One City, One Big RF Headache
Frequency Fees Are Part of Plan For Utah Olympics
by Leslie Stimson
WASHINGTON At the upcoming 2002 Winter Olympic Games in
Salt Lake City, broadcasters, teams and anyone else using coordinated
and assigned radio frequencies during the games will pay for that
right.
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Frequency coordination consultant Lou Libin,
left, views a topographic map of Salt Lake City (Photo
by Leslie Stimson)
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Frequency coordination is a must for such large events, but this
is the first time such fees will be charged.
Mario Hieb, RF coordinator for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee
for the games, said the fee – $250 per assigned frequency –
serves two purposes: to keep a level playing field among frequency
users, and to prevent applicants from "warehousing" precious
spectrum in an attempt to ensure clean, available signals. A $10
sticker fee per radio will also be charged.
SLOC is the frequency coordination arm for the Olympics. It categorizes
RF sources as being inside or outside certain boundaries, or "fences,"
at each venue.
Those inside the fences include the host broadcaster, some 70,000
rights-holding broadcasters, teams, accredited press, sponsors and
SLOC staff. "People inside the fence pay a lot to cover the
games," said Lou Libin, RF coordination consultant.
Those outside the fences but still using frequencies include local
broadcasters, two-way radio, telecommunications, public safety,
ham radio and the military. These categories of users have not paid
for the right to cover the games.
"RF doesn’t care what’s in and out of the fence,"
said Libin. "There’s lots of RF in the fence."
‘Horrendous task’
Frequencies within the fence may be used for video, such as RF
cameras and microwave links; audio, such as wireless mics and interruptible
foldback; two-way, for team and crew communications; and data, for
telemetry and control.
Before the games begin in February, SLOC must find and assign
spectrum and certify equipment for all of these users. As of late
June, the group was processing 1,400 frequency applications filed
through its Web site, www.slocfrequency.com.
Calling frequency coordination for events such as the Olympics
a "horrendous task," FCC Senior Advisor for the Enforcement
Bureau Arlan van Doorn said, "When you’ve got a major
event going on, you don’t want someone turning on a transmitter
you don’t know about."
Van Doorn called for broadcaster cooperation with the FCC. Volunteers
from the commission, called in from several field offices, will
patrol venues for uncertified equipment and try to resolve frequency
disputes.
Federal marshals will be available to back up the FCC and the
coordinating committee. Hieb said that, if necessary, marshals can
obtain an arrest warrant within 30 minutes.
Two-way headaches
Equipment certification begins Jan. 25, 2002, at the frequency
coordination command center. SLOC will verify fee payment and frequency,
check radio emissions and affix a certification label.
"A list is just a list," said Libin. "We need to
check radios to make sure people are on the right frequencies."
Coordinators are concerned about the estimated 7,000 two-way radios
coming to the venues. At a meeting in Washington to discuss Olympics
RF coordination, Libin said many of the teams arriving from other
countries may bring two-ways programmed on frequencies that may
be public safety channels in Salt Lake City.
For radios that cannot be reprogrammed quickly, users will be
asked to rent two-way radios on site.
Several challenges face RF coordinators at these games. Each of
the 10 venues has a different RF environment because of mountain
ranges around Salt Lake City and the number of translators on each
mountain peak. Many of the frequencies will be shared across venues.
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