At its December 12 meeting, the FCC formally adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in WT Docket 19-348 and invited comments on its plan to remove “existing non-federal secondary radiolocation and amateur allocations” in the 3.3 – 3.55 GHz band and relocate incumbent non-federal operations. The FCC said it’s seeking comment on appropriate “transition mechanisms” to make that happen. ARRL has indicated that it will file comments in opposition to the proposal. The amateur 9-meter allocation is 3.3 – 3.5 GHz. The NPRM comes in response to the MOBILE NOW [Making Opportunities for Broadband Investment and Limiting Excessive and Needless Obstacles to Wireless] Act, approved by the 115th Congress to make available new spectrum for mobile and fixed wireless broadband use.
“By proposing to delete the existing non-federal secondary allocations from the 3.3 – 3.55 GHz band, we are taking an important initial step towards satisfying Congress’s directives and making as much as 250 megahertz of spectrum potentially available for advanced wireless services, including 5G,” the FCC said in the Introduction to its NPRM.
Currently, the entire 3.1 – 3.55 GHz band is allocated for both federal and non-federal radiolocation services, with non-federal users operating on a secondary basis to federal radiolocation services, which have a primary allocation, the NPRM explains.
The FCC said it is seeking comment on relocating non-federal licensees to another band. With respect to amateur operations, the FCC invited comments on whether sufficient amateur spectrum exists in other bands that can support the operations currently conducted at 3.3 – 3.5 GHz. The 3.40 – 3.41 GHz segment is earmarked for amateur satellite communication. “We seek comment on the extent to which the band is used for this purpose, whether existing satellites can operate on other amateur satellite bands, and on an appropriate timeframe for terminating these operations in this band,” the FCC said. If non-federal licensees are relocated to 3.1 – 3.3 GHz band, the FCC proposes that they continue to operate on a secondary basis to federal operations, consistent with current band allocations.
Some comments began to arrive before the FCC formally adopted the NPRM, as it points out in a footnote. Kevin Milner, KD0MA, the secretary/treasurer of the Ski Country Amateur Radio Club in Colorado, has argued that the club’s equipment cannot be re-channeled below 3.4 GHz, and the club is seeking relocation costs. Devin Ulibarri, W7ND, told the FCC that amateur networks in the current band cannot move easily into other amateur allocations because there is no readily available commercial equipment to support the bandwidth, the FCC recounted.
In the event the proposed amendments are adopted, the FCC “seeks comment on relocation options and on transition and protection mechanisms for incumbent non-federal operations.”
Also at its December 12 meeting, the FCC considered another NPRM in WT Docket 19-138 that would “take a fresh and comprehensive look” at the rules for the 5.9 GHz band and propose, among other things, to make the lower 45 MHz of the band available for unlicensed operations and to permit “cellular vehicle-to-everything” (C-V2X) operations in the upper 20 MHz of the band. The FCC is not proposing to delete or otherwise amend the amateur allocation, which would continue as a secondary allocation, but the primary allocation for 5.850 – 5.925 GHz would change. The amateur radio 5-centimeter allocation is 5650.0 – 5925.0 MHz, and the NPRM, if approved, would address the top 75 MHz of that amateur secondary band. Although no changes have been proposed to the amateur allocation, an increase in primary use is anticipated, which could restrict secondary amateur use.
The Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network (AREDN) has offered its voice in challenging the FCC proposals on the two bands, saying their adoption would “eliminate our use of the most-effective resource hams have to build its networks.”
“The AREDN Project is able to leverage low-cost commercial devices solely because they are designed to operate on adjacent allocations,” AREDN said on its website. “Moving to other allocations would be difficult if not impossible without a complete redesign, manufacture, purchase, and installation of new custom amateur hardware and software…, raising the price out of reach for the typical ham.”
Interested parties may file short comments on WT Docket 19-348 via the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing Service (Express). Visit the FCC “How to Comment on FCC Proceedings” page for information on filing extended comments.
Source:ARRL
Review
“A viewer asks: I want a home base station trans/receiver so I can listen till I am licensed. Need an antenna too. But all for under $1000 if possible. Any suggestions? Joe and I talk about some options and settle on the Xiegu G90 as... Read more
VHF
“I’m taking a 10,000 FT look at three types of ham radio programing software. There’s so much to unpack here that a quick overview is 20 minutes. We’re looking at RTSystems software, Yaesu’s ADMS-14 package and... Read more
News
Mysterious Radio Signal Discovered in Milky Way Center | What Is It!?
Ziteng (Andy) Wang is a PhD student at the University of Sydney. He recently discovered an unusual radio signal coming from the direction of the Milky... Read more
TRI BAND TRANSCEIVER – RS-UV3A
The HobbyPCB RS-UV3A radio module is a 144/220/450 MHz FM transceiver board. The RS-UV3A is a low cost transceiver solution for Packet Radio, repeater... Read more
ARRL Continues Its Efforts to Preserve Amateur Radio Secondary Use of the 3 GHz Band
ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, in a written statement on the newly filed H.R.5378 before the US House Commerce Communications and Technology Subc... Read more
![Why Ham Radio [ ARRL Video ]](https://qrznow.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hq720-1-265x168.jpg)
Why Ham Radio [ ARRL Video ]
Josh Nass, KI6NAZ, of @Ham Radio Crash Course talks about what ham radio is, and answers the question…. “Why Ham Radio?” Read more
High Speed Telegraphy 2021 in Montenegro
September 10-14, 2021, the 17th World Championship High Speed Telegraphy was held in Montenegro. The event was organized by MARP (Montenegrin Amateur... Read more
Resonant vs Non-Resonant Antennas
Richard, AE6XO, is wondering what the difference is between resonant and non resonant antennas. Why no just get a non resonant and use a tuner? He ask... Read more
Data on Number of Radio Amateurs Worldwide Needs Updating
The oft-cited figure of 3 million radio amateurs worldwide may need updating. That number was what the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) publis... Read more
SHARI Pi HAT – ALLSTAR SA818 Radio Module For Raspberry Pi
Here we take a look at the SHARI PiHatU from Ham Projects. This Pi Hat contains an SA818 Radio module to allow RF to the ALLSTAR network through a ras... Read more
Deaf Pupils Set to Speak with ISS Crew Member in a World-First Event
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) will offer a group of pupils at the Mary Hare School for deaf children in England a... Read more
Amateur Radio Volunteers Assist in Major US Cycling Event
On September 11, some 115 amateur radio volunteers from five states provided communication support for LoToJa, the longest single-day USA Cycling (USA... Read more