Wireless Broadband in 1675-1710 MHz Could Hurt Satellite Uses, Says Raytheon
The 1675-1710 MHz band is widely and constantly used by federal and non-federal users, and opening it to wireless broadband users could jeopardize important public safety and meteorological connectivity, Raytheon told the FCC. The company responded to an Office of Engineering & Technology notice requesting input on using the band for wireless broadband (CD June 1 p1). While the public notice said the agency believed the band to be “relatively lightly used, both geographically and temporally, and thus could be shared by others,” several disagreed.
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Poor filtering on much of today’s wireless broadband equipment would lead to interference in the band and “frustrate the ability of” many important users, said Raytheon, developing the ground stations for the next generation of polar-orbiting meteorological and environmental satellites. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration uses the band for its Physical Oceanographic Real-time System, an important navigation tool that increases safety and efficiency of maritime businesses, the company said. Use of the band is constant and surges in use can be unforeseen if the severe weather or other events knock out terrestrial communications, it said. Reducing the number of earth stations that use the band to receive meteorological information and then sending it to other sites terrestrially isn’t a viable alternative because much of the data is time sensitive, it said.
Allowing wireless broadband users into the band could also deter future services in nearby bands that could be affected by interference, SkyTerra said. The company plans to use its 1670-1675 MHz spectrum as part of its upcoming 4G wireless broadband network, scheduled to reach 260 million Americans by 2016. While the public notice only asks about current use of the band, the agency should consider the affect of out-of-band emissions and “solicit further specific comment in order to allow it to develop effective limits,” the company said.
Boeing supports using the band for wireless broadband as long as it doesn’t affect government-mandated testing of aircraft and satellites, it said. If the FCC does allow mobile broadband in the band, it should also make it so the experimental licenses for testing don’t require consent from the wireless providers, said Boeing, which holds several experimental licenses for use of the band. The testing is critical for developing the meteorological satellite service satellites that Boeing makes, it said. It would be “counterproductive” for the FCC to allocate the spectrum for wireless broadband while stifling experimentation in the band, the company said.