47 CFR Part 101 - FIXED MICROWAVE SERVICES

Petitions for Reconsideration (Petitions) have been filed in the Commission's rulemaking proceeding by Chris Pearson, on behalf of 5G Americas; Donald L. Herman, Jr., on behalf of Adams Telcom, Inc., jointly with Central Texas Communications, Inc., E.N.M.R. Telephone Cooperative, Louisiana Competitive Telecommunications, Inc., and Pine Belt Communications, Inc.; Audrey L. Allison, on behalf of The Boeing Company; Steven K. Berry, on behalf of Competitive Carriers Association; Brian M. Josef, on behalf of CTIA; Giselle Creeser, on behalf of Inmarsat, Inc., jointly with Jennifer A. Manner, on behalf of EchoStar Satellite Operating Corporation and Hughes Network Systems LLC; Rick Chessen, on behalf of NTCA—The Internet & Television Association; Michele C. Farquhar, on behalf of Nextlink Wireless, LLC; Petra Vorwig, on behalf of SES Americom, Inc., jointly with Suzanne Malloy, on behalf of O3b Limited; Tom Stroup, on behalf of Satellite Industry Association; James Reid, on behalf of Telecommunications Industry Association; Steve B. Sharkey, on behalf of T-Mobile USA, Inc.; and Christopher Murphy, on behalf of ViaSat, Inc.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) adopts rules for specific millimeter wave (mmW) bands above 24 GHz. This action is undertaken to establish a regulatory framework for the use of these bands for the development of the next generational evolution of wireless technology. Once effective, these rules will promote the development of highly beneficial technologies, in particular the so-called 5G technology.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) seeks comment on proposed service rules to allow flexible fixed and mobile uses in additional bands and on refinements to the rules the Commission adopted in FCC 16-89. These refinements include: Providing additional detail on the sharing arrangement the Commission adopted in FCC 16-89 for the 37 GHz band; performance requirements for innovative uses such as Internet of Things (IoT) and machine-to-machine communications; additional issues relating to our mobile spectrum holdings policies; whether antenna height limits are necessary in mmW bands; whether minimum bandwidth scaling factors are necessary for transmitter power limits; whether allowing higher Power Flux Density (PFD) levels for Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) in the 37 and 39 GHz bands would be consistent with terrestrial use of those bands; refining the coordination limits for point-to-point operations; and on sharing analysis and modeling.

In this document, the Commission acknowledges the publication of ANSI C63.26-2015 “American National Standard for Compliance Testing of Transmitters Used in Licensed Radio Services” and seeks comment on incorporating it into the Commission's rules by reference as part of an open rulemaking proceeding that addresses its equipment authorization (EA) rules and procedures. The standard was recently published and is now an “active standard”—that is, the standards association considers it to be valid, current, and approved.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) have identified specific spectrum bands above 24 GHz that appear to be suitable for mobile service, and we seek comment on proposed service rules that would authorize mobile and other operations in those bands. This development of service rules for mobile use of the millimeter wave (mmW) bands occurs in the context of our efforts to develop a regulatory framework that will help facilitate so-called Fifth Generation (5G) mobile services.

In this document, the Commission implemented allocation changes from the World Radiocommunication Conference (Geneva, 2007) (WRC-07) and updated related service rules. The Commission took this action in order to conform its rules, to the extent practical, to the decisions that the international community made at WRC-07. This action will promote the advancement of new and expanded services and provide significant benefits to the American people. In addition, the Commission revised the International Table of Frequency Allocations within its rules to generally reflect the allocation changes made at the World Radiocommunication Conference (Geneva, 2012) (WRC-12).

In this document, the Commission proposes to implement certain allocation changes from the World Radiocommunication Conference (Geneva, 2012) (WRC-12) and to update related service rules. The Commission took this action in order to conform its rules, to the extent practical, to the decisions that the international community made at WRC-12. This action will promote the advancement of new and expanded services and provide significant benefits to the American people. In addition, the Commission proposes to address several matters that pertain to unresolved issues from a previous Conference.

