Lunar Communications, Spectrum for 5G, Debated in WRC Comments

Lockheed Martin championed its proposed future item on lunar and cislunar communications, saying sending it back to the WAC would "run contrary to the Commission’s focus on space.” Lockheed Martin noted "no technical rebuttals have been presented on this proposal, notwithstanding individual WAC members’ objections." The company said countries across the world are examining lunar missions: “These missions will require space stations using radiofrequency links for numerous mission-critical applications, including human spacesuits, handhelds, and habitats; in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing; and lunar exploration vehicles, i.e., a comprehensive cislunar communications architecture.”

Verizon sees “broad support” for view A on agenda item 1.2, which would identify the 3300-3800 MHz band for international mobile telecommunications, the ITU’s term for traditional wireless service. “A meaningful spectrum pipeline is critical to achieving the widespread benefits of next-generation wireless broadband connectivity and the significant economic growth that 5G will deliver,” Verizon said: “View A would upgrade the mobile service in the 3300-3400 MHz band to primary status, subject to not causing harmful interference to, or claiming protection from, radiolocation stations, and would identify the band for IMT.” The lunar proposal shouldn’t be approved “until it can be further discussed and refined by the WAC,” the carrier said.

T-Mobile also supported view A on item 1.2. “Not only has 3GPP developed specifications for the operation of both” LTE and 5G “in the 3300-3400 MHz band, but there are also already significant deployments worldwide," T-Mobile said: “Harmonizing the 3300-3400 MHz band globally will create economies of scale and scope in the equipment market and further foster the ecosystem necessary to enable those deployments.” AT&T made similar arguments: “Mid-band spectrum -- and, in particular, spectrum in the 3 GHz range -- is essential for the continued leadership of the U.S. in 5G mobile broadband telecommunications, along with the massive economic benefits that are anticipated from industries and businesses utilizing, and building off of, those advanced networks.”

Qualcomm said any bands in the 7-15 GHz range should first be evaluated for IMT before being considered for other uses. “Even though the world is still rapidly deploying 5G networks, the technology world is looking ahead to 6G,” Qualcomm said: “Research and studies are underway, in industry, standards-bodies, academia, and regulatory bodies. 6G will require ultrawide bandwidth of contiguous spectrum to support faster data speeds and achieve very good coverage, and will not only improve on representative use cases we are becoming familiar with 5G, but will introduce immersive experiences that interconnect the physical and digital world in innovative and unexpected ways.”

Shure observed that proposals on 470-960 MHz remain controversial. “In North America, UHF spectrum is intensively used by television broadcasting, wireless microphones, and various other services,” the mic maker said: “This spectrum will be needed for these purposes for many years into the future.” The band is the “most widely used frequency range” for wireless mics “in the U.S. and abroad,” Shure said. “Its technical attributes are particularly important for wireless microphones, notably including favorable propagation characteristics, low ambient radio frequency noise levels, and workable antenna efficiencies.”

“Adopting View A will bolster 5G … helping to close the digital divide and deliver the next-generation wireless connectivity that 5G provides,” Ericsson said: “WRC-23 is an opportunity to extend flexibility for 5G operations in the lower 3 GHz band and further harmonize the upper 3 GHz spectrum band consistent with FCC decisions, enabling more countries to expand the 5G ecosystem and benefit from economies of scale.”

Saying protection criteria for the 3.6-3.8 GHz band should be maintained, Inmarsat said their removal would mean interference without coordination for fixed satellite service earth stations sitting near international borders. Agenda item 1.2 considers looking at that band for IMT. It also said that Agenda item 1.6, dealing with communications for sub-orbital vehicles, should be more explicit that launch vehicles are included in that category. It said NTIA’s proposals in Agenda Item 1.17, about inter-satellite links, could be “a basis for future work” but it’s premature to advance it to CITEL. Hughes/EchoStar, citing Agenda Item 9.1, recommended cutting as irrelevant language about the features of fixed wireless access. It also urged axing language about future studies and use of IMT technology for fixed wireless broadband, since the issue can be handled through ITU study group activities.

“The U.S. should not get ahead of the greater Americas region by attempting to impose regional allocations before there is substantial uniformity in planned use,” said NAB in its comments. The FCC and the U.S. National Committee should “refrain from supporting changes to regional frequency allocations in the 3700–3800 MHz band given the lack of clear regional agreement,” NAB said. The delegation should “remain neutral on Agenda Item 1.5, which does not impact the Americas region” and “refrain from perpetuating footnotes that are not implemented domestically.” The U.S. “should not be taking sides in this regional debate, whether arguing that mobile use or broadcasting are more important, or asserting how much spectrum is appropriate for either service,” NAB said.