RIO de JANEIRO—Brazilian telecom regulator Anatel has issued a notice regarding the coordination of spectrum for the 2016 Summer Olympics, to be held in Rio de Janeiro Aug. 5-21.
“Currently, we are emphasizing the mandatory requirement of temporary use of spectrum licenses for satellite earth stations operating within Rio2016 venues,” a spokesman for Anatel wrote in an email.
Operation of earth stations transmitting to a C-, Ku- or Ka-band satellite during the games requires requires the equipment to be pre-authorized for that use, and have a license for temporary use of the spectrum issued by Anatel. The agency is asking that rights-holding broadcasters and earth station operators request their licenses as soon as possible, and schedule a test and tagging procedure.
Licensing is required for all venues, by all users, even if their earth station is already licensed by Anatel for “regular, occasional” use in Brazil, such as satellite newsgathering vehicles and flyaways. Anatel’s Spectrum Application Guide has details and directions for requesting a license for temporary spectrum use during the Games.
After the license is obtained, a request to test and tag the earth station uplink must be submitted. Scheduling proposals may be emailed to testandtag-at-anatel.gov.br, and spectrum-at-rio2016.com, according to the procedures described in Anatel’s March, 2016 newsletter.
Anatel is emphasizing haste: “It is highly recommended that the request of license for temporary use of spectrum be made as soon as possible, in order to allow the operation during the event, and allowing a better planning of test and tagging scheduling.”
After July 22, 2016, Anatel Spectrum Enforcement Agents at the Rio Games venues will be visiting each earth station site at the satellite farm, broadcast compound and other satellite newsgathering parking areas. The agents will have to verify that earth station operations are in compliance with the temporary licensed issued by Anatel.
“It will also serve to allow collecting further technical details of each earth station, in order to facilitate Anatel satellite radio monitoring operations, including support for eventual radio frequency interference resolution,” Anatel said.
Anatel requests that all earth station operators keep the station’s licensing documents near the station during the entire event to have it handy should Anatel staff need to see it.
More details are available at Anatel’s major events website.
