US Reaches Agreement With Canada on 600 MHz Band Plan After TV Incentive Auction
The U.S. and Canada finalized a Statement of Intent (SOI) establishing both a framework and timeline for repurposing TV spectrum for mobile broadband on both sides of the border, said Gary Epstein, chairman of the FCC Incentive Auction Task Force, Friday in a blog post. Industry officials said last month Canada had released a Consultation on Repurposing the 600 MHz Band last year and was on its way to addressing a post-incentive auction world (see 1507220071).
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The FCC already has worked out a similar agreement with Mexico and has exchanged technical letters (see 1507240051), but hasn't released the details. The Mexico details are expected to be released shortly, an FCC official said Friday.
“Today we are pleased to announce that we concluded another critical step in our efforts to harmonize our TV and wireless spectrum bands with Canada in preparation for the 2016 Incentive Auction,” Epstein said. “This follows the similar results we reached with Mexico last month.”
The process of reaching an agreement is slightly different with Canada than it is with Mexico, FCC officials said, and includes an SOI rather than an exchange of letters. The statement sets forth a framework and timeline on repurposing TV spectrum for mobile broadband “on both sides of the border,” Epstein said. He said the U.S. and Canada worked out a similar SOI before the start of the DTV transition.
“As part of the Decision, Industry Canada will adopt the same 600 MHz Band Plan that the FCC adopted last year,” Epstein said. “Industry Canada and the FCC will jointly repack TV stations on the same timetable. Joint repacking will produce significantly increased benefits and a better result for both countries, making more broadband spectrum available than if each country proceeded independently.” Mutual cooperation also “significantly reduces potential interference to future wireless operations in the border region,” he said.
“This will allow FCC to reduce interference from Canadian broadcast stations in the border region,” said Scott Bergmann, vice president-regulatory affairs at CTIA. “We continue to encourage the FCC to minimize domestic impairments whenever possible as well because more ‘clean’ spectrum is important at the border and throughout the country to meet growing consumer demand for mobile broadband.”