[SFDXA] ARLB025 Amateur 47 GHz Allocation Avoids 5G Juggernaut in the US for Now, Worldwide Defense Continues

[William Marx]

> SB QST @ ARL $ARLB025
> ARLB025 Amateur 47 GHz Allocation Avoids 5G Juggernaut in the US for
> Now, Worldwide Defense Continues
> 
> ZCZC AG25
> QST de W1AW  
> ARRL Bulletin 25  ARLB025
> From ARRL Headquarters  
> Newington CT  July 20, 2016
> To all radio amateurs 
> 
> SB QST ARL ARLB025
> ARLB025 Amateur 47 GHz Allocation Avoids 5G Juggernaut in the US for
> Now, Worldwide Defense Continues
> 
> There's good news regarding the future of Amateur Radio's primary
> allocation at 47 GHz in the US. Still a test bed for point-to-point
> propagation experimentation by dedicated enthusiasts, the 47-47.2
> GHz band is among those under consideration at the next World
> Radiocommunication Conference in 2019 (WRC-19) to accommodate
> so-called 5G wireless broadband devices. Early this year, some FCC
> commissioners indicated they would include bands on the WRC-19
> agenda in the Commission's "Spectrum Frontiers" 5G initiative. As
> the Commission put it this week as it made nearly 11 gigahertz of
> spectrum above 24.25 GHz available for licensed, unlicensed, and
> shared use: "High-band millimeter wave spectrum is key to unlocking
> the potential for 5G." The FCC's Spectrum Frontiers included several
> of the bands set for consideration at WRC-19, but not the 47 GHz
> band - although it did target 47.2-50.2 GHz.
> 
> "Maintaining the status quo in the 47-47.2 GHz band is a win for
> continued Amateur Radio use of the band in the United States, and
> amateurs continue to do great things there," ARRL Chief Technology
> Officer Brennan Price, N4QX, allowed. He pointed to the new
> US-Canada distance record of 215 kilometers set recently by radio
> amateurs from both countries. But, he suggested, Amateur Radio could
> be doing more there.
> 
> Spectrum in the millimeter range has come under increasing scrutiny,
> because the demand for greater throughput has driven demand for
> bandwidth - hence, the greater focus on spectrum above 24.25 GHz for
> next-generation 5G wireless broadband applications. As Price
> explains, it's easier to find 200 megahertz of spectrum in the
> millimeter range than at UHF.
> 
> Price noted that radio amateurs have set up broadband networks on
> several lower microwave bands - nearly all of them allocated to hams
> on a secondary basis. "The 47 GHz band is allocated to the Amateur
> Service and the Amateur-Satellite Service on a worldwide primary and
> exclusive basis," Price pointed out. "We don't have to work around
> others in this space."
> 
> He suggested that Amateur Radio broadband experimenters consider and
> develop upon the work of Ted Rappaport, N9NB - the founding director
> of NYU Wireless at New York University's Tandon School of
> Engineering - whose investigations have demonstrated that the
> millimeter waves may serve next-generation broadband systems. "For a
> long time, millimeter waves were thought to be most suitable for the
> point-to-point work that radio amateurs perfected and continue to
> advance," Price said. "Ted's work indicates that point-to-multipoint
> systems are feasible at this range, and the world has taken notice."
> 
> Price stressed the need going forward for the worldwide Amateur
> Radio community to maintain a staunch defense of all spectrum
> allocated to the Service, as the 47 GHz band remains under
> consideration by other countries. The International Amateur Radio
> Union (IARU) is organizing the protective effort on this and other
> issues as it continues to get ready for WRC-19.
> NNNN
> /EX