The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union reported broadband wireless systems sharing C-band spectrum with satellite downlinks are causing problems for broadcasters in the Asia-Pacific region.
During a meeting of the World Broadcasting Union's International Satellite Operations Group (WBU-ISOG), Asiavision's Managing Editor Alan Williams said Australian, New Zealand and Fiji broadcasters were among those affected. AsiaSat's General Manager of Engineering, Barry Turner, said C-band reception in Indonesia, Iraq, Pakistan and the Philippines was also being affected. He said administrations were being pressured to release C-band spectrum for broadband wireless services.
Intelsat Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Kalpac Gude, said wireless operators were "going after a spectrum grab because spectrum was valuable." He criticized broadcasters for not doing an effective enough job in bringing the problem to the attention of their governments. Tuner said exclusion zones were needed around earth stations to combat the problem.
As previously covered in RF Report, U.S. broadcasters have expressed concerns the plans to license spectrum just below C-band downlink frequencies for broadband wireless could cause interference in this country if devices using this spectrum are allowed near C-band earth stations.
