Craig Sikes
Mobile Communications America
The Enterprise Wireless Alliance (EWA) and the Aerospace and Flight Test Radio Coordinating Council, Inc.® (AFTRCC®) have executed an MBAN Concurrence Process Agreement that will govern coordination protocols between the parties for the registration and coordination of medical body area networks (MBAN) operating in the 2360-2390 MHz band. These networks will be used for wireless patient monitoring in hospitals and health care facilities, and will share this band with Aeronautical Mobile Telemetry (AMT) operations. MBANs will transmit patient health data over a short range at very low power levels and are range-restricted to indoor use at health-care facilities.
Designated as the national coordinator for MBAN deployments by the Federal Communications Commission, EWA will work closely with health care facilities, MBAN vendors and AFTRCC, the FCC-designated coordinator for AMT operations, to ensure compliance with FCC rules and policies governing MBAN deployment opportunities, including the protection of primary AMT facilities from the possibility of MBAN interference. EWA’s MBAN registration and database site (www.MBANRegistration.org) will launch in early June 2016.
About AFTRCC
AFTRCC is the association of aerospace manufacturers founded in 1954 to protect safety-related, flight test telemetry and voice frequencies from harmful interference. Besides serving as the aerospace industry’s advocate in spectrum policy matters affecting flight testing, AFTRCC coordinates the use of frequencies within and adjacent to AMT allocations in order to minimize the risk of interference to sensitive AMT operations. AFTRCC works closely with government area frequency coordinators in carrying out these coordination responsibilities. Additional information about AFTRCC is available at www.aftrcc.org.
The Enterprise Wireless Alliance is the leading national trade association and advocate for business enterprises, private carrier operators, equipment manufacturers, and service providers that support the private wireless industry. A frequency advisory committee certified by the Federal Communications Commission, EWA provides its members and clients with consulting services, frequency coordination, license preparation, spectrum management and associated business intelligence services. EWA is the market leader in Business/Industrial Land Transportation frequency coordination services and assists a significant percentage of public safety customers with their spectrum requirements. Learn more at www.enterprisewireless.org.