C-Band Earth Station Freeze Seen as Prelude to C-Band NPRM

NAB Vice President-Spectrum Policy Bob Weller said he didn't know what timing the FCC might be working on for the NPRM, but congressional intent on the C-band and work Europe has done on allowing mobile use there in recent years makes it a likely "fast-track item" for the agency. Satellite C-band use isn't as extensive in Europe partly due to rain fade, and some mobile use has been allowed in portions of the C-band there in recent years, he said. The FCC didn't comment.

Commissioner Mike O'Rielly has talked about freeing up 200 to 300 MHz of C-band (see 1804190045), but that amount might be somewhat optimistic, since SES and Intelsat talked about their proposal potentially freeing up 100 MHz (see 1802120043), Weller said. O'Rielly Chief of Staff Brooke Ericson said his call for 200-300 MHz indicates that 100 MHz isn't satisfactory and there needs to be more freed up. O'Rielly told the American Enterprise Institute Thursday he hopes for an NPRM this summer "to explore all the relevant issues" regarding the 3.7-4.2 GHz band.

A C-band clearing NPRM could come up against broadcaster concerns about the radio and TV programming distributed via satellite using the band, and possible content provider disruptions or having to relocate to other transponder frequencies or terrestrial distribution, Weller said.

A satellite industry executive said the freeze helps the FCC with a concern it had about cleaning up its database of earth stations operating in the band, with the freeze encouraging registration. The executive said the Intelsat/Intel/SES plan wouldn't clear the entire band, since there are numerous other users. But clearing more than 100 MHz would take time since it likely would require launching additional satellites first. SES and Intelsat are the biggest satellite users of C-band, and the executive said a lot of other satellite operators are waiting to see what the NPRM says before determining a stance. There could be international ramifications, with that approach potentially being pushed in countries where there's not the flexibility to move other C-band users, the executive said. Meanwhile, the wireless industry is going to want harmonized equipment that can operate globally in the same bands, the executive said. The Satellite Industry Association, which includes Intelsat and SES as executive members according to its website, didn't comment.

The item likely will at least seek comment on the Intelsat/Intel/SES plan, a wireless executive said. It could go more broadly than that into other issues, the executive said. Given the variety of spectrum items working their way through the FCC now, it wouldn't be surprising if the NPRM came within the next few months, the executive said. Given the state of midband, where almost any proposal becomes contentious, the NPRM is almost sure to generate opposition from some segment, the executive said.

The FCC is apparently listening to concerns there's inadequate information in the current earth stations database and that the 3.7-4.2 GHz and 5.9-7.1 GHz bands need to be considered separately, said Claude Aiken, new (see 1804110033) president of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association, in a statement. That could grease the path to fixed wireless use of C-band, he said.

An FCC freeze on new or modifications of fixed satellite service earth station licenses, receive-only earth station registrations and fixed microwave licenses in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band is seemingly the next step toward an NPRM on an Intelsat/Intel/SES plan for freeing up part of the C-band for mobile wireless use.

The C-band earth station freeze is to preserve the 3.7-4.2 GHz operations status quo pending the agency potentially allowing mobile broadband use and more intensive fixed use of the band, the International, Public Safety and Homeland Security, and Wireless bureaus said in a public notice Thursday. They said the freeze limits the potential for "speculative applications" that could be filed in anticipation of future agency actions, and they opened a docket. Another PN said they were establishing docket 18-122 regarding more flexible use of the 3.7-4.2 GHz band.

IB is opening a 90-day window for FSS earth stations operating in the band to register if they're not currently registered or licensed, or to apply to modify a current registration or license. The American Cable Association applauded the waiver during that 90-day window of the requirement frequency coordination report, which it said can carry a price tag of up to $1,200 per earth station.

Intelsat emailed us that it saw the earth stations freeze as the FCC "simply trying to develop a data set to determine exactly how many C-band downlinks are active in the U.S. today." It said since C-band downlinks registration wasn't previously required, it knows of "several unregistered networks with thousands of sites."

NAB has been encouraging C-band users to register their earth stations in anticipation of the FCC moving toward allowing wireless broadband in at least part of the 3.7-4.2 GHz band, and only registered earth stations may be protected from interference or reimbursed for costs stemming from setting up an alternative or replacement service, Weller said in an email to radio and TV technical committee members.