1. FRN

 

The first step in obtaining your FCC license is establishing an account with the FCC.  This account is established by applying for and receiving an "FRN" or FCC Registration Number.  If you already have an FRN, then we will need your password.

 

The FRN establishes your agency's point of contact with the FCC, and should be included with any communications with the FCC.  Any other license you may obtain from the FCC will also be associated with this number.

 

The number also establishes the type of organization you are with them (a governmental agency, a business user or a 501(c) non-profit organization), and therefore has an impact on the fees you must pay, and the type of channels you are authorized.

 

The FRN account also gives you direct access to your licensing data online with the FCC's Universal Licensing System (ULS) where you may make administrative changes directly in their database, and file some required notifications.  In particular, it allows you to file your required Construction Notification once the system is built.

 

A Construction Notification is a required report back to the FCC, within 12 months of the issuance of your license.  Failure to file the Construction Notification within that time frame will result in the FCC canceling your license, so as soon as the system is built, please let us know, and we will file the notification for you online.

 

If you change the password for your FRN, we are unable to file the notification, or make administrative updates for you unless you share the new password. 

 

If you lose or have lost the password, you can request a "password reset", but it takes a few days, and the FCC will contact the person listed on the FRN to confirm the change, and to get approval (we do a lot of password resets for our clients, because many lose or forget their passwords).

 

2. STA

 

A Special Temporary Authorization (STA) is not a required part of the licensing process, but has several advantages if used.

 

An STA can have several purposes, but in this case, the purpose is to "put on notice" to everyone that you are filling for the requested channels.  It also allows you to test the feasibility of the system by legally allowing transmitter testing and other testing prior to the regular license application being submitted.

 

If you are applying for UHF (450 to 470 MHz) trunked, exclusive use channels, it is also helpful for other reasons.  The FCC rules for applying for UHF trunked channels gives a process where those channels are "frozen" from consideration by any other applicant for a period of six months, by a simple notification to an authorized FCC coordinator, but the truth is, this "request to freeze" hasn't been effectively implemented.

We will submit the freeze request to a coordinator for UHF Trunked channels, but filing an STA also gives prima facia evidence that such a request was submitted, and puts it on public notice for all the other coordinators.

Generally, a request for an STA is quickly granted, but like anything submitted to the FCC, sometimes the particular clerk who receives it may not always understand the rules, and occasionally one is rejected, and we have to clarify and resubmit.

If the STA application (and later, the regular application) is returned from the FCC, it's not a major problem, and we usually quickly address whatever the issue is, and resubmit it (as long as we still have access to your FRN account).

 

3.  Regular Application

 

The next step is to complete and file the regular application for your license.

 

This involves completing a FCC form 601 and all engineering and justification attachments. 

 

For most applicants, this form and all attachments must be in electronic format.  A hardcopy signature page is the only required hardcopy, and we'll email you a signature page in pdf file that you can print out and return with the fee payments.

 

The electronic application will be filed with an authorized FCC coordinator as soon as the signature page and payment is received (neither the FCC nor the coordinator will take action on an application without payment of required fees).

 

Once a coordinator has payment, the signature page, and the application, they review it for technical accuracy and non-interference to current users.  Sometimes this may take a few days.  Once they feel that it meets all the requirements, they then submit it to a common database of all coordinators to review.

 

While some coordinators may take an inordinate period of time to review an app, our apps are usually acted on in an expeditious manner, so the review period shouldn't take more than a week.

 

Once in the "concurrence" database, all other coordinators have 5 working days to sign off on the application, or to object - for whatever reason or for no reason - to the application or any part of it.  We then have to address any objections.  If we change a frequency, or major technical parameter, then the 5 day waiting period starts again.

 

If there are no objections, then after the 5 day concurrence period, the application is submitted directly to the FCC's ULS database and it will be assigned an FCC file number.

 

According to FCC rules, 10 days after an application is entered into the database, the applicant has "conditional construction and operational authority".  This means that you can construct and place your system into operation with the caveat that you don't actually have a license yet, and it is possible (although not probable) that something may change, or the FCC may refuse to issue a license exactly as the application states.

 

This happens rarely, but it does happen on occasion.

 

Once the FCC has reviewed the application, they will issue you a license.

 

Sometimes, this has taken months, but recently they have been pretty fast in granting applications (a matter of days, rather than weeks or months), so we currently anticipate that you will have the license granted before the 10 day conditional operation period is complete, although we can't guarantee that.

 

All told, we anticipate that you should have a copy of your license within 60 days.

 

4. Construction Notification.

 

The last major step in the process is reporting back to the FCC when you have constructed your system in accordance with your authorization.  Failure to report this fact within 12 months of your license being granted subjects your authorization to automatic cancellation.  So be sure to follow this last step.

 

5.  Other Considerations.

 

a.  State Coordinators: The coordination process can sometimes be tricky, especially with the current out-moded system of individual state coordinators.  Many of the state coordinators are professional and knowledgeable.  Some are not.  Occasionally, we have to go over their heads if they are being obstinate by requesting an application to be submitted to the FCC with their objections and our response.

 

To date, we have never lost an FCC adjudication.

 

b.  Construction Period: If you are a public safety entity, you can request more time than the standard 12 months construction period, with justification.   This is called a "slow growth" system, and you can request up to 5 years to construct a complete system.