[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 106 (Monday, June 3, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 25514-25517]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-11448]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Parts 1, 2, 25 and 27

[GN Docket No. 18-122; RM-11791; RM-11778; DA 19-385]


International Bureau and Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Seek 
Focused Additional Comment in 3.7-4.2 GHz Band Proceeding

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the International Bureau and Wireless 
Telecommunications Bureau invite interested parties to submit more 
focused additional comment on the issues set forth below and any other 
issues commenters wish to raise concerning proposals for enabling 
additional terrestrial use of the 3.7-4.2 GHz band (C-band). As the 
Commission explained in its July 2018 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
(NPRM), the Commission's efforts to make this mid-band spectrum 
available for more flexible use will help close the digital divide by 
providing wireless broadband connectivity across the nation and secure 
U.S. leadership in next-generation services, including fifth-generation 
(5G) wireless and the Internet of Things.

DATES: Comments are due on or before July 3, 2019; reply comments on or 
before July 18, 2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by GN Docket No. 18-122, 
by any of the following methods:
     Federal Communications Commission's website: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     People With Disabilities: Contact the FCC to request 
reasonable accommodations (accessible format documents, sign language 
interpreters, CART, etc.) by email: [email protected], phone: 202-418-0530 
or TTY: 202-418-0432.
    For detailed instructions for submitting comments and additional 
information on the rulemaking process, see the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew Pearl of the Wireless 
Telecommunications Bureau, at [email protected] or (202) 418-2607, 
or Jim Schlichting of the International Bureau, at 
[email protected] or (202) 418-1547. For information regarding 
Initial Paperwork Reduction Act, contact Cathy Williams, Office of 
Managing Director, at (202) 418-2918 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's 
document, DA 19-385, (IB, WTB May 3, 2019), GN Docket No. 18-122, RM-
11791, RM-11778. The complete text of this document, as well as 
comments, reply comments, and ex parte submissions, is available for 
public inspection and copying from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time 
(ET) Monday through Thursday or from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. ET on Fridays 
in the FCC Reference Information Center, 445 12th Street SW, Room CY-
A257, Washington, DC 20554. The complete text is available on the 
Commission's website at http://wireless.fcc.gov, or by using the search 
function on the ECFS web page at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/. 
Alternative formats are available to persons with disabilities by 
calling the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 
(voice), (202) 418-0432 (tty).

Comment Filing Procedures

    Pursuant to sections 1.415 and 1.419 of the Commission's rules, 47 
CFR 1.415, 1.419, interested parties may file comments and replies on 
or before the dates indicated on the first page of this document. 
Comments and replies may be filed using the Commission's

[[Page 25515]]

Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS).
     Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically 
using the internet by accessing ECFS: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/. Filers 
should follow the instructions provided on the website for submitting 
comments. In completing the transmittal screen, filers should include 
their full name, U.S. Postal Service mailing address, and the 
applicable docket number, GN Docket No. 18-122.
     Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must 
file an original and one copy of each filing. If more than one docket 
or rulemaking number appears in the caption of this proceeding, filers 
must submit two additional copies for each additional docket or 
rulemaking number. Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, 
by commercial overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S. 
Postal Service mail. All filings must be addressed to the Commission's 
Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.
    [cir] All hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings for 
the Commission's Secretary must be delivered to FCC Headquarters at 445 
12th Street SW, Room TW-A325, Washington, DC 20554. The filing hours 
are 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. All hand deliveries must be held together 
with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes and boxes must be 
disposed of before entering the building.
    [cir] Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service 
Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9050 Junction Drive, 
Annapolis Junction, MD 20701.
    [cir] U.S. Postal Service first-class, Express, and Priority mail 
must be addressed to 445 12th Street SW, Washington DC 20554.
    People With Disabilities. To request materials in accessible 
formats for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic 
files, audio format), send an email to [email protected] or call the 
Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 844-
432-2275 (videophone), or 202-418-0432 (TTY).

Initial Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 Analysis

    This document does not contain proposed information collection 
requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 
104-13. In addition, therefore, it does not contain any proposed 
information collection burden for small business concerns with fewer 
than 25 employees, pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act 
of 2002, Public Law 107-198, see 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(4).

