Sprint Nextel and the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) Monday reiterated their shared concern to the FCC about what they describe as “the certainty of harmful interference” to Broadcast Auxiliary Service (BAS) and Broadband Radio Service (BRS) if the two remain co-channel to each other in the 2496MHz to 2500MHz band.
In a joint letter to the commission regarding its review of the spectrum sharing plan among non-geostationary satellite orbit Mobile Satellite Service systems in the 1.6/2.4GHz bands, the company and SBE again suggested a “two-phase digitization and repacking” of BAS channels A8, A9 and A10 to prevent “mutually destructive” interference between BRS and BAS.
Sprint Nextel’s involvement in this issue stems from its 2GHz BAS relocation project, which, when complete, will see BAS channels 1-7 moved from 1990MHz-2110MHz to 12MHz-wide digital channels between 2025MHz-2110MHz. The same microwave radios Sprint Nextel is authorizing for replacement of existing analog microwave equipment in the 2GHz relocation project include support for BAS Channels A8, A9 and A10 and are frequency and bandwidth selectable.
In the letter to the commission, the company said it could “voluntarily assist” most BAS licensees in transitioning 2.5GHz BAS Channels A8, A9 and A10 “to more spectrum-efficient, digital format without incurring additional expense” and move Channel A10 to a lower portion of the 2450MHz-2500MHz band. Taking this approach would “essentially solve” the co-channel interference problem between BAS
Channel A10 and BRS-1 in the 2496MHz-2500MHz band.
The SBE and Sprint Nextel letter also said that once TV BAS Channels A8d2, A9d2 and A10d2 had been converted to 12MHz digital channels and repacked beginning at 2450MHz, TV BAS Channel A10d2 would become available to “all TV BAS eligible entities,” not just licensees that existed as of July 25, 1985.
For more information, visit www.sbe.org.
