The SBE asked the FCC April 5 to reconsider its March 8 Report and Order (R&O) regarding service rules for 1.7/2.1GHz Advanced Wireless Services (AWS).
At the heart of the SBE petition is the group’s concern about the risk of out-of-band emissions (OOBE) from AWS stations causing harmful interference to ENG operations, as well as future interference from 2.1GHz AWS base stations to Data Return Link channels, which will come to exist with the conclusion of the 2GHz TV BAS relocation project.
The SBE petition is asking the commission to reconsider the ET Docket 00-258/WT Docket 02-353 R&O because it does not acknowledge the society’s detailed comments and reply comments related to steps that should be taken to prevent such interference. The society filed those comments in the WT Docket 04-356/WT Docket 02-353 rulemaking.
The reason for the disparity in the rulemaking titles is name changing by the FCC, according to the SBE. The FCC combined its WT 02-353 rulemaking dealing with service rules for 1.7/2.1 AWS stations and its WT 04-356 rulemaking dealing with service rules for below-3GHz AWS stations, the petition said.
“As has been its long-standing practice, SBE filed its comments to the lead docket, expecting that, as before, such a filing would also constitute comments to the related and now combined WT 02-353 rulemaking,” the petition said. Those comments, however, were ignored in the R&O. The SBE also noted that during the process, the FCC renamed the rulemaking title from a combined WT 04-356/WT 02-353 rulemaking to a combined ET 00-258/WT 02-353 rulemaking.
The SBE asked the commission to address its comments in a Memorandum Opinion and Order.
Those comments proposed a more stringent OOBE suppression requirement of 67 + 10log(TPOwatts) dB, as opposed to the existing FCC-mandated 43 + 10log(TPOwatts) dB OOBE suppression requirements. They also sought a requirement for AWS stations proposing cell sites within .31mi of an ENG receive-only site to first file a site-specific application for authorization including equipment testing to confirm that the proposed cell site caused no interference to nearby ENG-RO sites.
The petition pointed out that experience now shows OOBE from AWS stations to be a real concern with a recounting of a three-week stretch when an Ericsson AWS station operating with Special Temporary Authority (STA) in Queens, NY, interfered with WABC-TV Intercity Relay (ICR) Station WHS328, operating on TV BAS Channel B4 (6950MHz–6975MHz).
For more information, visit www.sbe.org.
