EWA Accepting Applications During FCC Shutdown
As a result of a partial government shutdown, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) suspended most operations on January 3, 2019, and will remain closed until funding is restored. A small staff remains at work to address emergency situations – and to handle auction-related matters such as the ongoing “Spectrum Frontiers” auctions. The Commissioners’ offices will remain open as they have a separate funding source. So new Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, who finally was confirmed along with the reconfirmation of Commissioner Carr, will have a relatively quiet break-in period. Systems such as the Universal Licensing System (ULS) and the Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) will be accessible, although applications will not be processed and there will be no updates on licensing or rulemaking matters until the Federal government reopens. The Antenna Structure Registration (ASR) is not available.
During the shutdown, the Enterprise Wireless Alliance (EWA) will conduct business as usual. EWA personnel will be available Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m., Eastern, to assist with spectrum management or to provide other support. EWA continues to accept applications via its standard methods, including via Cevo® and Cevo Go™ for Industrial/Business and Public Safety radio spectrum. EWA will perform all customary services as requested. You may monitor the status of your applications in Cevo throughout and following the FCC's shutdown.
Category: EWA On Your Side
Impact of Shutdown on Filing Deadlines
Filing deadlines that pass during the period of suspension, including January 3, will be extended automatically and due on the second day that operations resume. For example, if funding were restored on a Monday, the FCC would resume operations on Tuesday and filings would be due on Wednesday. The filing extension applies only to due dates that pass during the shutdown period. The FCC is not automatically extending any deadlines that fall after operations have resumed but will consider whether to do so on a case-by-case basis. Licenses for Special Temporary Authority (STAs) that expire while operations are suspended are automatically extended to the day after regular operations resume.
Category: EWA On Your Side
LMCC Asks FCC to Reconsider F(50,10) Contour for 800 MHz
In a Petition for Reconsideration filed December 27, the LMCC has requested that the FCC reconsider its decision to use an F(50,10) interference contour when coordinating adjacent 800 MHz channels separated by 12.5 kHz. The LMCC had proposed and developed a coordination matrix for a more spectrally efficient F(50,50) interference contour. In the R&O, the FCC published the original matrix while adopting the more conservative F(50,10) contour.
Simultaneous to filing the Petition, the LMCC is developing a modified matrix for an F(50,10) contour in case the FCC rejects the request. The LMCC concluded that coordination under the rules adopted, while unnecessarily conservative and, therefore, less than spectrally efficient, could not be shown to cause irreparable injury, an essential element in seeking a stay of the FCC rules. EWA continues to seek information from vendors about new equipment/technology that would require modifying the matrix of derating factors to be used in conjunction with the F(50,50) interference curve. (WP 15-32, 16-261)
Category: EWA On Your Side
Additional Updates on R&O Providing Access to New PLMR Spectrum
- 800 MHz Interstitial Channels: The 318 new 12.5 kHz interstitial channels in the 800 MHz Mid-Band: Interleaved (854-860 MHz), Expansion (860-861 MHz) and Guard Band (861-861 MHz). These channels will not be available until (i) the FCC Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved them, and (ii) the FCC Universal Licensing System (ULS) has been modified to accept applications for them.
- Central Station Alarm Channels: The Monitoring Association and the LMCC have reached agreement on a modified coordination approach that should provide reasonable access to unassigned full-power central station channels. The availability of these channels will be delayed until sometime after January 2 since the FCC requires OMB approval because of the central station coordinator concurrence requirement. The FCC will be advised of the TMA/LMCC coordination protocol.
EWA to Review Comments on 6 GHz NPRM
This NPRM, among other actions, proposes to allow unlicensed use in the 5.925-7.125 GHz (6 GHz) band while ensuring that the licensed services operating in the spectrum do not encounter interference and continue to function. Because most of the issues raised in the NPRM are highly technical, EWA intends to review the Comments and then determine what, if any, Reply Comments it should submit. Comments are due on February 15 and Reply Comments on March 18. (ET 18-295/FCC 18-147)
Category: EWA On Your Side
UTC, WISPA Seek Extension of Transition of 3.5 GHz to CBRS
UTC and WISPA jointly requested a waiver to extend the deadline for completing the transition of grandfathered operations in the 3650-3700 MHz band to the new CBRS rules. The transition period is tied to the grant and expiration date of individual licenses and ends between April 17, 2020 and January 8, 2023. The waiver request asks that all grandfathered licenses be given until January 8, 2023, to complete the transition. It argues that more time is needed because the recent rule changes and equipment availability issues make the current deadlines onerous.
WISPA enlisted supporting comments from several dozen WISPs. Xcel Energy, CenterPoint, and API filed in support as well. Not surprisingly, CTIA, T-Mobile, NCTA, and Federated Wireless have all opposed the request, urging the FCC not to take any action that could delay access to this band and, if necessary, to handle waiver requests on a case-by-case basis.
Reply Comments, which were due on December 24, 2018, were filed by UTC/WISPA and Motorola Solutions, Inc. and appear to reflect a difference of opinion as to whether a proxy controller workaround is available that would allow legacy systems designed to meet the 3.65-3.7 GHz rules to communicate with a Spectrum Access System (SAS) for purposes of interference avoidance (18-353)
Category: In the news
Recent Enforcement Actions, January 15, 2019
Mobile Communications America Fined for Transfer of Control and Operation Violations
On December 26, the FCC issued an Order announcing that the FCC Enforcement Bureau had entered a Consent Decree to resolve an investigation into whether Mobile Communications America, Inc. had violated sections of the Communications Act of 1934 and FCC rules related to the transfer of control of wireless radio licenses prior to receiving FCC approval and to its operation of wireless stations after the licenses for those stations had expired. To settle the matter, Mobile Communications has admitted that it failed to obtain the necessary FCC approval prior to transferring the licenses in question, agrees to implement a compliance plan, and will make a payment of $93,600.
PSHSB Continues to Wield its Enforcement Hammer
On December 19, the PSHSB disposed of several requests for construction extensions by denying some and advising licensees to reapply, while granting relief to a licensee in PR who had built but whose notification was not received on time and, to a 700 MHz licensee in CA. (DA 18-1273/76)
They Hoped No One Would Notice
Swarm Technologies, Inc. was fined $900,000 for deploying and operating four experimental satellites -- after the FCC had denied Swarm’s application for that operation -- and for unauthorized testing of weather balloon-to-ground station and other ground station equipment. The fact that the FCC uncovered the operation, rather than Swarm making a disclosure, likely did not help. (File No.: EB-SED-18-00026685)
Category: Enforcement Corner