Special Report to the BCARES Board of Directors
RE: ATV and Amateur Radio at C.U. Football and similar "events"
Prepared and Submitted by: Dale Scott - KAØQPV - Vice Chair - 7/20/06

This report is prepared to assist a BCARES Board review of applicable sections of the FCC Part 97 Rules regarding Prohibited Communications to ensure BCARES compliance with FCC regulation:

REF: "97.113 (a)(5): Communications, on a regular basis, which could reasonably be furnished alternatively through other radio services".

For a number of years BCARES has provided Amateur Television (supplemental communication) for the University of Colorado at their request: for CU Police and Athletic Department & Game Management at Folsom Field during home football games. The purpose of the ATV at CU Football games has been multifaceted:

1. Public safety - at a very public event:
   1. BCARES ATV is used to enhance emergency response for medical and public safety situations by transmitting video to authorities in a command center for improved "situational awareness". BCARES video is used by the command center to help ensure the correct and timely response is provided by emergency responders. BCARES ATV video has assisted in many medical emergencies such as: broken arms or legs, head injury resulting from falls, severe lacerations, eye injuries (from thrown objects), sickness or illnesses, injury resulting from fights, heart attacks or strokes, heat exhaustion, dehydration or hypothermia, extreme substance abuse, pregnancy complications, etc. BCARES ATV has also preventively assisted in identifying other unsafe acts or conditions in & around the stadium for prompt resolution.
   2. Crowd safety is also enhanced by BCARES ATV as it assists authorities in calling attention to situations to help preventively direct appropriate resources for "crowd control" to appropriate locations to help avoid or minimize crowd injuries from: overcrowding, pushing, stampeding, trampling, crushing against fences or barricades and even "mob-like or panic driven behavior, etc.
   3. ATV video provides a measure of protection for both public safety and individual parties: Game security personnel, CU police and individuals. Some spectators or other persons may at times become violent or non- cooperative) and in so doing injure innocent bystanders, authorities or themselves in the process. ATV video (also recorded on tape) provides a means of documenting events, and at times has served to minimize or even prevent some unsafe, unruly or even unlawful behavior because BCARES activities are in full public view. (Unrelated to on-air Amateur transmissions, all recorded tapes are handed over to authorities and may be used for a wide variety of things ranging from officer training, planning improvements, to disciplinary proceedings, or nothing at all).
   4. Lastly, BCARES members and ATV provide an additional presence (eyes and ears) to assist authorities in the event some other, more catastrophic emergency occurs during game day such as a major fire, explosion, HAZMAT event, weather related event, or terrorist act, etc..
2. Training - BCARES participation at CU Football provides an excellent opportunity for members to practice their ATV skills in a very dynamic environment such as: proper video technique, voice net coordination skills, and familiarization with our equipment, technical capabilities, systems, and ATV policies & procedures. This training directly translates into a refined and enhanced ability to provide video for our other Served Agencies during forest fires, flood situations, transportation or HAZMAT disasters, etc. BCARES Served Agencies have traditionally used BCARES ATV video for "situational awareness" to visually monitor compliance with directives given, progress made by field personnel, and further assist in ensuring the safety of field personnel and the general public, and to more closely monitor changing conditions in the field.

Note:CU has indicated to BCARES that the supplemental communication (ATV) that we provide is commercially unavailable for "reasonable" cost and for technical reasons. In recent years CU has installed a large network of remotely controlled video cameras in and around the stadium and a digital recording system. During the games and large events they operate this system and it is used for the reasons listed above. However they have found that this system is not able to provide the mobile capability that BCARES transmitted video affords. The commercially available video networks and companies have indicated that they could "try" to provide this capability, but at a very unreasonable cost. It should be noted that they prefaced their response with the wording "try". The commercially available frequencies and related technical restrictions make it difficult if not impossible to provide high quality video from mobile or freely roving sources. Certainly they do something very similar to this with remote cameras but upon further review we find that they most frequently operate in largely stationary "interview" type mode with very expensive diversity receiving equipment and find that it is not really feasible to be completely mobile in the manner that BCARES cameras and transmitters are.

