The Society of Broadcast Engineers filed comments with the FCC objecting a request from Globalstar to deploy Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC) service base stations across the entire 2483.5MHz to 2500MHz MSS ATC band.
Currently, 2487.5MHz to 2493MHz is available for Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) ATC service. TV Broadcast Auxiliary Service (BAS) Channel A10 is located at 2483.5MHz to 2500MHz.
In its filing, the SBE called such a deployment by Globalstar or any other MSS ATC service “premature” — regardless of whether the narrower swath of spectrum or the Globalstar-requested wider allocation is used — because of grandfathered TV BAS operations on Channel A10.
In its filing, the SBE pointed out that TV BAS Channel A10 operations are co-primary with MSS ATC. The society filing said “no MSS ATC deployment can occur until TV BAS operations have first been refarmed so that they would no longer be cochannel with MSS ATC.”
Previously, the SBE has proposed refarming three 2.5GHZ TV BAS Channels (A8 at 2450MHz to 2467MHz; A9 at 2467MHz to 2483.5 MHz, and A10) to 12MHz-wide digital channels from their current 16.5MHz- and 17MHz-wide analog channels. Additionally, the society has called for those narrower digital BAS channels to be repacked starting at 2450MHz. If the society’s recommendation were followed, 1.5MHz between the top of the repacked BAS channels and the bottom of the MSS ATC service at 2487.5MHz would be available to serve as a guard band.
In its filing, the SBE told the commission that if the Globalstar request to expand the MSS ATC band were granted the action would “perpetuate the overlap with TV BAS Channel A10, even once refarmed to Channel A10d2.”
The society told the commission that once the 2.5GHz TV BAS refarming is completed, it would not object to Globalstar MSS ATS down to 2486MHz, “the top of the final stage refarmed TV BAS Channel A10d2” as long as the limit on out of band emissions from MSS ATC base stations were increased from -44.1 dBW/30 kHz dB suppression to 67 + 10log (TPO Watts) dB suppression.
For more information, visit www.sbe.org.