In this document, a Petition for Reconsideration (Petition) has been filed in the Commission's Rulemaking proceeding by Donald J. Evans on behalf of NTCH, Inc.

In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, the information collection associated with the Commission's Report and Order (R&O), Service Rules for Advanced Wireless Services in the 2000-2020 MHz and 2180-2200 MHz Bands, etc. This notice is consistent with the R&O, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of those rules.

This document seeks comment on proposals developed in the course of the Federal Communications Commission's (Commission's) proceeding regarding compliance with our guidelines for human exposure to RF electromagnetic fields. The Commission's further proposals reflect an effort to provide more efficient, practical, and consistent application of evaluation procedures to ensure compliance with its guidelines limiting human exposure to RF energy from Commission-regulated transmitters and devices. In addition the Commission has initiated a Notice of Inquiry ( NOI ) in a new proceeding to determine whether there is a need for reassessment of the Commission radiofrequency (RF) exposure limits and policies. The NOI acknowledges the research that has occurred in recent years and the changing nature of RF devices and their uses, and focuses on the propriety of the Commission's existing standards and policies, including its fundamental exposure guidelines and aspects of its equipment authorization process and policies as they relate to RF exposure in light of these changes since its rules were adopted.

This document revises and streamlines the Commission rules to modernize the Experimental Radio Service (ERS). The rules adopted in the Report and Order updates the ERS to a more flexible framework to keep pace with the speed of modern technological change while continuing to provide an environment where creativity can thrive. To accomplish this transition, the Commission created three new types of ERS licenses—the program license, the medical testing license, and the compliance testing license—to benefit the development of new technologies, expedite their introduction to the marketplace, and unleash the full power of innovators to keep the United States at the forefront of the communications industry. The Commission's actions also modify the market trial rules to eliminate confusion and more clearly articulate its policies with respect to marketing products prior to equipment certification. The Commission believes that these actions will remove regulatory barriers to experimentation, thereby permitting institutions to move from concept to experimentation to finished product more rapidly and to more quickly implement creative problem-solving methodologies.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (“Commission”) increases the Nation's supply of spectrum for mobile broadband by adopting flexible use rules for up to 40 megahertz of spectrum in the 2 GHz band (2000-2020 MHz and 2180-2200 MHz), which we term the AWS-4 band. In so doing, we carry out a recommendation in the National Broadband Plan that the Commission enable the provision of stand-alone terrestrial services in the 2 GHz Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) spectrum band. Specifically, we remove unnecessary regulatory barriers to mobile broadband use of this spectrum, and adopt service, technical, and licensing rules that will encourage innovation and investment in mobile broadband and provide a stable regulatory regime in which broadband deployment can develop.

In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, the information collection associated with the Commission's Wireless Backhaul Second Report and Order ( R&O ), Facilitating the Use of Microwave for Wireless Backhaul and Other Uses and Providing Additional Flexibility to Broadcast Auxiliary Service and Operational Fixed Microwave Licensees. This notice is consistent with the R&O, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of the Rural Microwave Flexibility Policy.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published a document in the Federal Register of September 5, 2012. In this document, the FCC on its own motion, pursuant to § 1.108 of the Commission's rules, corrects the channel center frequencies to align the wider 60 and 80 megahertz channels with the existing 30 and 40 megahertz channels in part 101 of our rules in the Wireless Backhaul 2nd R&O and issues this limited modification of the Wireless Backhaul 2nd R&O, in order to establish more efficient channel assignments, consistent with the Commission's intent to improve spectrum utilization in these bands. In addition, the FCC corrects an entry to the table in § 101.115(b)(2).

In this document, a Petition for Reconsideration (Petition) has been filed in the Commission's rulemaking proceeding by Michael Mulcay, Chairman of Wireless Strategies, Inc., on the behalf of Wireless Strategies.