Central Vermont Communications Inc. (CVC) recently requested assistance from EWA on a licensing project involving Part 22 UHF geographic area licenses due to EWA’s knowledge and expertise associated with securing Canadian approvals for systems that are located North of Line A along the U.S. Canadian border. Following its successful participation in Auction 48, CVC was authorized for several Part 22 UHF channel block licenses in Economic Area BEA004. CVC wanted to deploy fixed/mobile operations using time division multiple access (TDMA) technology. EWA worked with CVC on applications with different transmitter locations within BEA004, specifically in Northern New York and Vermont which required coordination and approvals from Canada, no less than a daunting task.
When attempting to secure Canadian approval to deploy systems under Part 22 assignments, it is always advisable to operate on the center frequency from within the authorized channel block. The process must include evaluating the bandwidth of the equipment selected for the project to ensure that bandwidth complies with the technical rules and does not fall outside of the authorized channel block. Technical rules for Part 22 state that licensees must comply with a 20 kHz channel bandwidth limitation for the center frequency as well as limits on out-of-band emissions and Effective Radiated Power (ERP). If the fixed location and mobile area of operations for a particular channel block is located north of line A, EWA will research the Canadian database for incumbent operations to be protected, and secure concurrence for the proposal from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED Canada) formerly Industry Canada, which is Canada’s version of the FCC.
Initially, ISED Canada rejected one application because of concern over the location of the proposed base station south of the border with their usual rebuff “HIA,” which is code for “Harmful Interference Anticipated.” To protect the incumbent Canadian user, EWA recommended use of a directional antenna and provided predicted propagation contours generated through a Longley-Rice contour evaluation. The contour study showed that the Canadian user would not be affected by the U.S. system using the amended antenna configuration which resulted in ISED Canada eventually consenting, and the FCC granting the application.
ISED Canada also initially rejected another related application concerned with mobile units. In response, EWA relied on the “Above 30 MHz Agreement” regarding new or modified assignments for UHF and VHF frequency bands along the border. This agreement between the United States and Canada has been in effect since 1962 and states that any “proposal with an ERP of three to five watts that is rejected by Canada may be granted secondary status under the treaty if the Commission determines the potential for harmful interference to an incumbent in Canada is limited.” EWA advised CVC to reduce the power on the mobile units to 5 watts and, with this amendment, the FCC granted the license.
After this experience, Central Vermont’s Steve Suker said, “With the help of EWA, Central Vermont Communications has licensed successfully UHF Part 22 auction channels at several locations above Line A in Vermont. EWA was instrumental in helping us accomplish this, and we look forward to working with them in the future.”