Ex Parte Rules

    Pursuant to section 1.1200(a) of the Commission's rules, this 
Public Notice shall be treated as a ``permit-but-disclose'' proceeding 
in accordance with the Commission's ex parte rules. Persons making ex 
parte presentations must file a copy of any written presentation or a 
memorandum summarizing any oral presentation within two business days 
after the presentation (unless a different deadline applicable to the 
Sunshine period applies). Persons making oral ex parte presentations 
are reminded that memoranda summarizing the presentation must (1) list 
all persons attending or otherwise participating in the meeting at 
which the ex parte presentation was made, and (2) summarize all data 
presented and arguments made during the presentation. If the 
presentation consisted in whole or in part of the presentation of data 
or arguments already reflected in the presenter's written comments, 
memoranda or other filings in the proceeding, the presenter may provide 
citations to such data or arguments in his or her prior comments, 
memoranda, or other filings (specifying the relevant page and/or 
paragraph numbers where such data or arguments can be found) in lieu of 
summarizing them in the memorandum. Documents shown or given to 
Commission staff during ex parte meetings are deemed to be written ex 
parte presentations and must be filed consistent with section 
1.1206(b). In proceedings governed by section 1.49(f) or for which the 
Commission has made available a method of electronic filing, written ex 
parte presentations and memoranda summarizing oral ex parte 
presentations, and all attachments thereto, must be filed through the 
electronic comment filing system available for that proceeding, and 
must be filed in their native format (e.g., .doc, .xml, .ppt, 
searchable .pdf). Participants in this proceeding should familiarize 
themselves with the Commission's ex parte rules.

Synopsis

    1. In the NPRM,\1\ the Commission sought to balance the desire to 
make this spectrum available for new terrestrial wireless uses in a 
rapid and efficient manner with the need to accommodate incumbent Fixed 
Satellite Service (FSS) and Fixed Service (FS) operations in the band. 
To that end, the Commission sought comment on both market-based and 
auction-based approaches for repurposing a portion or all of the C-band 
for flexible use licenses, as well as approaches that combine elements 
of market- and auction-based clearing mechanisms. Commenters have 
weighed in by supporting or opposing a variety of clearing mechanisms, 
and their comments raise additional issues concerning the Commission's 
authority to employ elements of those mechanisms. The Commission now 
invites focused additional comment on the issues set forth below and 
any other issues commenters wish to raise concerning proposals for 
enabling additional terrestrial use of the C-band.
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    \1\ See Expanding Flexible Use of the 3.7-4.2 GHz Band, Order 
and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 33 FCC Rcd 6915 (2018), 83 FR. 
42043 (Aug. 20, 2018) (Order), 83 FR. 44128 (Aug. 29, 2018) (NPRM).
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    What are the enforceable interference protection rights, if any, 
granted to space station operators against co-primary terrestrial 
operations? Do those rights depend on the extent incumbent earth 
stations receive their transmissions within the United States? And what 
limits, if any, does section 316 of the Act place on the proposals 
raised by the Commission in this NPRM or by the commenters in this 
docket?
    2. Space station operators use the 3.7-4.2 GHz band for downlink 
operations. Before transmitting in the band, a space station operator 
must receive either a license from the Commission or a license from a 
non-U.S. government along with a grant of market access by the 
Commission. Requests for U.S. market access through non-U.S.-licensed 
space stations require the same legal and technical information that 
the Commission's rules require for a license application for that space 
station. Whether a space station operator is a licensee or recipient of 
a market access grant, modifications to U.S. operations require 
Commission review. Importantly, the Commission's rules permit space 
station operators to transmit in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band on a nonexclusive 
basis from specific orbital locations.
    3. Fixed terrestrial users have co-primary use of the 3.7-4.2 GHz 
band. Fixed terrestrial licensees may be assigned 20 megahertz paired 
channels for point-to-point common carrier or private operational fixed 
microwave links in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band and must comply with the 
frequency coordination procedures set forth in part 101 to be entitled 
to interference protection.
    4. To implement a sharing framework for the band, the Commission's 
rules offer receive-only earth stations the option to register for 
protection against

