FCC Changes 700 MHz Waiver Rules to Allow 10 x 10 MHz Deployments
The FCC will entertain applications to build early public safety networks in the entire 20 MHz of spectrum available to public safety under the February spectrum law, the commission said in an order released late Wednesday. The FCC said it took the step based on advice from NTIA.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
The first round of waivers allowed operations only in the 763-768 MHz/793-798 MHz band. The FCC said it has changed direction to allow the granting of special temporary authority to make use of the D-block as well (http://xrl.us/bnnq97). Doing so would give local governments the ability to build out 10 x 10 LTE systems rather than just 5 x 5 networks, the order said.
The order cites an Aug. 17 filing by NTIA (http://xrl.us/bnnraf), which “persuasively argues that such limitation could unduly constrain early deployments and undermine their value as a resource for FirstNet.” “We find particularly troubling the possibility that prohibiting STA operations on a 10x10 MHz basis could make such system integration more ‘costly, time-consuming and technically challenging,'” the order said. “We also agree with NTIA that 10x10 MHz operations could more closely approximate the conditions under which FirstNet will operate and thereby generate particularly valuable ‘lessons learned’ to inform FirstNet’s deployment efforts."
The FCC said it decided not to prohibit granting STAs for systems that want instead to build 5 x 5 networks. “Such prohibition may unduly prejudice those jurisdictions that have invested substantially in developing 5x5 MHz public safety broadband networks and may be prepared to enter service in the immediate term,” the order said. “As NTIA observes, ‘3GPP standards provide a mechanism whereby user equipment can transition from 5 MHz to 10 MHz channel size.'"
The FCC released an order at the end of July addressing the 20 waivers it previously issued for local entities to build out early public safety networks in the 700 MHz band, ahead of the proposed FirstNet (CD July 31 Special Bulletin). The order terminated the waivers but allowed former licensees to apply for an STA. The order also allows 36 pending applicants to apply for STAs.
Commissioner Robert McDowell concurred in the Wednesday order, but did not release a statement. “I had concurred on the first order and wanted to be consistent with the reasoning I outlined in that statement,” he told us.