Enterprise Wireless Insider, Volume 13, Issue 18

FCC Suspends Renewals for T-Band, Pai Urges Congress to Repeal Mandate

In a Public Notice released December 2, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced that it “will accept but not grant, applications to renew Part 22 and Part 90 licenses for operation in the 470-512 MHz band (T-Band).” The Commission advises that licensees that have filed and will file in the future complete applications for renewal of a license “may continue to operate using their licensed facilities past the license expiration date while the suspension [of renewals] is in effect.”

In a news release announcing the suspension, FCC Chairman Pai issued a statement calling on Congress to repeal the mandate to auction T-Band spectrum and allow public safety officials to continue to use T-Band noting that the agency has extensively analyzed the band and has “concluded that moving forward is not viable – relocation costs for public safety licensees would likely far exceed any potential auction revenue, making it impossible to fund the relocation”. Legislation has been introduced in both the House and the Senate that would repeal the repurposing mandate.

Rep. Walden Ties Delay on T-Band to 911-Fee Diversion

In response to Chairman Pai’s call to repeal the T-Band auction mandate, Representative Greg Walden (R-OR-2), who was one of the principal authors of the legislation that culminated in repurposing T-Band, tied a resolution to the mandate to diversion of 911 fees.

During a hearing on “Accountability and Oversight of the Federal Communications Commission,” Rep. Walden called for a stop to 911-fee diversion (whereby states use monies from 911 fees for purposes other than supporting essential public safety services) and offered a proposal to delay the “start of the T-band process for another three years, to 2024. To be eligible for this delay, states and localities would simply need to comply with a very common-sense policy that bipartisan bills have already called for, which is to put an end to 9-1-1 fee diversion."

T-Band Interference

As reported in a previous issue of Insider, some T-Band licensees in Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York have experienced ongoing issues with interference from television broadcasts on TV CH16. Although affected Business/Industrial Land Transportation licensees in Dallas and their representatives had a call with staff from FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) and Enforcement Bureau, no progress has been made on this issue. WTB has asked whether affected T-Band licensees could relocate. Few, if any, exclusive UHF channels are available in the market and certainly an insufficient number for replacement purposes. It is unclear who would pay for such a move if alternative spectrum were available as well.

Citizens Broadband Radio Service

On November 26, WTB and Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) jointly announced the approval and registration of additional or updated Environmental Sensing Capability (ESC) sensor deployment and coverage plans for CommScope, Federated Wireless and Google, all of which are approved ESC operators. This approval followed sign-off from NTIA and DoD, which are satisfied that the capabilities provided for in the plans will assure adequate protection for the dynamic protection areas (DPAs) that extend beyond the coastline or that enclose a protected terrestrial radar facility as necessary to protect DoD radar systems. The FCC had previously announced that five Spectrum Access System (SAS) administrators (Amdocs, CommScope, Federated Wireless, Google, and Sony) had been approved to begin initial commercial deployments. 

Virtually all parties, including the IIoT Coalition, of which EWA is a member, have opposed the proposed Cellular Market Area (CMA)-level bidding in major markets, an option the FCC presumably thought would be embraced by carriers that had wanted Priority Access Licenses (PALs) auctioned in larger than county-sized areas. However, with strong opposition to the proposal, even from major carriers, it is unlikely that the FCC will adopt CMA-level bidding rules. Whether the FCC will try to substitute a more familiar combinatorial bidding option, and whether such a change would comply with the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), is unknown. The FCC has announced that the PAL auction will begin on June 25, 2020, making early auction process decisions critical.  

LMCC Activities

• Rebanding/Sprint-Vacated Channels – The membership agreed to file a Petition for Correction” requesting that the FCC rectify the duplicative release date of “Sprint Vacated” ULS data files. Absent correcting this matter, both CII and B/ILT eligible applicants would be forced to wait an additional three to five years to access this spectrum .
• Mid-Band 800 MHz Interstitial Channels - Before licensing may commence, the FCC needs to act on the LMCC Petition for Reconsideration of the interference contour rules and an ex parte proposing a modified Interference Contour Matrix. The LMCC convened a meeting to align expectations based on anticipated FCC responses.     
• EB/GB – Round II - While it is not known when the FCC will accept applications for EB/GB channels in the Mexican Border Region, several LMCC members suggested that the pre-coordination queueing process used for Central Station Alarm (CSA) channels should be applied for the EB/GB spectrum. The CSA approach was approved by the FCC and worked well without significant cost to applicants.   

Mobile Only Systems and the Safe Harbor Table

The LMCC has agreed to file a Petition for Rulemaking seeking rule clarification with respect to mobile-only system protection requirements and the application of the “safe harbor” tables. Specifically, to promote spectrum efficiency, the Petition will seek rule changes that would designate areas of operation beyond 80 km for mobile only systems as secondary operations. The Petition will also seek a more reasoned approach when the FCC enforces the application of the safe harbor table. While the Commission staff expressed an interest in these licensing issues, they nevertheless advised that a Petition for Rule Making was necessary. 

Application “Notices of Return”

In the B/ILT licensing sector, the level of applications returned by the FCC has reached a seemingly epic level which contributes to applicant frustrations, productivity costs for both the FCC and their certified frequency advisory committees, and meaningful delays in issuing licenses that encumber access to valuable spectrum. In an effort to promote greater frequency advisory committee and FCC collaboration, the B/ILT FACS will be requesting a meeting with the FCC to hopefully identify mutually productive mechanisms to limit the quantity and quality of return notices, and communication approaches that would facilitate the gathering of information necessary to issue licenses rather than issuing return notices.  

Transition to Electronic Filing

While EWA filed Comments generally supporting all moves toward further electronic FCC filing requirements, including a requirement that all parties using ULS provide an email address to be used for correspondence with the FCC, during the recent LMCC meeting, EWA expressed a willingness to consider an “opt-in” approach that would allow licensees to affirmatively request receipt of certain correspondence by mail. (WT 19-212; 19-87)

FCC Personnel Change

On November 27, the telecom community received the not unanticipated, but dreaded, news that Julie Knapp, the long-time Chief of OET is retiring effective January 3, 2020. Chief Knapp has been with the FCC for 45 years and has been the head of OET for the last 13 years. He has served during multiple administrations and during multiple periods of tumultuous changes in the telecom industry. He has overseen the introduction of virtually every technology change in recent years, including WiFi, 4G, and 5G. No FCC employee is more highly respected or better-liked. His will be tremendous shoes to fill.