In flurry of last-min. filings on ultra-wideband (UWB), HBO and T...

last year exposed every fixed satellite service (FSS) transponder in C-band downlink spectrum “to harmful interference.” FCC received filings on UWB with expectations it would take up at Feb. 13 agenda meeting petitions for reconsideration of last year’s UWB order. PanAmSat, Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA), Loral and SES Americom raised C-band concerns Mon. “The C-band is one of the 2 principal bands used by the FSS industry and there are many billions of dollars invested in C-band space and ground station infrastructure,” filing said. FCC erred in UWB order because it took into consideration average only of UWB emissions, not peak emissions, when assessing potential interference to FSS. “An NTIA study that takes peak transmissions into account found that the emissions levels adopted by the FCC would interfere with C-band downlinks,” it said. Under FCC rules, satellite firms argued, UWB devices would have to be more than one mile from FSS earth stations to prevent harmful interference. Companies want FCC to: (1) Bar intentional UWB emissions at 3.7-4.2 GHz, step it took below 3.1 GHz to protect GPS. (2) Or reduce peak power level and create high minimum pulse repetition frequency level. SIA is among entities with petition for reconsideration pending on UWB order. HBO and TBS told FCC they used C-band frequencies that were used for program distribution as did “almost all other” cable and broadcast TV networks. “The studies submitted to the Commission by SIA demonstrate that the peak emission limits the Commission adopted for UWB devices are not sufficient to protect the thousands of C-band receive antennas deployed nationwide from harmful interference,” HBO said. Filing said widespread UWB deployment under current rules “would cause significant disruption to television network distribution” because of that interference potential. World Teleport Assn. raised similar concerns on potential C-band interference. Its members use teleports, which utilize C-band frequencies for transmission and reception and broadcast and cable TV programming, Internet data, corporate network data, paging signals.