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FWCC Earth Station Petition Seen as Important to Electric Utilities

Electric utilities wanting to upgrade or expand their microwave radio networks often find all the 6 GHz channels already are assigned, requiring them to buy expensive gigahertz band repeaters, even while the 6 GHz band isn't affected by rain and…

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the 11 GHz one is susceptible to rain fade, said engineering firm Burns & McDowell. The firm's comments, posted Wednesday in RM-11778, supported a Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition petition for changes in earth station licensing (see 1610180035). A microwave path seeking a coordinated pair of frequencies can take up to 24 months for approval and construction, but satellite earth stations can "dynamically change frequencies on the fly without coordination," the firm said.