More C-Band Earth Station Registration Incentives Seen Unlikely

Any effort to get the regulator to waive filing fees is probably moot, since allowing operators to file for joint groupings can help with the financial burden, said Fletcher Heald broadcast and satellite lawyer Michelle McClure. Filing can be a burden for small operators having to hire consulting engineers and lawyers, she said, but it's unlikely there would be a future waiver of filing fees since operators filed and paid those fees, and refunds would be a big administrative headache. Another extension likely isn't in the cards, since the 90 extra days should be adequate and "at some point [commissioners] have to make a decision" on opening the band to terrestrial use, she said. She said responses to the C-band NPRM on July's commissioners' meeting agenda will take time to process, so even with extension, the registration process will go in parallel with the NPRM.

Mark Johnson, co-founder of satellite network design and installation firm LinkUp Communications, said he has concerns most sites won't be counted. The delay "was unprecedented [and] encouraging," and operators with multiple sites will benefit, he said. For small commercial broadcasters, the $435 filing fee is a notable expense, especially when it's still not clear that by registering their receive-only earth stations those operators are guaranteed or likely to receive protection from 5G signal interference, Johnson said.

Since the FCC tackled items the Society of Broadcast Engineers raised concerns about (see 1805250003), the hope is the filings will be completed and accurate, emailed SBE President Jim Leifer. Broadcast engineers needed time and an easier way to file each antenna, he said. Once the agency has earth station data, it can work on determining if the C-band can be shared, particularly given concerns about whether sharing is feasible, and enforcement if there's an issue, he said.

A broadcast executive said it will take time to know how effective the actions will be at driving registrations. Big broadcasters are well aware of the need to register, but it's not clear how well the message was spread to small ones. The 90-day extension was needed just to ensure enough time to reach those operators, the executive said.

The extension "should be enough time" for American Cable Association members to register, said Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Ross Lieberman. He said the FCC understood there were outstanding issues of cost that could depress registrations, and looked to address those in the public notice. He said the focus now is on encouraging members' registrations. Regulatory action on the C-band will require a lot of different decisions needing big consideration and data and “that just can't happen overnight,” Lieberman said.

The NPRM proposes to protect incumbent earth stations from harmful interference, and seeks comment on how to define the incumbent class. It proposes a definition of earth stations that were operational by April 19, were licensed or had a pending application in the International Bureau Filing System database by Oct. 17 and timely filed information in response to the PN collecting information about earth stations in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band. It proposes excluding earth stations not licensed or registered from protection, though allowing them to operate on any unprotected basis. The draft seeks comment on revising Part 25 rules so earth station operators can modify incumbent earth stations at registered locations but not add new ones, and that applications for new earth station registrations wouldn't be allowed.

The clearing idea championed by Intelsat, SES and Intel is the only good route to protecting incumbent users like PSSI Global Services, the CEO of the satellite news truck operator told IB Chief Tom Sullivan, said a docket 17-183 filing Monday. PSSI, accompanied by Intelsat and SES counsel, said co-frequency sharing with terrestrial mobile is a no-go because PSSI's antennas have no fixed location and its satellites and frequencies used are often determined at the last minute. PSSI said its customer base won't rely on Ku-band because large multipath multiplexed transmission services aren't possible there.

Johnson said filters are commercially available for C-band terrestrial interference sources such as WiMax, but those filters often have to be doubled to solve the interference problem. He said 5G transmitters would likely be far closer to the band earth stations than WiMax transmitters, so field testing and engineering of filters that will protect the earth stations from 5G are needed first.

Between April 1 and Tuesday, the agency received 1,638 registration filings in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band, IBFS shows. Johnson said two different estimation methodologies come to the same conclusion that 27,000 to 30,000 such C-band earth stations are likely in the U.S. He said the batch filing methodology made easier by the FCC could start accelerating registrations. McClure said engineering and programming organizations are talking to operators and sending out email blasts about registering. "The word is getting out" and response, at least by her clients, "is pretty good," she said.