References:

1. ARRL - FCC Rule Book - Guide to Interpreting Amateur Radio Regulations, 13th Edition, 2003/2004
2. FCC Report and Order to PR Docket 92-136 (regarding relaxation of Amateur Radio Regulations with respect to "prohibited communications"). - 1992
3. FCC Action Report No. DC-2596, 5-13-94 (declining further relaxation of regulations, but providing further interpretation and clarification of the relaxed rules).
4. FCC Notice of Rulemaking DA 99-2654 ( Nov.1999 )

In order to review and verify BCARES compliance with FCC regulations regarding participation at C.U. Football games and similar events the following facts are presented for consideration:

1. the FCC made a major "reinterpretation" of its "no business communications" edict for Amateur communications in 1992 and again in 1994 in recognition of Amateur Radio's contribution to Public Service events. On September 13, 1993, following a rule-making proceeding, the FCC:
   1. dropped the old "no business" language from its regulations
   2. changed its flat prohibition on providing an alternative to other radio services with less restrictive wording to state instead that Amateur Radio is prohibited from doing so on "regular" basis.
2. the ARRL has repeatedly requested clarification and definition of the term "regular" in this new regulatory wording and the FCC has repeatedly declined to provide it.
3. at present, the ARRL defines "regular" as: routine, or that which occurs on a daily or weekly basis. "Regular" is routine business, that which occurs day in, day out or week in, week out and this may not be supported by Amateur Radio resources.
4. The ARRL acknowledges that charity events or other public or special events such as: parades, marathons, triathlons (or other sporting events), walk-a-thons, bike-a-thons, etc. are considered "Special Events" and as such are not subject to the limitations of the "regular basis" communications rule provided they are open to the public.
5. a quotation taken from FCC Report No. DC-2596 (of 5/13/04), in speaking of the 1993 rules change, it states in part: "the commission amended rules to allow licensees to use Amateur Service frequencies to facilitate events such as races and parades, to support educational activities, to provide personal communications such as making appointments and even ordering food, to collect data for the National Weather Service and to provide assistance voluntarily, even where there are other authorized radio services available".
6. present day example implementation of these rules interpretation changes include:
   1. Amateur Radio and ATV is in use at the Pasadena Rose Parade (annually).
      Note:The Pasadena Rose Parade is a nationally televised event and is patrolled by dozens of LA County Police, Sheriff officers, event organizers and Paramedics (with radios).
   2. Amateur Radio and ATV is in use at the (annual) New York City and Boston Marathons.
      Note:The NYC and Boston marathons are televised nationally and are patrolled by hundreds of New York's and Boston's "finest" and event organizers (with radios).
   3. March of Dimes holds (annual) fund-raising Walk-a-thons all across America at which many hundreds of Amateur Operators provide communications assistance as a public service (for both public safety purposes in addition to facilitating the "business" of the special event).
7. all of the above organizations are large, well funded organizations, with large budgets, but none are "for profit" enterprises". The University of Colorado football games are also not-for-profit operations in the same sense as a commercial business.
8. quoting the ARRL FCC rule interpretation guide, it states under the heading: "Alternatives to the Amateur Radio Service": Amateurs frequently provide communications for the benefit of the general public......These can be events like walk-a-thons. Even though event sponsors, such as the March of Dimes, are in the "business" of coordinating such events, they aren't held on a regular basis. The FCC has declined to define what it means by "regular" but it can be reasoned that "a regular basis" is every day".
   "Where individuals or groups have a need for communications on a daily basis, services other than Amateur Radio should be used."
9. quoting the ARRL FCC rule interpretation guide, it states under the heading: "The New and Improved "Business" Rules": Around 1970 there were concerns about possible abuse of Amateur Radio by non-amateur and business interests. These concerns led the FCC to prohibit amateur communications 'to facilitate the business of commercial affairs of any party' or 'as an alternative to other authorized radio services'. Over time, the interpretation of this rule became increasingly more literal until they had a chilling effect on even meritorious public service. Something had to be done to put things back on track. These (1993) changes now mean a lot to public service oriented Amateurs. They remove the ambiguities that have plagued amateur public service communications and have curtailed the endless hair splitting discussions about whether particular communications are permitted".
10. quoting the November 1999 FCC document (DA 99-2654) the agency again provides further comment on the issue of relaxed regulation with regard to prohibited communications and is very direct in saying (in Sec. RM-9114: "it (the FCC) amended the rule to allow amateur operators more flexibility to provide communications for public service projects as well as to enhance the value of the amateur service by the general public. It (the FCC) noted that the vast majority of comments supported its proposal to relax the prohibition against using the amateur service as an alternative to other radio services such as the maritime services, land mobile radio service or the cellular telephone service. The commission stated that this action would allow licensees to use amateur service frequencies to provide personal communications such as making appointments and ordering food, to collect data for the National Weather Service and to provide assistance voluntarily even where there are other authorized radio services available".
    The FCC document goes on to state: "In that (FCC) proceeding, the commissionalso explicitly declined to devote staff resources to development and maintenance of any list of permitted or prohibited communications under Section 97.113 because such a list would necessitate that it intrude upon the day-to-day functioning of the amateur service to a far greater degree than it desired. Further, it stated that, in view of amateur radio operators' desire to engage in widely diverse types of communications, "thousands of examples" would have to be included on such a list. Instead of providing a list of anecdotal examples of permitted and prohibited communications, the commission adopted the five general standards that an amateur radio station control operator should use when deciding whether his or her station should transmit a certain message. It also decided to rely on the amateur service's traditions of self-regulation and cooperation between licensees, the cornerstones of the amateur service, to determine whether a specific communications should be transmitted on amateur frequencies".
    

