AWS-3-Related LTE Concerns Are Overblown, Ligado Says

said in a filing Monday in docket 12-340. Claims that use of that band could affect AWS-3 band usage and that Auction 97 bidders like SNR didn't contemplate those effects fall flat because SNR has known at least since 2012 of Ligado's intentions for shared terrestrial use of 1675-1680 MHz because that is when Ligado first petitioned the FCC, while the Obama administration at the same time put forward the idea of shared commercial use of the band, Ligado said. The satellite company said the protection zones it asked for in proposed service rules for 1675-1680 follow the protection zones talked about in a study prepared by Alion to address National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration earth station protection, and that its proposed service rules also include a provision that the spectrum licensee provide high-speed access and cloud based storage of satellite-obtained weather data for non-NOAA users. SNR's worry about LTE affecting commercial users in adjacent bands "is an issue that we look forward to addressing as part of the notice-and-comment process," Ligado said. It said that SNR worries that only 15 megahertz separate the spectrum it's interested in from the 1695-1710 uplink band are overblown and lists six examples of downlink and uplink bands separated by 15 or less. Ligado said SNR's concern that using the 1675-1680 MHz band for satellite and terrestrial purposes would perhaps require deploying more base stations on SNR's part "is a speculative assertion," and an FCC public notice would give the opportunity to review such a claim. Ligado and others have asked the FCC to issue a PN seeking comment on a proposed auction of 1675-1680 and of the company's related license modification request (see 1602120052, 1602040015 and 1603170020).