The benefits and pitfalls of obtaining a UHF radio license from the FCC
More than 60 years ago, the alarm industry lobbied the FCC for a number of frequencies at the 450 MHz business band for voice by alarm companies listed by Underwriters Laboratories (UL), Edison Testing Laboratories (ETL), or FM Approvals. The use of “offsets” — the frequencies between the voice channels, both those set aside for listed companies and other such frequencies — became popular for wireless alarm data systems such as AES-Intellinet and others.
While the use of cellular has essentially replaced this practice, I have often written that having voice backup on UHF may be useful during a natural disaster. This has been proven to be true time and again.