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terrestrial fixed stations.\2\ Such registration occurs by filing 
applications accompanied by an exhibit demonstrating coordination with 
terrestrial stations. The purpose of this coordination requirement is 
to establish the baseline level of interference that an earth station 
must accept in frequency bands shared by the fixed terrestrial and 
fixed satellite services on a co-primary basis. The coordination 
results entitle the earth station to the interference protection levels 
agreed to during coordination. Or as the Commission's rules put it, 
``protection from impermissible levels of interference to the reception 
of signals by earth stations in the Fixed-Satellite Service from 
terrestrial stations in a co-equally shared band is provided through 
the authorizations granted under this part.''
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    \2\ Consistent with the Commission's proposals in the NPRM for 
protecting incumbent earth stations that were operational as of 
April 19, 2018, for the questions in this document, the term 
``registered receive-only earth station operators'' is intended to 
include applicants who had registration applications pending in IBFS 
as of the date the freeze exception filing window ended. Thus, the 
term would include applications that have not yet been processed by 
Federal Communications Commission staff, as well as applications 
without a showing of frequency coordination with terrestrial fixed 
service. See NPRM, 33 FCC Rcd at 6926, paragraph 27, 83 FR. at 
44130.
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    5. Against this backdrop, the Commission seeks targeted comment on 
the extent to which satellite space station operators have enforceable 
rights against harmful interference from terrestrial stations in the C-
band under their space station licenses and market access grants. For 
C-band satellite space station operators, what is the scope of 
enforceable rights, if any, that they have under their space station 
licenses and market access grants? Is there any distinction between the 
enforceable rights, if any, accorded to U.S.-licensed space stations 
and non-U.S.-licensed space stations that have been duly approved for 
U.S. market access? Commenters should discuss the specific statutory or 
regulatory provisions granting any such enforceable rights.
    6. The C-Band Alliance argues that C-band satellite space station 
operators with no U.S. customers and no U.S. revenues should not be 
compensated in the C-band transition process. In contrast, the small 
satellite operators argue that any transition plan must ``[c]ompensate 
fairly all satellite operators with satellites authorized by the 
Commission to provide C-band service in the United States for the loss 
of valuable spectrum that they are currently authorized to use to offer 
services. . . .'' Do the enforceable rights, if any, of space station 
operators depend on the extent incumbent earth stations receive their 
transmissions within the United States? For instance, do space station 
operators have a right to transmit free from harmful interference only 
where there are registered earth stations receiving their signal? Do 
they have a right to transmit free from harmful interference anywhere 
in the contiguous United States? Do they only have the right to 
transmit on a non-exclusive basis? Or do they have some broader right 
to preclude the Commission from adopting any policy that would impair 
their satellite service distribution business? To put it another way, 
to what extent are the enforceable rights of a space station operator 
dependent on, or derivative from, the rights of licensed or registered 
receive-only earth stations that receive that space station operator's 
signal?
    7. T-Mobile has suggested that, as a technical matter, new, 
flexible-use terrestrial operations would not suffer harmful 
