The FCC Rules governing the various personal radio services are available from a number of sources on the Internet. Most are merely republications following the sometimes confusing format of the version published by the Government Printing Office. Some versions even follow a prior (long out-of-date) PRSG compilation of the rules, but without attribution to us and without any warning that the rules can, do, and indeed have changed.
The FCC rules pertaining to the GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) are available here for on line review. This version also includes the rules adopted for GMRS by the ULS (Universal Licensing System) docket in 1999, including changes that the FCC adopted as a result of the PRSG petition to reconsider certain changes.
These FCC rules can also be downloaded as a ZIP-compressed
file by clicking here:
The GMRS rules based on these "ULS changes" went into effect in August 1999.
The GMRS rules available here online also incorporate changes
that pertain to the "Medical Implant Communications Service"
(MICS), a new low-power medical telemetry service in the 402-405
MHz band that became available on January 14, 2000. The complete
Report and Order (R&O) adopting these new MICS rules, including
the complete rules and a description of how the MICS may be used,
can also be downloaded as a ZIP-compressed file by clicking here:
The GMRS rules include mention of certain restrictions when operating "north of Line A or east of Line C." These are lines defined by treaty with Canada. Click here for more information on these areas (near the US/Canadian borders).
The FCC rules pertaining to the FRS (Family Radio Service) are also available here. Effective April 2, 2003, the FCC changed these rules to permit the transmission of data reporting the location of the FRS radio. The new rules also permit the transmission of other brief text messages. You can view these new rules by clicking here.
You can view the FCC rules pertaining to the new Multi Use Radio Service (MURS), a VHF-FM Citizens Band Service at 150 MHz, by clicking here. The original rules went into effect in November 2000, and were recently amended in response to several Petitions for Reconsideration.