UPDATE FCC Chairman Ajit Pai confirmed he intends to tee up a proposal to open up more spectrum for wireless use at the agency’s July meeting. Specifically, he’s referring to C-band spectrum (from 3.7 to 4.2 GHz). The move follows through on a pledge Pai made to attendees at Connect(X) in May.
Noting that other countries are looking at the band as a prime resource to deploy 5G services, the U.S. “is moving forward here as well,” he says in a blog post. “Stakeholders have come up with a number of creative ideas for making better use of 3.7 to 4.2 GHz,” he says, in response to a Notice of Inquiry issued last summer.
Wireless and satellite companies have proposed ways they say the band can be shared with each other and other incumbents. Broadcasters say sharing is a non-starter because it would cause too much interference to their satellite-distributed programing.
Because broadcasters are not required to register their satellite downlink earth stations with the agency, they believe the Commission doesn’t realize how much of the band is being used for this purpose. The FCC agreed to waive the $1,500 study fee for registering the downlinks through July 18. On Thursday, the FCC extended the filing deadline to October 17, 2018.
NAB recently asked the FCC to consider a one-time waiver of the $435 filing fee, too. The FCC clarified yesterday that applications to register multiple fixed-satellite service antennas operating in this band that are located at the same address or geographic location, may be filed in the International Bureau Filing System by using a single registration form and paying a single fee (fee code CMO, currently $435).
June 22, 2018
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