APCO asked the FCC to clarify as quickly...

APCO asked the FCC to clarify as quickly as possible whether the agency will change its mandate that public safety licensees using 700 MHz narrowband spectrum convert their radio systems to 6.25 kHz operation by Dec. 31, 2016. The FCC is reportedly considering an order addressing this requirement, the group said Thursday in a letter filed in docket 13-87 (http://bit.ly/1sYUJaK). Speed is critical since related restrictions on the manufacturing, marketing and importation of equipment kick in at year’s end, the group said. “Nearly all” comments that have been filed “strongly supported the need to eliminate, or at least extend, those deadlines,” APCO said. “The immediate problem is that, absent a rapid Commission decision, many public safety agencies will be forced to begin the extraordinarily expensive and time-consuming process of replacing their existing equipment in an attempt to meet the current deadline.” Many of the radios that would have to be changed “still have many years of useful life before reaching normal equipment replacement cycles,” APCO said.