[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]
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