FCC NEWS: FCC GRANTS SECONDARY SERVICE ALLOCATION TO WIRELESS
BROADBAND MEDICAL MICROPOWER NETWORKS
Ham radio will soon be sharing the 70 centimeter band with micro-power medical devices.
At its regular meeting on Wednesday, November 30, the four-member FCC Commission unanimously agreed to allocate spectrum and adopt service and technical rules for the utilization of new implanted medical devices that operate on 413 to 457 MHz spectrum. These devices will be used on a secondary basis as part of the Medical Data Radiocommunication Service in Part 95 of the FCC rules. According to the FCC, these devices would greatly expand the use of functional electric stimulation to restore sensation, mobility and function to those persons with paralyzed limbs and organs; they would be implanted in a patient and function as wireless broadband medical micropower networks or MMN’s.
These new rules are the result of a Notice of Proposed Rule Making that the FCC released in March 2009. A Report & Order that will define these new rules is expected soon.
As hams already know, the Amateur Radio Service in the United States also has a secondary allocation on the 70 cm band from 430 to 450 MHz. While it’s unlikely that these flea power devices will bother very many radio amateurs, its unknown what affect ham radio will have on the ability of these devices to share spectrum with hams or any other users of the entire 413 to 457 MHz 70 centimeter allocation. (FCC, ARRL)
