Leslie Stimson / 10.17.2012 01:35PM
FCC Updates WCS Rules on 2.3 GHz Band
Modification frees up 30 MHz
WASHINGTON:
For 15 years, some 30 megahertz of spectrum in the 2.3 GHz band was underused. Though it was auctioned to wireless providers, they couldn’t use the spectrum efficiently
without interfering with their neighbors, satellite digital radio and the aviation
industry.
Now, the largest wireless communications services (WCS) licensee on the band, AT&T,
has come to an agreement on how to use the spectrum to minimize interference with
its neighbors, especially SiriusXM, and the FCC today voted to amend its rules governing
WCS services in the 2.3 GHz band to reflect the update. The action frees up some 30 MHz of spectrum for wireless broadband service while
protecting satellite radio from harmful interference, according to FCC commissioners
who spoke at Wednesday’s meeting.
Commissioner Robert McDowell, who invoked “Star Trek” in his vote, said, “We are
adapting old rules and creating new ones” to facilitate the deployment of mobile
broadband. The action ends a long-standing interference issue “putting to use valuable
spectrum that has been wasted or under-utilized for years.”
The action is the FCC’s version of “Star Trek’s” “Prime Directive,” according to
McDowell, allowing the agency to protect its licensees from harmful interference. His colleague, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, agreed the action is built
upon a private sector solution that ends 15 years of arguments. It includes a coordination
agreement between AT&T and SiriusXM both to minimize interference and to mitigate
harmful interference to satellite radio should that occur. ~ from Radio World's Leslie Stimson