Satellite, Terrestrial Wireless Industries at Odds Over Boeing V-Band Plans, Some Invoking 5G
Satellite and terrestrial broadband interests are squaring off over Boeing's petition for allocation of 50.4-51.4 GHz and 51.4-52.4 GHz for fixed satellite service uplinks to service its planned massive V-band satellite constellation (see 1606230050). With numerous calls that the request be folded into the spectrum frontiers Further NPRM, the likely next step is that the FCC will do just that, interested parties told us Tuesday.
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The proposal, submitted just before the July adoption of a spectrum frontiers order, is "a 'land rush' application" aimed at undermining FCC plans to allocate and assign to terrestrial mobile rights to spectrum above 24 GHz, CTIA said in opposition posted Tuesday in RM-11773. CTIA accused Boeing of looking at the bands discussed at World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 for potential sharing and said it "attempted to encapsulate as many of those spectrum bands as possible in its pending application." The association said fixed satellite service (FSS) has significant spectrum allocations -- "more than five times the spectrum available for licensed terrestrial mobile services" -- and hasn't said why that current spectrum isn't enough.
Granting Boeing's petition would create a hurdle to deployment of 5G mobile broadband in the 37-40 GHz band, Straight Path Communications said. It said the spectrum frontiers order, by making terrestrial operations primary in the 37.5-40 GHz band, obviated any need to allocate the 50 GHz band for satellite uplinks since there are no paired downlinks in the 37-42.5 GHz band like Boeing envisioned.
The V-band "is a critical growth band" for high-speed satellite broadband, said the Global VSAT Forum (GVF), backing the Boeing petition. GVF called 51.4-52.4 band "a natural candidate" for uplinks, sitting adjacent to the existing FSS uplink allocation at 50.4-51.4, and the ITU at WRC\-15 approved a series of studies of the 51.4-52.4 GHz band for FSS feeder link use. While the 50.4-52.4 GHz band is part of spectrum being considered by the FCC for upper-microwave flexible use service (UMFUS), GVF said, the V-band also is one of the rare bands not already cluttered with existing space or terrestrial radio systems.
The commission needs to keep in mind "the substantial amount of spectrum" already identified for or being considered for UMFUS in other spectrum bands, Boeing said. It said if the FCC does allocate 50.4-52.4 GHz to UMFUS, there can be sharing by excluding individually licensed satellite earth stations from core urban areas where UMFUS is most likely to operate. Outside those urban cores, said the aerospace company, the two sides can rely on first-in-time coordination and transparent operational measures to avoid interference.
T-Mobile, ViaSat and the Satellite Industry Association said (here, here and here) the FCC should consider the Boeing petition as part of its spectrum frontiers proceeding instead of separately. The spectrum frontiers order isn't just about terrestrial 5G services but also facilitating spectrum in other services, so the Boeing application would fit in well, especially since spectrum frontiers already is looking at how to accommodate sharing between satellite and upper microwave flexible use services in 50.4-51.4 GHz, one lawyer representing an interested party in the proceeding told us. The agency likely also will pursue sharing in the 51.4-52.4 GHz band, the lawyer said. The question of sharing feasibility still must be answered, and identifying the sharing regime is difficult since the standards process defining 5G still is being worked out, two wireless industry executives told us.
Boeing has sharing ideas. In a filing in docket 14-177 earlier this month in the FNPRM (see 1610040067), it said UMFUS should be kept out of the 47 and 50 GHz bands altogether. The company said that if there must be sharing, it needs to come with accommodations to guarantee satellite gateways can be located in sufficient numbers in rural locations to meet broadband capacity requirements.