Thursday, March 21, 2013

FCC Notifies on 1755-1780 MHz Band Auction Plans


The FCC officially notified the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) at the U.S. Department of Commerce that it plans to commence the auction of licenses in the 1695–1710 MHz band and the 1755–1780 MHz band as early as September 2014.

The FCC is required to give notice at least 18 months prior to the commencement of any spectrum auction.

NTIA recently identified the 1695-1710 MHz band as the 15 megahertz of spectrum between 1675 MHz and 1710 MHz to be reallocated from federal use to non-federal use. The Spectrum Act now requires the Commission to allocate this identified spectrum for commercial use and to license the spectrum by February 2015.

The FCC also noted that Congress has also directed it to license the 2155-2 180 MHz band, and other bands, by February 2015.

http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/db0321/DOC-319708A1.pdf


  • Last year, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) proposed a spectrum sharing scheme between government and industry.  Specifically, the NTIA determined that 95 megahertz (MHz) of prime spectrum in the 1755 – 1850 MHz band could be repurposed for wireless broadband use. Over 20 federal agencies currently hold more than 3,100 individual frequency assignments in this band. Federal uses of this spectrum include law enforcement surveillance, military tactical communications, air combat training, precision-guided munitions, weather balloons, etc.