[HCARC] Fwd: [Rmg] •ARRL to Seek Changes in FCC Draft Decision on Amateur 9-Centimeter Band

[DON MURRAY]

Heads up on some " it's about time" action from the ARRL regarding  recent FCC proposals.  73, Don, W4WJ...

From: Scott Armstrong <aa5am at vntx.net>
Date: Thursday, September 17, 2020
Subject: [Rmg] •ARRL to Seek Changes in FCC Draft Decision on Amateur 9-Centimeter Band
To: NTMS <NTMS at groups.io>, Email reflector for K5RMG club <rmg at k5rmg.com>
This was just posted in the "ARRL Letter for September 17, 2020". It hasn't made the news yet on the arrl.org homepage as of 0122 utc on 9/18/20.


-Scott AA5AM


ARRL to Seek Changes in FCC Draft Decision on Amateur 9-Centimeter Band
ARRL efforts are under way to preserve amateur radio access to the 3.3 - 3.5 GHz (9-centimeter) band. In an 80+ page draft Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulelmaking (R&O) in WT Docket 19-348, the FCC announced its intention to delete the 3.3 - 3.5 GHz amateur secondary allocation, subject to a phased withdrawal tied to its licensing of new primary users. According to the FCC, the 3.450 - 3.550 GHz spectrum will be put up for auction as early as December 2021. Incumbent users will be permitted to continue operating in the band until licensing to commercial interests -- presumably 5G -- begins. That's estimated to be about 3 months after the spectrum auction concludes, or around mid-2022. No alternative spectrum was proposed to replace the 9-centimeter spectrum for 
amateur radio operations. In an associated Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the FCC said it seeks comment "on whether it is in the public interest to sunset amateur use in the 3.3 - 3.55 GHz band in two separate phases," -- first above 3.4 GHz, and later below 3.4 GHz.
"We find that removing the existing secondary non-federal allocations from the 3.3 - 3.55 GHz band and clearing these non-federal operations from the band is in the public interest, and therefore, we adopt this proposal," the draft R&O says. "Because the [Department of Defense and the National Telecommunications and Information Agency] agree that commercial users operating pursuant to flexible use licenses can be accommodated in the 3.45 - 3.55 GHz band at full power, and given continued interest in the 3.3 - 3.45 GHz band for future sharing for flexible-use licenses, we find that retaining the secondary non-federal allocations across this spectrum would hinder the Commission's ability to offer flexible-use licensing in the future and would undermine the intensive and efficient use of valuable mid-band spectrum."

"Further, to prevent adjacent-channel issues and to preserve the possibility of additional clearing for flexible use licensing below 3.45 GHz, we find that sunsetting the secondary amateur allocation from the entire 3.3 -- 3.5 GHz portion of the band is in the public interest," the FCC said.

Last February, ARRL filed comments opposing the FCC's proposal to delete the 3.3 - 3.5 GHz secondary amateur allocation, pointing to amateur radio's long history of successful coexistence with primary users of the band.

The absolute deadline to submit additional comments on the draft R&O and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking via the Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) or to contact FCC staff on this issue is Wednesday, September 23 -- 7 days before the full Commission's consideration of the draft for final adoption -- in order to comply with FCC "Sunshine Rules."

In August, the White House and the Department of Defense announced plans to allow for commercial 5G systems to operate in the 3.45 - 3.55 GHz band throughout almost all of the contiguous US. The plan would leave radio amateurs to "individually determine appropriate alternate spectrum from existing available spectrum allocations."

The 3.45 - 3.55 GHz segment would be teed up for a spectrum auction that's expected to commence by the end of 2021. This would mean amateurs would have to cease all operations at 3.45 GHz and above by the middle of 2022 at the earliest, based on an FCC estimate.

The 3.3 - 3.45 GHz segment is not immediately available for reallocation and auction, because more work is needed to accommodate the Department of Defense. Under the rules as proposed, amateur operations will be permitted to continue in this spectrum until sometime in the future, when FCC rulemakings establish new rules and conduct a spectrum auction and commercial licensing.