WISPA, NAB Say Wireless Bureau on Right Track on Sharing Proposal
The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association agreed in general with Wireless Bureau recommendations for geographic restrictions and frequency separation requirements on band sharing in a public notice examining Fixed Service (FS) sharing of the 7 GHz and 13 GHz bands. NAB also agreed in general with the bureau’s latest sharing plan. In a June 27 notice, the bureau asked follow-up questions to an August 2010 rulemaking on removing regulatory barriers to the use of spectrum for wireless backhaul and other point-to-point and point-to-multipoint communications.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
"WISPA opposed broadcast industry arguments that fixed operations in the 7 GHz and 13 GHz bands should be secondary to [Broadband Auxiliary Service] operations and that portions of the bands should be reserved for BAS,” WISPA said. “WISPA is pleased that the Commission has arrived at the same conclusion and has proposed band-sharing rules that would properly balance the interests of itinerant TV pickup station licensees and the interests of WISPs and others that require access to new spectrum for wireless backhaul capabilities, particularly in rural areas.”
WISPA agreed with the bureau’s policy call prohibiting FS stations from operating in the service area assigned to co-channel TV pickup stations. “This geographic restriction should alleviate the potential for interference while enabling access to as much as 750 megahertz for backhaul,” WISPA said. In addition, WISPA endorsed maximum channel widths of 25 MHz for the 7 GHz band and 50 MHz for the 13 GHz band, but said there should be no minimum channel width for either band.
NAB was also generally pleased with the proposals from the Wireless Bureau. “The Further Inquiry shows that the FCC is taking seriously the concerns of broadcasters as well as wireless interests, particularly with respect to how best to protect itinerant TV pickup stations used for electronic newsgathering activities throughout a station’s service area,” NAB said. “The proposals suggested in the Further Inquiry go a long way toward meeting broadcasters’ concerns.” But because of the continuing possibility of interference to broadcast operations, NAB said it has not dropped its argument that new FS operations should be licensed only on a secondary basis in the 7 GHz and 13 GHz bands “at least in the foreseeable future.”
Engineers for the Integrity of Broadcast Auxiliary Services Spectrum (EIBASS) also filed comments in response to the June public notice. The bureau “concludes that sharing between fixed-link 7 and 13 TV BAS stations and fixedlink [Private Operational Fixed Service] stations entering those bands is practical, and should be allowed; EIBASS agrees,” the group said. “All that is needed is to additionally adopt a no-greater-than 0.5 dB noise threshold degradation protection requirement for newcomer [FS] stations.”