FCC frees up 25 megahertz of WCS spectrum

The Federal Communications Commission freed up 25 megahertz of spectrum in the Wireless Communications Services band by allowing satellite radio operators to use digital repeaters.
“The existing WCS rules constrain operations to fixed services, but the commission found today that those rules can be revised to allow mobile broadband services without risking harmful interference to neighboring operations,” the FCC said in a prepared statement.
The FCC has been struggling with the issue since 2007. The Wireless Communications Association formed a WCS Coalition back then to address what it called regulatory threats to the use of the 2.3 GHz band in America — interference from DARS terrestrial repeaters and an oppressive out-of-band emissions limit. At the time, AT&T Inc., Comcast Corp., NextWave Broadband Inc., NTELOS Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp., Horizon Wi-Com and WaveTel NC License Corp., members of the WCS Coalition, voiced concern about the uncertainty of technical rules governing both services.
As part of the order, the commission also enhanced buildout requirements for WCS licensees. For mobile and point-to-multipoint services, WCS licensees must serve 40% of the area’s population within 42 months, and 75% within 72 months. For fixed point-to-point services, WCS licensees must construct and operate 15 point-to-point links per million people in a license area within 42 months, and 30 links within 72 months, together with a minimum payload capacity to ensure that the spectrum is used intensively.
The FCC also signed into law an order that forces wireless carriers to comply with number porting requests within one business day of receiving the request. The rules go into place for most carriers Aug. 2, but small carriers have until Feb. 2 to comply with the rules. The change impacts changes from wireline provider to wireline and wireless providers and between VoIP providers.