FCC Hears Calls for Protecting CBRS From C-Band Post-Transition Interference
Wireless interests made pitches for requiring 3.7 GHz licensees to make available time division duplexing synchronization with citizens broadband radio service operations in the adjacent band, in docket 18-122 replies posted Tuesday to responses to the petitions for reconsideration of…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
the FCC C-band order. The C-band transition cost catalog is useful only if accurate, and getting additional comment won't delay the move, NCTA said, saying the Wireless Bureau should at least continue to revisit and seek occasional comment on the catalog to ensure the cost amounts stay reasonable. It said the FCC should make clear CBRS operations are entitled to interference protection and new 3.7 GHz licensees need to work with CBRS operators in good faith to prevent and mitigate that interference, including by making TDD available to CBRS operators. The Wireless ISP Association and NTCA also backed requiring flexible use licensees in the C band making TDD synchronization information available to adjacent CBRS band users. Charter said no one disputed the benefit of TDD synchronization, so requiring it would provide certainty. Intelsat said it can't be responsible for interference to earth stations post-transition if rules don't protect against flexible use operations' interference. It urged reconsidering technical specifications for telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C) filters. Recapping meetings with staff for FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, NAB and content companies urged either all integrated receiver/decoder (IRD) equipment costs be allocated as a satellite cost, with satellite operators paying installation costs to MVPDs, or bifurcated, with the equipment costs a satellite operator expense and costs of installation allocated to the MVPD and in the lump sum. They said the average estimated cost of installation of an IRD is $900 when installed by the MVPD or a contractor. In a back-and-forth over Eutelsat's petition, SES filed. If carriers, which ultimately will pay moving costs, don't object to reimbursement criteria, it's hard to see what legitimate grounds those non-C-band users stand on, it said. Eutelsat said the opposition doesn't refute its core argument the move would proceed more smoothly with the FCC being absolutely clear about what are reasonable and necessary reimbursement costs. T-Mobile urged rejecting recon petitions seeking more protections for incumbent earth station users, TT&C/gateway sites and CBRS.