The FCC released a Report and Order specifying amendments to Parts 2, 25, 73, 90, and 97 of its rules implementing the decisions from the 2003 World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva (WRC-03). While the actions do not impact AM, FM or TV broadcasting, they do affect shortwave broadcast (HFBC) stations and some microwave spectrum not used by broadcasters.
Double-sideband (DSB), single-sideband (SSB), and digital transmission were authorized in HF bands between 5900 kHz and 26100 kHz. Digital HF broadcast stations must use the Digital Radio Mondiale standard. The FCC also set minimum HFBC power levels of 50 kW for SSB modulation and 10 kW for digital modulation. The FCC also reallocated the 7100-7200 kHz band to the amateur service on a co-primary basis, reallocated the 7350-7400 kHz band to the broadcast service on a co-primary basis with the fixed service until March 29, 2009, after which it will be allocated exclusively for broadcasting,
For information on the other allocation changes, see the Report and Order. The actions in the Report and Order cover only the HF (3-30 MHz), UHF (300-3000 MHz) and SHF (3-30 GHz) frequency bands.
