Enterprise Wireless Insider® Volume 6, Issue 24

On Shared Channels – Monitoring a Must

Kaiser Foundation Hospital, licensee of radio station WQET416 in Richmond, California was issued a Notice of Violation for interference. A nearby land mobile radio station reported that the interfering signal on the shared frequency of 464.775 MHz was a constant, loud data burst with no station identification. The FCC’s Enforcement Division concluded that Kaiser was operating above the maximum allowed power, was not identified by the transmission of the assigned call sign during each transmission, and the transmitting frequency was not monitored, thereby causing harmful interference. Kaiser was given twenty days to submit a written statement addressing the violation and remedial actions taken.

3.5 GHz Band Targeted for Shared Broadband Access

The FCC has announced that it will take up an item entitled “Enabling Spectrum Sharing and Small Cell Wireless Broadband Services in the 3.5 GHz Band” and adopt a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking “to broaden its initiatives in unleashing broadband spectrum, promoting technological innovation, and encouraging investment via the creation of a shared access broadband service in the 3550-3650 MHz band for small cell use.”

Commission Reports on Efficiency of Microwave Bands

Given the FCC’s report on the highly efficient use of microwave bands and the efficiency of the licensing process, it will be interesting to see how the Comptroller General will respond to the Commission’s report on the “rejection rate” for common carrier microwave applications in the 11, 18 and 23 GHz bands. The Spectrum Act directed the Comptroller General of the United States to prepare a report on “whether market forces provide adequate incentive for the efficient use of these spectrum bands and ensure that the Federal Government receives maximum revenue for such spectrum through competitive bidding.” In its report, the FCC advised Congress that the rate of such rejected applications by the FCC is zero and that third parties such as Comsearch coordinate such applications before they are filed. Further, licensees such as Clearwire and Sprint Nextel reported that their rejection rates were effectively zero as well. The FCC explained that applications sometimes need to be modified to fit within the existing spectrum environment, but that virtually all requests are satisfied.  Essentially, purported inefficiencies with the selection, assignment and licensing of these microwave bands are non-existent, but pursuant to certain provisions within the Spectrum Act, the Comptroller General is nevertheless obligated to investigate. Although it is unlikely, wouldn’t it be nice if the report simply said, “We found no problems.” 

Further Deferment Sought by TA

The Transition Administrator (TA) has once again advised the FCC’s Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau that the 800 MHz rebanding financial true-up should be deferred until July 1, 2013, since a substantial number of licensees have yet to complete rebanding.  Further extensions of this deadline can be expected since the FCC has not yet released an Order regarding rebanding in the Mexican Border Region, and significant work remains to be done in that part of the country. 

LightSquared Seeks License Modification

The FCC has invited comment on LightSquared’s request to modify the Ancillary Terrestrial Component authorization associated with its MSS license to address concerns related to GPS interference.  LightSquared has proposed to relinquish its right to deploy terrestrial downlink operations at 1545-1555 MHz and instead relocate those operations to 1670-1680 MHz.  The proposal states that LightSquared already has authority for the lower 5 MHz in that band and would share the upper 5 MHz with certain federal government users.

FCC Grants T-Band Equipment Waiver

In response to a waiver request submitted by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), a request that was supported by the LMCC, the FCC issued an Order on Reconsideration that waived the requirement which had previously prohibited requests for new single voice path 25 kHz type-acceptance approvals for 470-512 MHz (T-Band) equipment. TIA had argued that continuing to prohibit licensees from adding or replacing radios as equipment manufactured pursuant to older equipment authorizations ceases to be available, leaves them unable to utilize new equipment with enhanced features. The FCC agreed and emphasized that the waiver was granted “only with respect to the 470-512 MHz band addressed by the Spectrum Act relocation provisions”, and that the certification of equipment capable of operating with only one voice path per 25 kHz of spectrum in the 150-470 MHz bands continues to be prohibited.

FCC Releases Narrowbanding Public Notice

On November 30, the FCC released perhaps its last Public Notice announcing that January 1, 2013, is the deadline for systems in the 150-470 MHz band to be narrowbanding compliant either by migrating to either a 12.5 kHz, narrower or equivalent technology.  The notice also addressed waivers of the narrowbanding deadline and identified those paging channels that are exempt from narrowbanding.   However, other portions of the notice weren’t quite so crystal clear. The FCC stated that “service shops are not prohibited from repairing wideband-capable equipment after the deadline, but that customers may not operate in wideband mode after January 1, 2013, without an applicable waiver or exception. The FCC also reported that effective February 1, 2013, that the frequency coordinators will treat incumbent non-compliant 25 kHz systems as 12.5 kHz systems for purposes of identifying assignments for use with trunked systems.

