FCC Circulates Order on BRS/EBS Issues at 2.5 GHz
The FCC is circulating an order setting performance rules for broadband radio service (BRS) and educational broadband service (EBS) licensees in the 2.5 GHz band, an agency source said. The “massive document” also addresses related issues raised on reconsideration, the source said. The item is among a few on the FCC’s end-of-year to-do list (CD Nov 10 p4).
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
It’s unclear whether the FCC will act on circulation or schedule the item for a meeting. “As I understand it, the goal is to try to get this done on circulation before [FCC Comr.] Abernathy leaves” Dec. 9, said an industry source who follows the proceeding: “That’s a meritorious goal, because Abernathy is well-versed on the issues, and her input will inevitably lead to a good decision.”
The draft order acts on petitions to reconsider an FCC June 2004 decision revising rules for ITFS and MDS operators in the 2495-2690 MHz band. The draft looks at replacing major economic areas (MEAs) adopted in the 2004 order with smaller basic trading areas (BTAs) as geographic benchmarks for the transition to the new BRS/EBS band, we're told. The FCC also is to set technical parameters and define licensee obligations on interference protection. That includes setting limits on power and out-of-band emissions and deciding whether wireless cable service operators using the band should keep doing so.
The draft would resolve issues raised in a further NPRM attached to the 2004 order. It looks at setting a deadline between 2010 and 2014 for BRS and EBS licensees to complete network build-out in the new BRS/EBS band, we're told. Backed by Sprint, Nextel and BellSouth, the Wireless Communications Assn. (WCA) asked that the substantial service showing not be required until 5 years after complete transition a market, which is July 2014 or sooner. But Clearwire urged build-out be completed 5 years from the new rules’ effective date of Jan. 2010. The draft also speaks to handling of grandfathered EBS licensees operating on the E and F Groups.
In a related proceeding, the FCC is to act on 5 petitions for reconsideration of a decision to reallocate the 2496-2500 MHz band, now occupied by MSS, BAS and ISM providers, for BRS operations. Reallocation would provide spectrum for BRS channel 1 licensees being moved from 2150-2156 MHz. The draft wouldn’t restrict ISM operators, as WCA and Sprint Nextel had wanted. BRS interests want the FCC to put Part 18 out-of-band emission limits in the 2496-2500 MHz band to protect them from interference they claim they otherwise would experience from ISM operations. ISM interests attack that position as lacking factual basis. The draft also looks at keeping MSS operators in the band, despite BRS interest claims that such an approach would cause harmful interference to their operations. The FCC also is to decide whether to adopt a BAS proposal to free the spectrum used by BRS operators by converging to digital. The FCC would need to set rules for such a transition.