Wireless Regulation: Washington Update Stephen E. Coran Rini Coran, PC 202.463.4310 scoran@rinicoran.com

Disclaimer Please be advised that this publication is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship. The information contained herein is general and is not offered as legal advice, and you are strongly encouraged to consult with an attorney if you have specific questions. Any reliance on the information contained herein is taken at your own risk.

What’s Hot The Obama Administration 3650 MHz Service TV White Spaces

The Obama Administration National Broadband Strategy Change definition of “broadband,” which “distorts federal policies and hamstrings efforts to broaden broadband access,” to reference faster speeds Refocus USF program to support affordable broadband, especially in unserved communities Promote broadband access in rural and underserved areas, as well as in schools, libraries and hospitals Favors federal tax and loan incentives to support local area public/private broadband partnerships to promote innovation

The Obama Administration Wireless Spectrum Will “demand review of existing uses of wireless spectrum” Interest in exploring new standards for wireless use (e.g., spectrum sharing) Auctions have not provided sufficient incentives to encourage competition and new entry Calls for “more efficient and more imaginative use of government spectrum”

The Obama Administration Net Neutrality Strong proponent of net neutrality, will “prevent network providers from discriminating in ways that limit the freedom of expression on the Internet” Network providers should not be able to charge fees for “privilege” content or applications Supports open platform for applications and devices

The Obama Administration What to Expect Financial incentives for rural broadband via USF, tax credits, loans in connection with education and economic initiative Encourage innovation through wireless policies Focus more on new entry, less on favoring incumbents Greater scrutiny of mergers

The Obama Administration FCC Commissioners Democrats entitled to three of five seats Commissioner Tate’s term expired January 3 Chairman Martin widely expected to resign soon Who will be next Chairman? Expect Commissioner Adelstein or Copps to be named interim Chairman Long-term, someone committed to advancing policies

3650 MHz Service FCC opened the door for filing applications on November 15, 2007 FCC has issued more than 500 nationwide, non-exclusive licenses Licensees have registered more than 1,200 base stations under “licensed-lite” approach But, despite this success, are FCC rules unnecessarily holding back deployment of networks?

3650 MHz Service Earth Station “Exclusion Zones” FCC rules establish 150 km “exclusion zones” for authorized grandfathered Fixed Satellite Station earth stations and 80 km “protection zone” for three government radiolocation sites, which limits areas where systems can be deployed FCC rules based on worst case scenario FCC rules allow operation inside exclusion zones if parties can agree Negotiations must be conducted “in good faith” and parties are required to keep notes of discussions in case FCC asks for them FCC included a voluntary methodology by which non-interference could be demonstrated (Appendix D)

3650 MHz Service Earth Station “Exclusion Zones” What should a 3650 MHz licensee do when the planned network is within the “exclusion zone?” Determine whether FSS earth station is in use – if not, make your case to the FCC and base station may be approved If FSS earth station is in use, attempt to negotiate with licensee and keep detailed notes and chronology Consider Appendix D methodology or other showing Consider good faith design changes to remedy areas where interference would be predicted If negotiations fail, consider filing complaint with FCC

3650 MHz Service Power Limits Fixed stations limited to 25 watts/25 MHz EIRP, with maximum peak EIRP power density of 1 Watt in any 1 MHz Mobile and portable stations limited to 1 watt/25 MHz EIRP with maximum peak EIRP power density of 40 milliwatts in any 1 MHz Power limits restrict transmissions, especially upstream Actual service area determined by serviceable distance of the weakest link Solutions such as asymmetrical service and high-gain receive antennas at base station are impractical and inefficient

3650 MHz Service Registration of Fixed Receive Sites FCC rules require registration of all fixed and base stations, which includes end-user locations Helps identify location of links for interference avoidance purposes But may be impractical for wide-area, residential deployment

TV White Spaces Rules adopted November 4 to govern fixed and personal/portable use of vacant TV spectrum on an unlicensed basis Proceeding attracted more than 30,000 comments over four years WISPA actively sought higher-power, “licensed-lite” process with registration and geolocation Rules not yet effective FCC also indicated it would initiate inquiry for higher-power services

TV White Spaces Fixed Devices Permitted on TV channels 2-51, except Channels 3, 4 and 37 Must incorporate geolocation capability that accesses privately maintained database of protected services (e.g., incumbent broadcast stations) Power maximum of 4 Watts EIRP Must use outdoor antennas with spectrum sensing capability to identify wireless microphone signals not in database Operation not permitted where digital TV stations operate on co-channel or adjacent-channel basis

TV White Spaces Personal/Portable Devices Permitted on TV channels 21-51, except Channel 37 Can operate in master-client mode (controlled by fixed or personal/portable device operating in independent mode) or independent mode (determines channel availability based on geolocation and database access capabilities) Power maximum of 100 milliwatts EIRP, except that power will be limited to 40 milliwatts when operating on channels adjacent to digital TV channels or other protected stations Operation not permitted where digital TV stations operate on co-channel basis

TV White Spaces Geolocation Database and Sensing All fixed and personal/portable devices that do not operate in client mode must access database of registered stations before operating Database to be managed by qualified database administrator(s) selected by FCC, although FCC will retain interference resolution functions Database registrants will incude: full-power TV, Class A TV, low-power TV, TV translator/booster, PLMRS/CMRS operating on Channels 14-20, broadcast auxiliary and Offshore Radiotelephone Service stations Database will be accurate to within 50 meters Devices also must be equipped with technology capable of sensing intermittent wireless microphones at a -114 dBm minimum detection threshold

TV White Spaces Are these problems? Fixed device operation limited to 4 Watts EIRP Receive antennas used with fixed devices must be located at least 10 meters above ground level Transmit antennas used with fixed devices must be located no more than 30 meters above ground level Devices required to access the database at least once a day to ensure continuing availability of channel Devices must check for TV signals for a minimum time interval of 30 seconds If any device in a network determines that a channel is occupied, all other linked devices must respond

Thanks for listening! Questions? Stephen E. Coran Rini Coran, PC 202.463.4310 scoran@rinicoran.com www.rinicoran.com