Draft NPRM Seeks to Spur Broader Use of 2.5 GHz Band
A draft NPRM, set for a vote at the May 10 commissioners' meeting, proposes to “rationalize the service areas” of existing educational broadband service (EBS) licenses to a “defined geographic area in a licensee’s existing geographic service area.” The NPRM…
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(see 1804180068) in docket 18-20 also proposes giving more flexibility to EBS licensees, “such as eliminating current restrictions on lease terms and outdated educational use requirements” and asks for comment on establishing up to three local priority filing windows allowing applicants who can demonstrate they're located “within the license area for which they apply to access 2.5 GHz spectrum.” The windows would be for “existing licensees, allowing them to expand their service to the county boundaries,” tribal nations in rural areas and educational entities that don’t hold 2.5 GHz licenses. “Significant portions of the 2.5 GHz band currently lie fallow across approximately one-half of the United States, primarily in rural areas,” the FCC said in a fact sheet, released Thursday. “New access to the … spectrum in this band has been strictly limited since 1995, and current licensees are subject to a regulatory regime largely left over from the days when educational TV was the only use envisioned for this wide swath of spectrum.”