There has been a lot of industry concern expressed by those that have been working diligently to comply with the FCC’s narrowbanding mandate, both service providers and licensees alike, about Congressman Rothman’s (D-NJ) bill (H.R.3430) that proposes to extend the narrowbanding mandate by two years.  Does this have any chance? Are you kidding me? These expressions pretty much sum up the breadth of the inquiries EWA has received since this bill was introduced on November 15th, and immediately referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Let’s just say that we haven’t received any “Hoorays!”  To those who have already upgraded their systems to comply with the 12.5 kHz narrowbanding mandate, your efforts are to be applauded.  Introduction of this bill does not undermine your foresight. My advice to those licensees who have been working hard on narrowbanding compliance is to keep working at it.  My recommendation to those who have yet to start migrating their systems to comply with the narrowbanding mandate, is to start as soon as possible. There is now thirteen months left to the deadline and the clock is ticking. If there is a legitimate reason or reasons why an extension is necessary, licensees are encouraged to review the FCC’s Public Notice that covered the ground rules for narrowbanding waivers. To think for a moment that this bill has any chance of passage is wishful thinking.