes radio services offered to the public, or a large segment of the public, for profit and which interconnect to the public telephone network. Many types of CMRS services exist. PCP services were classified as CMRS in 1996. “There are no longer any real differences between private carrier and common carrier paging systems,” according to the FCC.

Nevertheless, the former system continues in that separate regulations govern RCC-based paging in FCC Part 22 rules and PCP-based paging in Part 90. “Not all substantially similar services must have identical technical and operational rules,” the FCC said.

Major Changes

Paging licenses were traditionally granted on a first-come, first-serve basis using careful frequency coordination to avoid interference between systems. The FCC is introducing a new regime into CMRS paging: license auctions in specified geographic areas. Incumbent licensees will retain certain interference protections.

"We noted that if an incumbent already has a significant presence in a geographic area, other potential applicants may choose not to bid for that geographic area," the FCC said. "Thus, market forces, not regulation, would determine participation in competitive bidding for geographic area licenses.

"…Even where only 30 percent of a geographic area is available to a potential new entrant, we do not believe that it has been shown that the new entrant cannot establish a viable system that serves the public as well as the incumbent." The Commission dismissed all mutually exclusive applications for paging licenses filed after July 31, 1996, in preparation for the auction regime (Docket WT 96-18).

In the 929—930 MHz and 931—932 MHz bands, the FCC established paging licenses in Major Economic Areas (MEAs) developed by the Commerce Department and composed of Economic Areas (EAs, see the following).

Special exemptions from auctions apply to certain established paging licensees in the 929—930 MHz and 931—932 MHz bands who earned exclusive licenses through extensive network construction under earlier regulations.

In other, older paging bands, such as 35—36 MHz, 43—44 MHz, 152—159 MHz, and 454—460 MHz, containing small- and medium-sized paging systems, the FCC adopted Economic Areas (EAs), each consisting of metropolitan or similar areas that are centers of economic activity, with surrounding economically related counties.

As is the case with most auctioned licenses, each geographic area licensee is required to provide coverage to specified portions of the population by a certain date. Alternatively, the licensee may demonstrate that it provides "substantial service," that is, "service that is sound, favorable, and substantially above a level of mediocre service." Failure to meet these requirements is supposed to automatically terminate the license.

Incumbents (who did not obtain their licenses in auctions) may make certain changes to their operations, including adding or modifying their transmission sites. To expand their existing radio contours, they must obtain the consent of the geographic licensee for the expansion area, or buy the expansion area at auction even if the area is larger than needed. If the incumbent stops operating, the FCC performs "spectrum reversion," turning the incumbent’s spectrum over to the geographic licensee for that area.

Other services use the 152—159 MHz and 454—460 MHz bands allocated to paging services. These include the Basic Exchange Telecommunications Radio Service (BETRS), which provides rural subscribers with phone service; and pre-cellular two-way mobile telephone services, which operate mostly in the western U.S.

BETRS is licensed under the Rural Radiotelephone Service. Only local exchange telephone companies or companies having state approval to provide local phone service may provide BETRS. By definition, BETRS is a fixed service and is not CMRS.

The Commission decided to include both BETRS and the two-way mobile telephone services on paging channels in its auction scheme, over the protests of rural telephone advocates. However, it will still allow providers to obtain licenses for these services on a secondary, non-interference basis to geographic-area paging licensees.

(Original entry based upon "Wireless Spectrum Finder" by Benn Kobb. Wireless Spectrum Finder is now (c)MMX Technology LLC.)