Private Firms Seeking Frequency Coordination Certification

摘要

APCO is one of four associations certified by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to coordinate public safety pool channels. In 1982, Congress expressly authorized the FCC to certify such "advisory coordinating committees," and the conference report for the legislation stated that "to further promote fairness in frequency allocation, the conferees encourage the commission to recognize those frequency coordinating committees for any given service which are most representative of the users of that service." Thus, when the commission established procedures for frequency coordinator certification, it stated that "representativeness is a primary consideration and criterion in our selection of frequency coordinators." Recently, that concept has been challenged by private, for-profit law and consulting firms seeking to become certified coordinators for public safety channels.