Secret Frequencies
by Bernie S.
In the February 8, 1991 issue of The Leader, an internal newsletter for employees, NYNEX published an article entitled "NYNEX Receives Licenses to Test New Wireless Technologies." In it, Paul Donovan, staff director of NYNEX Science & Technology, was quoted, "Radio technology in the local loop may provide a cost-effective alternative to copper wire" and, "It may also facilitate the provision of new services, adding mobility to our customers."
In a subsequent interview, Donovan conceded that while the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted the frequencies for testing specific applications, NYNEX wanted to grab "as many frequencies as possible" to "set (NYNEX engineers') creative juices flowing" so that they "would have plenty of frequencies to work with if we come up with something..."
Despite the appearance of deception (or outright fraud), Donovan justified NYNEX's actions, saying "There's a big market for wireless technologies." Later communication with Donovan and the FCC uncovered specific radio frequencies and locations for testing.
2600 readers in Boston, New York, White Plains, and elsewhere with radio scanners or other VHF, UHF, and microwave receiving (or transmitting!) equipment may want to "tune in" on the telephone company and report on their activities.
Mobile and fixed station authorization is granted at power levels up to one watt on the following frequencies.
Some Time-Division and Code-Division Multiple Access (TDMA and CDMA) digitally-encoded loop access experiments on 1.858-1.990 GHz are scheduled to begin in mid-1991 and on July 1, 1992.
(Read "CDMA: It's Not Just For The Military Anymore," TE&M Magazine, Nov. 15, 1990 for an explanation of these technologies.)
The callsigns to be used are KF2XBW, KF2XBX, and KF2XEG. Paul Donovan can be reached at the NYNEX Science & Technology Center: 914-644-6165
The FCC can be reached at: 717-334-7059
For those interested in just who the FCC has allotted (or sold) the electromagnetic spectrum to lately, a nice 32" x 51" color wall chart covering 3 kHz to 300 GHz is available for $2.75 from:
Ask for Publication Number 003-000-00652-2, "United States Frequency Allocations"
For other frequencies and information on monitoring techniques and equipment, Monitoring Times 704-837-9200 and Popular Communications 516-681-2922 are excellent sources.