Note: the five general standards given by the FCC (referenced above) are included in Appendix A (last page of this report).

Observations and Conclusions:

1. In no case does it appear that "supplemental" communications are prohibited. Even where radio or television communications (whether wireless or closed circuit ) are already provided, regulations do not appear to prohibit additional or supplemental communications from Amateur Radio resources. This would appear to include CU Football home games where closed circuit (intra-net) video is used and provided by the university over and above what BCARES might provide. Additionally other sources have been found to be unreasonable from cost and technical perspectives.
2. In view of the fact that the FCC has not seen fit to define the term "regular" in their regulation, the default definition (or least restrictive definition) appears to be the ARRL position that "regular" means: "daily" or at least weekly, or routinely, implying some frequency or closely recurring activity. The term "regular" in FCC speak does not appear to apply to annual events, Special Events or even recurring activities that occur as frequently as each month or quarter. The fact that an event is simply recurring, by itself, does not appear to qualify it as "regular". This interpretation would imply that events such as CU football home games, or other similar recurring events do not fit in the "regular" category, especially since they do not always occur on the same day(s) or dates each year.
   One notable exception to this appears to be the Amateur collection of (daily) weather information for the National Weather Service, a government agency, with multiple other radio services and resources at their disposal.
3. This document has been reviewed with ARRL Colorado Section Management.
4. Even if an event is "business" related (someone is always making money, whether for profit or not-for-profit) Amateur Radio can, as a minimum, be included as a supplemental form of communication, particularly where public safety or security is enhanced.
5. Amateur Radio resources have always had the option of voluntarily participating at events (with event organizer permission) for purposes of training. The fact that we are volunteers, are not compensated for our efforts (via a wage or personal benefit), irrespective of whether we may be displacing other radio services, while contributing to public safety in training for emergencies is in no way prohibited by current FCC regulations so long as it is not done on a "regular" basis.
6. BCARES appears to be quite justified and within FCC rules and interpretations to function in the capacity described at CU Football games and similar events.
7. BCARES should continue to carefully evaluate participation in any event, exercise, incident or other voice radio / digital / ATV communication application to ensure full compliance with FCC regulations. Since events and requests for assistance come up all the time, the BCARES Board could more easily accomplish this task through the use of a checklist approach (in concert with this document) for reviewing compliance matters of this nature.

Appendix A - "the five general standards" ( from 97.113 )
Prohibited Transmissions:

1. Communications specifically prohibited elsewhere in Part 97
2. Communications for hire or for material compensation, direct or indirect, paid or promised, except as otherwise provided in Part 97
3. Communications in which the station licensee or control operator have a pecuniary interest
4. Transmission of music except as provided elsewhere in Part 97, communication intended to facilitate a criminal act, codes or ciphers, obscenity or indecency, false or deceptive: message, signals or identification.
5. Communications on a regular basis which could reasonably be furnished alternatively through other radio services.

Respectfully submitted to the BCARES Board and approved August 2006:

Dale Scott - KAØQPV - Boulder County Amateur Radio Emergency Service Assistant Emergency Coordinator - Colorado ARES District 11 BCARES Administrative Vice Chair