WCA Asks FCC to Rethink 2.5 GHz Rules

WCA said it agrees with FCC’s goals in reallocating the spectrum. “Whether those opportunities will materialize depends on whether the rules governing the spectrum below 2500 MHz afford licensees reasonable protection against harmful interference,” WCA said: “And that is where WCA and the Commission part company.” WCA previously signaled its unhappiness with that part of the order after it was released in late July (CD July 30 p2). Late Wed. the association followed through on warnings it would file a petition for reconsideration.

WCA is concerned that under the order multipoint distribution service channel 1 operators relocated to the 2496-2502 MHz band will have to share spectrum in the 2496-2500 MHz band with mobile satellite service provider Globalstar LLC. The MDS industry hoped that channel 1 operators would have exclusive use of that spectrum.

Under the order, WCA explained, the Commission contemplates that the satellite users of the band will protect broadband users by using “remaining MSS spectrum to provide service” where interference becomes a problem. The order also states that MSS will have to accept interference. But WCA said this is only a partial answer. FCC should have provided broadband operators some recourse to protect their use of the band.

“WCA’s concern over the potential for interference to relocated channel 1 licensees is hardly hypothetical,” the association said. “Big LEO MSS satellite downlink signals that blanket the nation will cause significant interference to [broadband] base stations and subscriber equipment.” WCA said partial fixes won’t work.

“The bottom line is simple -- continued Big LEO MSS downlink transmissions in the 2496-2500 MHz band will cause debilitating interference to [broadband] operations in the band and are totally unnecessary to meet the legitimate needs of the sole remaining Big LEO MSS licensee,” WCA said: Eliminating the co-primary Big LEO MSS allocation is “a critical first step towards clearing that band for relocated channel 1 operations.”

Sprint raised similar objections: “As a general matter, two separate [radio frequency] services cannot simultaneously transmit within the same bandwidth at the same time in the same location without causing mutual interference.” Nextel argued: “Failing to adopt protections for terrestrial fixed and mobile operations works a serious injustice on the… licensees that will occupy the 2495-2500 MHz band by greatly reducing their ability to use this spectrum.”

In its petition for reconsideration, Globalstar said a hearing was necessary before making the rule changes because its rights will be restricted. Besides sharing S- band spectrum with the MDS operators, the Commission also said Globalstar must share 3.1 MHz of spectrum with Iridium. In both decisions, the Commission expanded spectrum rights of others, but has restricted Globalstar to the point “that it will be precluded from using [the spectrum], in a very real sense, in the future,” Globalstar said. Sec. 316 prohibits such an impact without “notice-and-hearing procedures,” the company said, and the Commission has previously “acknowledged for Big LEO systems that any modification of existing rights to operate in assigned spectrum must comply with Section 316.” However, Globalstar said if the FCC considers Globalstar’s license conditional, allowing “the Commission to change its parameters at will, then the changes invoked here violate the due process rights of Globalstar.” Since the Commission didn’t say it would limit access to the Big LEO spectrum based on efficiency, Globalstar said, the proposed changes would amount to “unfairly penalizing” Globalstar for not meeting an unannounced standard.

In any case, Globalstar said certain service rules should be implemented to make MSS operations in the S-band more feasible. While the Commission said it expected future MDS operations (referred to by the Commission as broadband radio services [BRS]) to take place mostly in urban areas, Globalstar said MDS operators are currently licensed nationwide, and proposed power levels with widespread deployment would “severely interfere” with MSS. Specifically, Globalstar said: (1) BRS base station power levels should be limited to an effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) of 600 watts. (2) BRS operations should be permitted only in the top 35 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) for the 2495-2500 MHz band. For BRS operations in the 2483.5-2500 MHz band and outside the top 35 MSAs, BRS out-of-band emissions should be limited to -209 dBW/Hz.

Concerning sharing in the L-band, Iridium should be required to prove it needs to access the shared spectrum before accessing it, Globalstar said. The company pointed out Iridium already has access to 5.15 MHz of spectrum that it uses exclusively, and Iridium “could attempt to load its users into the shared 3.1 MHz of spectrum reserving its exclusive access spectrum. Such a scenario does not promote what the Commission deemed ’spectrum efficiency,’ that is, increasing the number of systems that can use the spectrum.” Globalstar also asked the Commission to raise the lower shared spectrum boundary to 1618.725 MHz, allowing Globalstar to access 2 L-band channels exclusively. - Howard Buskirk, Jeanene Timberlake