interference from downlink signals but could cause harmful interference 
to licensed or registered receive-only earth stations in the band. Is 
this correct? If so, how should it impact the Commission's analysis 
given that new flexible-use operations could cause harmful interference 
to licensed or registered receive-only earth stations in the band?
    8. Section 316 of the Act gives the Commission authority to modify 
entire classes of station licenses by rulemaking or adjudication, but 
that this authority has been interpreted not to extend to any 
``fundamental change'' to the terms of a license. What obligations, if 
any, does section 316 of the Communications Act (or any other provision 
of the Act) impose on the Commission with respect to space station 
operators if the Commission were to authorize new terrestrial 
operations in the band under any of the proposals in the NPRM or the 
record? Does section 316 require that the Commission ensure the receipt 
of downlink transmissions where there are registered earth stations 
receiving a space station's signal? Does section 316 require the 
availability of comparable facilities for such locations? Does section 
316 create obligations in areas where there are no registered earth 
stations?
    9. So long as a satellite operator's transmission rights are not 
disturbed, would section 316 even apply if the Commission authorized 
additional terrestrial use that could interfere with the receipt of the 
signal? If so, under what circumstances and to what extent? And would 
section 316 apply to a satellite operator that was permitted, after the 
Commission adopted changes to the band in this rulemaking, to continue 
to transmit on a non-exclusive, shared basis?
    10. If section 316 does impose obligations on the Commission 
regarding satellite licensees or market access grantees, how should the 
Commission measure comparability in the context of these proposals? Of 
what relevance here are the Commission's prior actions to ensure that 
incumbents required to vacate spectrum receive comparable facilities, 
or to provide options when modifying the holdings of existing 
licensees? \3\
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    \3\ See, e.g., 47 CFR 101.73(d), 101.75(b), 101.89(d) 
(comparable facilities defined in terms of throughput, reliability, 
and operating costs); Improving Public Safety Communications in the 
800 MHz Band et al., Report and Order, Fifth Report and Order, 
Fourth Memorandum Opinion and Order, and Order, 19 FCC Rcd 14969, 
paragraph 68 (2004); Use of Spectrum Bands Above 24 GHz For Mobile 
Radio Services, et al., GN Docket No. 14-177, Fourth Report and 
Order, FCC 18-180, at paragraph 15 (Dec. 12, 2018).
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    What are the enforceable interference protection rights granted to 
licensed or registered receive-only earth station operators against co-
primary terrestrial operations? What obligations does section 316 of 
the Act places on the Commission vis-[agrave]-vis licensed or 
registered receive-only earth station operators? Are registered 
receive-only earth station operators eligible to voluntarily relinquish 
their rights to protection from harmful interference in the reverse 
phase of an incentive auction because they qualify as ``licenses'' 
under Sec.  309(j)(8)(G)? Does the Commission have other statutory 
authorities that would enable it to authorize payments to such earth 
stations to induce them to modify or relocate their facilities?
    11. Receive-only earth stations cannot cause interference, but 
under the Commission's current rules they can be coordinated and 
licensed or registered with the Commission to protect them from 
terrestrial fixed services.\4\ On April 19, 2018, the International 
Bureau temporarily waived the coordination requirement for earth 
station applications filed during a window that closed on October 31, 
2018. Registrations or licenses granted for

