SBE says Media Bureau order should stand

The Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) July 30 dismissed as “unpersuasive” a Clarity Media Systems filing with the FCC in which the proponent of a multichannel video distribution service known as Trucker TV rejected a suggestion from commission staff that the service might find a home on the 5.6GHz Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure Devices (U-NII) band.

The issue stems from the Media Bureau’s May 3 order denying Clarity Media waivers to seven Part 78 FCC rules so it could establish a private multichannel TV service on most of the 2GHz TV Broadcast Auxiliary Service (BAS) band at Flying J truck stops around the country. Prior to the order, the SBE made several filings with the commission in opposition of the waivers.

In its July 30 response to a Clarity Media filing rejecting the use of the U-NII band for Trucker TV, the SBE labeled as “curious” the company’s unwillingness to ask for waivers to three Part 15 rules to allow use of the U-NII band in light of its original request for seven waivers so it could launch the service in spectrum devoted to ENG.

The SBE also rejected Clarity Media’s assertion that the 2GHz band remains the best technical solution anyone to date has offered. “This claim ignores the SBE comments noting that the 2496MHz–2690MHz Broadband Radio Service (BRS)/Educational Broadband Service (EBS) band would be well suited for the Trucker TV application proposed by Clarity,” the filing said.

The SBE filing concluded saying that the Media Bureau’s order should stand.

For more information, visit www.sbe.org.