WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday set aside 14 megahertz of radio-frequency spectrum as the Wireless Medical Telemetry Service to help protect wireless health devices from interference, the transition to digital TV transmission and private wireless refarming.
“Today’s action will enhance the ability of health care providers to offer high quality and cost-effective care to patients with acute and chronic health care needs … The spectrum allocation we have made for these devices will protect the public by providing frequencies where heart and blood-pressure monitors can operate without interference. It will also help in resolving conflicts between these devices, digital TV and land-mobile services,” said FCC Chairman William Kennard.
Medical telemetry devices have long been secondary users in the TV and land mobile bands-using free spectrum for a variety of devices, including heart monitors, used by medical personnel to monitor the progress of patients suffering from heart attacks or strokes. Patients are more comfortable with wireless devices since they are not tethered to a machine.
The WMTS will be located in three bands at channel 37 on the TV dial (608-614 MHz), 1395-1400 MHz and 1429-1432 MHz. These last two bands were recovered from the federal government.
Channel 37 is used primarily for radio astronomy. Medical telemetry will now be given co-primary status.
The FCC believes this allocation is flexible enough to allow spectrum to be available for medical telemetry services in all locations while protecting radio astronomy and government navigational operations currently operating in the allocated spectrum.
