ASHE Urges Hospitals to Register WMTS Systems
This fall, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted unanimously to begin an incentive auction process intended to repurpose broadcast television spectrum for mobile broadband use. The move has potentially major ramifications for hospitals in the United States, as TV channel 37 is currently designated as half of the radio spectrum available for the Wireless Medical Telemetry Service (WMTS). The repurposing of broadcast television spectrum could potentially result in a reallocation of channel 37.
As a result, the American Society of Healthcare Engineers (ASHE) is urging hospitals that have not already done so to register their WMTS systems with ASHE. According to ASHE, registering WMTS is a critical step toward providing FCC with an accurate count of WMTS systems, and will also help demonstrate that FCC would be ill-advised in opening up Channel 37 to uses by other, lower-powered devices.
ASHE notes that if a hospital’s WMTS system is not registered with ASHE, the FCC does not treat that facility as having a licensed system, and the facility may not be eligible to receive compensation if FCC ultimately reallocates Channel 37.
ASHE’s complete message regarding WMTS registration is available here.
AAMI’s coverage of the fall FCC vote can be accessed here.
Posted: November 27, 2012