3.5 GHz Broadband Service on Agenda for Dec. 12 FCC Meeting

By Doug Lung
published

Last week the FCC released a tentative agenda for its December 12 open meeting. The first item on the agenda is “Enabling Spectrum Sharing and Small Cell Wireless Broadband Services in the 3.5 GHz Band.” The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking “to broaden its initiatives in unleashing broadband spectrum, promoting technological innovation, and encouraging investment via the creation of a shared access broadband service in the 3550-3650 MHz band for small cell use.”

This band would be just below the 3.65 GHz band included in the new IEEE 802.11-2012 wireless standard. C-band satellite users have expressed concern about interference from wireless use of the 3.65 GHz band.

While the proposed band will be 50 MHz from the 3.7-4.2 GHz band used by most U.S. C-band downlinks, if 3.5 GHz transmitters are near C-band receive sites, brute force overload interference may be a problem. The 50 MHz separation should make it easier to design filters to reduce or eliminate the interference. Users of C-band satellites operating below 3.7 GHz will have more difficulty eliminating interference, possibly requiring exclusion zones similar to those required for use of the 3.65 GHz band. We'll have to wait for the NPRM to see how the FCC will handle the potential interference issues.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.