Ted Rappaport N9NB submitted a filing to FCC, Nov 10, saying FCC’s NPRM 16-239, on amateur radio digital modes symbol rate, is viewed as "a direct threat to the national security"
A Radio Resource Media Group story by Sandra Wendelken says:
A wireless expert says the FCC is putting
national security at risk by not enforcing amateur radio rules.
The FCC’s notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM)
16-239 attempts to remove a limit on the baud rate of high-frequency
(HF) shortwave transmissions. In an ex parte filing, Theodore Rappaport,
Ph.D, told the FCC’s chief technology officer (CTO) Eric Burger the FCC
should first address ongoing rule violations to proper usage of the
amateur radio service — specifically, the use of obscured, private
messaging, which is forbidden in Part 97 rules and creates national
security concerns, as well as other violations.
“If allowed, NPRM 16-239 would perpetuate the current violations and
would authorize obscured transmissions of unlimited bandwidth over the
global airwaves, further increasing the danger to our national security,
since these transmissions cannot be intercepted or eavesdropped by
other amateur radio operators or the FCC,” Rappaport’s filing said.
Rappaport is the founding director of NYU WIRELESS, a professor at New
York University (NYU) in three different schools and a leading expert in
5G technology.
The filing said public records clearly show how the evolution of
undocumented, proprietary transmission technologies such as PACTOR and
Winlink, ARDOP, Winmor, STANAG and other HF transmission schemes that
use controlling software have created a national security problem in the
amateur radio service. Third parties, including other ham radio
operators or the FCC listening stations, cannot intercept and decode
over-the-air transmissions when used in the popular automated repeat
request (ARQ) mode.
“In my personal conversations with FBI and FCC officials, they admit
they also are unable to readily decode these types of transmissions,”
Rappaport said. “In my discussions with vendors of amateur radio
equipment, they tell me that they are concerned about purchases of
amateur radio equipment by criminal cartels, and that they believe it is
happening daily.”
Rappaport urged the FCC to recognize the danger of NPRM 16-239 and
address Part 97 rules to remove this type of obscured communication and
other ongoing violations, before it enacts NPRM 16-239.
Read the full Radio Resource Media Group story at
https://www.rrmediagroup.com/News/NewsDetails/NewsID/17667
Read FCC filing by Ted Rappaport N9NB at
https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/
file/1111110314487/FCC%20EX
%20PARTE%2016-239%20Eric
%20Burger%20Nov%2011
%202018.pdf
Download Notice of Proposed Rule Making NPRM 16-239 from
https://www.fcc.gov/document/amateur-baud-rate-nprm
On September 27, 2018, the Radio Club of America awarded the Armstrong
Medal to Wireless Communications Researcher and Educator Theodore
Rappaport N9NB
https://engineering.nyu.edu/news/radio-club-america-awards-armstrong-medal-wireless-communications-researcher-and-educator
TNX Southgate
