FCC Officials: "We are not moving the Narrowbanding deadline"

David L. Furth
Deputy Bureau Chief of the FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau
"In the past year, we've seen a lot of progress, as many licensees have migrated their systems to narrowband operations — this has been very gratifying."
"But we still have thousands of public-safety licensees who are operating in wideband mode, and time is short. Let me reiterate what the commission has said all along: We are not moving the Narrowbanding deadline. It is, and will be, Jan. 1, 2013."

Will the commission enforce its rules?
"'Yes, and we are already working with the FCC's enforcement bureau to prepare for 2013, and the enforcement bureau plans to issue guidance soon, reminding licensees of their narrowbanding obligations and of the commission's intent to aggressively enforce the narrowband mandate."
"It is important to get the word out to your friends and neighbors to make sure that everyone is taking this obligation seriously. This is serious."

Roberto Mussenden
FCC Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Point of Contact for Narrowbanding
"Both the total number and the percent of public safety licensees that are still licensed at 25 kHz-only operation have been more than cut in half over the last two years. However, there are still about 35%, or roughly 37,000, licenses in the FCC database that are 25 kHz emission-only licenses."
"The FCC plans to issue additional Public Notices (PN) soon, once again reiterating the Jan. 1, 2013 deadline requirements and consequences."