WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission is reforming Personal Radio Service rules, known as “Part 95,” which cover citizen’s band radio, wireless medical telemetry, personal locator beacons, radio-controlled services, general mobile radio service and other types.
The commission said that it “addressed more than two dozen proposals submitted by interested parties” in developing its Report and Order. (Only the press release, but not the R&O, was available online at post time.)
The FCC noted that its Personal Radio Services rules cover a wide variety of wireless devices used by the general public. Such devices “generally use low power levels, communicate over shared radio frequencies, and usually do not require an individual FCC license for each user,” the commission’s release said. “Some common examples of personal radio services devices are walkie-talkies; radio control toy cars, boats, and planes; hearing assistance devices; CB radios; medical implant devices; and personal locator beacons.” The BuyTwoWayRadios.com blog has further details.
- The revisions are said to “simplify, streamline, and update” the rules. These revisions include:
- Increasing the number of channels and digital capacity of for general mobile radio services;
- More channels and more power for family radio service;
- Update of Citizen’s band, aka CB radio, rules, including clarification of the use of hands-free devices.
Overall reform of the rules will include conversion to a “plain language format to make them more user-friendly.”