Unfortunately, this is not what the LMCC requested, rather, that non-compliant 25 kHz systems “shall not be considered by the frequency coordinators for purposes of identifying frequency assignments for use within trunked systems absent a pending modification application evidencing narrowbanding compliance or a pending or granted waiver request that seeks an extension of the deadline.” There is a world of difference between the two approaches.  It is anticipated that the LMCC will seek clarification of how to treat non-compliant incumbent systems as the FCC’s position effectively provides an equal benefit to those incumbents who failed, after fifteen years, to bring their systems into compliance.

Sprint Vacated Spectrum Available

Also on November 27, the FCC released FCC Public Notice DA 12-1839 announcing that on January 17, 2013, the FCC-certified frequency coordinators may also file applications on behalf of public safety applicants for channels in the 809.5-815/854.5-860 MHz band that have been relinquished by Sprint Nextel in twenty-one (21) non-border NPSPAC regions. These applications may request no more than five (5) channels at each location.

Consistent with FCC policies for previously released Sprint Nextel-vacated channels, EWA and other participating frequency advisory committees must address and resolve conflicting applications through a "pre-coordination" notification process before certifying applications. Pre-coordination may commence no sooner than December 11, 2012, at 8:00 a.m. ET. On or after that date, frequency coordinators may submit electronic notification to the other participating coordinators for applications it has prepared for coordination. Beginning January 17, 2013, the FCC-certified frequency coordinators may file applications within ULS on behalf of eligible applicants for the locations released by the Public Notice. Mutually exclusive applications filed with the FCC will be dismissed. EWA will accept applications immediately for frequency coordination at the locations identified on the FCC’s Vacated Channel Search Engine (VCSE). Please contact Ila Dudley at ila.dudley@enterprisewireless.org, 703-797-5125 to learn more about these spectrum opportunities and application processing requirements.

Rebanding Over in Eleven Regions – Spectrum Available

The Federal Communications Commission released a Public Notice announcing that the 800 MHz Band Reconfiguration has been completed in eleven (11) NPSPAC regions. As a result of formally concluding the rebanding process in these regions, this FCC announcement served to (1) lifts the freeze on applications for new systems in the 900 MHz band effective May 28, 2013; (2) make available any remaining channels in the interleaved segment of the band vacated by Sprint Nextel (809-815/854-860 MHz) available for licensing to public safety entities on January 17, 2013, and, after three years, commencing on January 16, 2016, to critical infrastructure entities; and (3) make available  channels in the Expansion Band (815-816/860-861 MHz) and the Guard Band (816-817/861-862 MHz) available for licensing for all entities (Public Safety, Industrial/Business and SMR) effective January 17, 2013.

Consistent with FCC policies for previously released Sprint Nextel-vacated channels, EWA and other participating frequency advisory committees must address and resolve conflicting applications through a "pre-coordination" notification process before certifying applications. Pre-coordination may commence no sooner than December 11, 2012, at 8:00 a.m. ET. On or after that date, frequency coordinators may submit electronic notification to the other participating coordinators for applications it has prepared for coordination. Beginning January 17, 2013, the FCC-certified frequency coordinators may file applications within ULS on behalf of eligible applicants for the locations released by the Public Notice. Mutually exclusive applications filed with the FCC will be dismissed. EWA will accept applications immediately for frequency coordination at the locations identified on the FCC’s Vacated Channel Search Engine (VCSE).

LMCC “Digital Working Group” to Meet with FCC

Members of the recently organized LMCC “Digital Working Group” (DWG) will be meeting with representatives from both the Wireless Telecommunications and Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureaus on Wednesday, December 5 to discuss issues involved in deploying digital technologies in the largely shared, analog Part 90 VHF and UHF bands.  EWA’s Mark Crosby and Liz Sachs are members of the DWG and will be participating.

Troubling FCC Enforcement Action

EWA responded to a recent Notice of Violation (NOV) issued by the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau District Office in San Francisco, California to a trunked system licensee for “recurring pulses being transmitted continually which caused interference to transmissions on the subject frequency which is shared with other licensees.”  In its letter to the FCC, EWA pointed out that a “growing number of current and new Part 90 licensees are recognizing the benefits associated with digital communications systems … and it is a trend that will continue, especially since every major manufacturer in the Part 90 space is producing digital systems. Hearing digital emissions as opposed to human voices, is a different experience for many analog users on shared channels, but it is not interference, certainly not harmful interference.” EWA also stated that it was “concerned that the Enforcement Bureau felt compelled to issue this NOV in a shared spectrum environment where, it is EWA’s understanding, the licensee’s installation and operations are in compliance with all appropriate FCC Rules and Regulations and, further, are operationally consistent with vendor recommendations and system monitoring settings.”