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Multiple Address System (MAS)
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According to the FCC, MAS is defined as "a point-to-multipoint or point-to-point radio communications system used for either one-way or two-way transmissions that operates in the 928/952/956 MHz, the 928/959 MHz or the 932/941 MHz bands" in accordance with section 101.147 of the FCC's rules. Specific rules for MAS are in Subpart O of Part 101.
Limited mobile operations are permitted under MAS, per 101.1307.
According to frequency coordinator Micronet, MAS are "point-to multipoint microwave systems that provide corporations and other institutions with the ability to support their dedicated operations."
Details of the MAS service were established in a 1999 FCC Report and Order (FCC 99-415), which took the following actions:
- Designate the 928/952/956 MHz bands exclusively for private internal services, licensed on a site-by-site basis.
- License the 928/959 MHz bands on a geographic area basis.
- License twenty of the forty paired channels in the 932/941 MHz bands on a geographic area basis.
- Reserve twenty of the forty channel pairs in the 932/941 MHz bands for public safety/Federal Government and private internal services, licensed on a first-come, first-served, site-by-site basis. Designate five of the twenty channels in the 932/941 MHz bands' set-aside exclusively for public safety/Federal Government services.
- Grandfather existing operations on the MAS bands and restrict expansion in the 928/959 MHz bands.
- Establish service areas based on the Federal Communications Commission's definition of Economic Areas (EAs) and on the U.S. Department of Commerce's definition of EAs.
- Establish construction/coverage requirements for EA licensees -- specifically, coverage to at least one-fifth of the population in their service areas or substantial service within five years of the license grant -- and a showing of substantial service within ten years of being licensed.
- Introduce flexibility to the MAS technical rules.
- Allow licensees to provide mobile and fixed operations on a co-primary basis for point-to-point and point-to-multipoint operations.
- Adopt a flexible approach for defining the regulatory status of MAS licensees by allowing the licensee to indicate its regulatory status.
- Lift the suspension on the acceptance of applications for the 928/952/956 MHz bands and the twenty channels in the 932/941 MHz bands designated for public safety/Federal Government and/or private internal services upon the release of this Report and Order.
- Adopt Part 1 competitive bidding rules for MAS spectrum.
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Frequency Bands |
| Band | Use | Service11 | Table |
| 928 - 929 MHz | Multiple Address System | Fixed | N |
| 932 - 932.5 MHz | Multiple Address System | Fixed | N |
| 941 - 941.5 MHz | Multiple Address System | Fixed | N |
| 952 - 960 MHz | Multiple Address System | Fixed | N |
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