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applications filed during the window without the coordination report 
will include a condition noting that the license or registration does 
not afford interference protection from fixed service transmissions. 
Upon announcing the termination of the freeze, the International Bureau 
may modify or terminate the waiver by requiring or permitting 
registrants or licensees who filed applications within the window 
without a coordination report to file such a report as required by the 
Commission's rules, and to take any appropriate action in light of such 
filing.
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    \4\ 47 CFR 25.131(b) (filing requirements and registration for 
receive-only earth stations). Receive-only earth stations in the 
Fixed Satellite Service that operate with U.S.-licensed space 
stations, or with non-U.S.-licensed space stations that have been 
duly approved for U.S. market access, may be registered with the 
Commission in order to protect them from interference from 
terrestrial microwave stations in bands shared co-equally with the 
Fixed Service in accordance with the procedures of Sec. Sec.  25.203 
and 25.251, subject to the structure in Sec.  25.209(c). Receive-
only earth stations must be licensed in cases where they seek to 
operate with non-U.S.-licensed space stations that have not been 
approved for market access. See 47 CFR 25.131(j).
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    12. The NPRM proposed to protect incumbent earth stations from 
harmful interference as the Commission increased the intensity of 
terrestrial use in the band.\5\ What is the scope of the right of such 
users to protection from harmful interference? What obligations, if 
any, does section 316 of the Communications Act (or any other provision 
of the Act) impose on the Commission vis-[agrave]-vis licensed or 
registered receive-only earth station operators if the Commission were 
to authorize new terrestrial operations in the band under any of the 
proposals in the NPRM or the record?
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    \5\ See NPRM, 33 FCC Rcd at 6926, paragraph 27, 83 FR. at 44130. 
The Commission sought comment on how to define the appropriate class 
of incumbents for protection. For earth station licensees and 
registrants, the NPRM proposed to define incumbent stations as earth 
stations that: (1) Were operational as of April 19, 2018; (2) are 
licensed or registered (or had a pending application for license or 
registration) in the IBFS database as of October 17, 2018; and (3) 
have timely certified the accuracy of information on file with the 
Commission to the extent required by the Order. Id. The filing 
deadline was subsequently extended until October 31, 2018. 
International Bureau Announces Two-Week Extension of Filing Window 
for Earth Stations Currently Operating in 3.7-4.2 GHz Band, Public 
Notice, 33 FCC Rcd 10054 (IB Oct. 17, 2018).
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    13. The Commission seeks comment on whether licensed or registered 
receive-only earth stations have licensed spectrum usage rights, as 
defined in the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the Act). 
Section 309(j)(8)(G) of the Act, provides that the Commission ``may 
encourage a licensee to relinquish voluntarily some or all of its 
licensed spectrum usage rights'' as part of an incentive auction. This 
provision, however, does not define the term ``licensee'' or ``licensed 
spectrum usage rights.'' Section 3(53) of the Act defines ``license'' 
as ``that instrument of authorization required by [the Act] or the 
rules and regulations of the Commission made pursuant to [the Act], for 
the use or operation of apparatus for transmission of energy, or 
communications, or signals by radio, by whatever name the instrument 
may be designated by the Commission.'' The ``transmission of energy . . 
. by radio,'' in turn, is defined to include ``all instrumentalities, 
facilities, and services incidental to such transmission.'' In light of 
these and any other statutory provisions that may be relevant, how 
should the Commission interpret ``licensed spectrum usage rights'' as 
it may apply to any of the proposals either advanced by the Commission 
in the NPRM or raised in comments filed in this docket?
    14. Receive-only earth stations do not transmit ``energy, or 
communications, or signals'' and most have not been eligible for a 
Commission license since 1991. However, in adopting the receive-only 
earth station registration program, the Commission provided that ``a 
registration program will afford the same protection from interference 
as would a license issued under our former [licensing] procedure.'' Do 
licensed or registered receive-only earth station operators meet the 
definition of licensees that have licensed spectrum usage rights that 
they could voluntarily relinquish in an incentive auction? Some 
commenters argue that registered earth stations have licensed spectrum 
usage rights, while other commenters argue that earth station 
registrations are not licenses under Sec.  309(j)(8)(G). At least one 
commenter suggests that the Commission consider holding a reverse 
auction in which incumbent receive-only earth station registrants and 
satellite licensees would compete to submit winning bids to clear a 
PEA. Does the Commission's incentive auction authority allow it to 
structure a reverse auction in which satellite operators and licensed 
or registered receive-only earth station operators compete to 
relinquish their spectrum usage rights? What, if any, legal authority 
does the Commission have to structure an incentive auction that would 
award initial licenses for mobile operations in the band subject to 
protecting or reaching agreements with licensed or registered receive-
only earth stations? For that matter, do non-U.S.-licensed space 
station operators granted market access meet the definition of 
licensees that have licensed spectrum usage rights that they could 
voluntarily relinquish in an incentive auction?
    15. If an incentive auction approach is unavailable, does the 
Commission have other statutory authorities that would enable it to 
authorize or require payments to licensed or registered receive-only 
earth stations to induce them to modify or relocate their facilities? 
One commenter argues that Sec. Sec.  303(c), 303(r), and 4(i) of the 
Act, and specific Commission precedent, provide the Commission with 
ample authority to require that proceeds from a Commission auction or a 
private sale of spectrum usage rights to be shared with registered 
receive-only earth stations as well as with the U.S. Treasury. Another 
commenter maintains that the Commission recognized the important role 
of receive-only earth stations in the NPRM when it asked whether, 
``[i]nstead of paying [fixed satellite] operators for relinquishing 
spectrum usage rights nationwide, or in specific geographic regions, a 
mechanism instead might pay earth stations for relinquishing access to 
C-band spectrum in specific geographic areas.'' Are there any other 
rules or sources of authority the Commission should consider in 
addressing the question of how to accommodate licensed or registered 
earth station operators that may be displaced as a result of 
repurposing of the C-band? Are there any equitable or public policy 
factors the Commission should take into consideration?

Federal Communications Commission.
John Schauble,
Deputy Division Chief, Broadband Division, Wireless Telecommunication 
Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2019-11448 Filed 5-31-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6712-01-P