Rosenworcel: FCC Engaged in Complex Analysis of 12 GHz Interference Risks

two potential approaches to future use of the 12 GHz band: increasing terrestrial use of the shared band or continuing with the current framework,” she said: “This will require carefully examining the characteristics of this spectrum band -- including its propagation and capacity characteristics, the nature of in-band and adjacent band incumbent use, and the potential for international harmonization -- before deciding whether, and if so, how, to make it available for more intensive terrestrial or satellite use.” The agency is “considering the criteria that should be used for assessing interference between mobile and satellite services,” which is “important because one study in our record points to an interference-to-noise ratio based on an ITU-R specification that applies to terrestrial and satellite interference, while others advocate for a more stringent threshold that some satellite systems are required to use to coordinate among themselves under FCC rules,” she said. The FCC is looking at the “operational parameters and technical specifications of satellite user terminals in the band -- such as how many there will be, what will be the separation distances between satellite user terminals and 5G stations, what will be the elevation angle, antenna height, and antenna gain of the satellite user terminals -- and how best to structure a Monte Carlo simulation,” Rosenworcel said.