NPRM Aims to Resolve Fight Over 2.3 GHz Spectrum
The FCC seem close to releasing a proposed rulemaking taking up a dispute between XM and Sirius and broadband wireless companies over the 2.3 GHz band, sources said. The rulemaking likely will be short on tentative conclusions and mainly seek comment on proposed rules for the band submitted separately by Sirius and the Wireless Communications Service (WCS) Coalition.
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The spectrum, at 2305 to 2360 MHz, has been the subject of a decade-long dispute between the sides over how much protection WCS operators need from satellite repeaters’ harmful interference. FCC auctioned the WCS spectrum in 1997, but it has seen little buildout.
Broadband companies see the spectrum as ideal for WiMAX, especially since the 2.3 GHz band is used in South Korea to offer WiBro, that nation’s version of WiMAX. Similar equipment could be used in both countries, speeding deployment of WiMAX here, they said.
A group led by the Wireless Communications Association and including AT&T, NextWave Broadband and Horizon Wi-Com, met Tuesday with International Bureau Chief Helen Domenici and staff on the 2.3 GHz rules’ status. The group asked the FCC to release a rulemaking, warning that high-power repeaters must be grandfathered under the rules. “Failure to conform means interference to WCS as consumer broadband services are deployed,” the group said.