Coalition suggests guidelines for TV spectrum repurposing

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NAB / National Association of BroadcastersThe National Association of Broadcasters is party to a coalition which has been carefully reviewing the FCC’s spectrum repurposing plan in the television band. The group includes broadcast and wireless members. They endorse concepts to maximize auctioned spectrum while avoiding interference aimed at consumer devices along the lines of those currently in existence.


AT&T, T-Mobile, Intel, Verizon Wireless and Qualcomm are the other members of the group signed on to the letter sent to the FCC.

After praising the FCC’s thoughtful approach to the project, they said, “While analysis of the band plan and its operational characteristics is ongoing, the parties to this letter have been working together to build consensus where it can be achieved. The product of our deliberations to date is a core set of band plan principles that we recommend the Commission follow in developing the 600 MHz Band Plan.”

The recommendations include:

* Adopt a contiguous “down from TV 51” approach with uplink at the top;

* Maximize the amount of paired spectrum above TV 37 (rely on supplemental downlink configurations where spectrum is cleared but pairing options are not viable);

* Rely upon 5 MHz spectrum blocks as building blocks for the band plan;

* Incorporate a “duplex gap” or spacing between uplink (mobile transmit) and downlink (base transmit) of a minimum of 10 MHz, but no larger than technically necessary;

* Avoid broadcast television stations in the duplex gap;

* Preclude any operations in the duplex gap or guard bands that would result in harmful interference to adjacent licensed services;

* Provide guard bands that are, consistent with the statute, “no larger than is technically reasonable” to guard against harmful interference between adjacent operations;

* Provide a guard band between a high power broadcaster and mobile downlink that is sufficient to protect the wireless service from interference, which will likely be larger than the 6 MHz proposed by the FCC;

* Permit existing operations in TV 37 to remain;

* Facilitate international harmonization, prioritizing harmonization across North America and move forward expeditiously to coordinate with Canada and Mexico for new broadcast assignments.

They concluded, “These are the band plan principles to which all of the undersigned parties agree. While technical analysis is ongoing and work remains to be done, the parties to this letter plan to continue to collaborate and reach out to others in the wireless and TV broadcast industries to formulate a consensus band plan to the extent feasible. We look forward to those discussions, and to working closely with the Commission to achieve a technically sound band plan consistent with the principles articulated in this letter.”