The FCC designated broadcast engineer Louis Libin as the point of contact for coordinating Broadcast Auxiliary Service (BAS) operations during the upcoming political conventions. Libin chairs ElectionWireless2021, an ad hoc RF Spectrum and Frequency Coordinating Committee of the Network News Pool Organization. The group asked the agency to appoint Libin, who’s also the VP Spectrum Policy and Strategy at Sinclair Broadcast Group, in April.
Broadcast networks, as well as TV and radio stations use Broadcast Auxiliary Service (BAS) spectrum, licensed under Part 74, to transmit programming from remote sites to studios, from studios to transmitters, and between stations. The agency is concerned that uncoordinated use of BAS stations on a special temporary authority basis could result in congestion and harmful interference during the upcoming 2020 National Political Conventions and 2021 Presidential Inauguration.
Libin is the single point of contact for coordinating operations during the following time periods at the following locations: August 19–31, 2020, in Jacksonville, Florida for the Republican National Convention, August 12–24, 2020, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the Democratic National Convention, and January 15–31, 2021, in Washington, D.C. for the Presidential Inauguration. This designation will allow for advance coordination of terrestrial BAS frequency use within a 100 kilometer radius, and within a 150 kilometer radius for any mobile operations aboard aircraft, around the following locations:
- Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida;
- Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin;
- Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin;
- The United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.; and
- The White House in Washington, D.C.
All use of Part 74 frequencies for the 2020 National Political Conventions and the 2021 Presidential Inauguration, without exception, shall be coordinated in advance through the ElectionWireless2021 coordinator, Louis Libin. He can be reached by phone or fax at (516) 374-6700 and by email at: louislibin@broad-comm.com.
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