Well, the narrowbanding countdown is officially over! January 1, 2013, has finally arrived. For those of you who did not complete the licensing modification or still don't have a license, you are in violation and are operating illegally. For all of us here at Chicago Communications, we will be continuing our campaign to inform you and help you get compliant.
As of last count, there were still nearly one-third of all licensees who had not completed updating their licenses or achieved compliance yet. Some have worked hard and are waiting on the Commission to complete the applications for modification, and some are still waiting on the physical backlog of programming or radio replacement from their radio shops.
It has been a long road, but the light is at the end of the tunnel. What happens now will depend on you. If you leave your channels wideband and you become an interferer to another radio user, whether someone complains legitimately or for some other reason, the FCC has to enforce the requirement. It will result in some type of action by the government. If a violation is found to have occurred, potential monetary fines include up to $16,000 for each such violation or each day of a continuing violation or up to $112,500 for any single act or failure to act.
Why chance it? Give us a call and we can work through this with you. All of our public safety customers are compliant or waiting for reprogramming. What we've found, however, is that the requirement has been overlooked by many in the commercial market—hospitals, schools, hotels, manufacturing plants, transportation, and other businesses. That can't continue. A monetary fine of thousands of dollars is a difficult price to pay if you just didn’t get around to acting on the narrowbanding mandate.
If you need help, please contact us!