In the Matter of Amendment of Part 101 of the Commission's Rules To

Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554

) In the Matter of ) ) Amendment of Part 101 of the Commission’s ) Rules to Facilitate the Use of Microwave for ) WT Docket No. 10-153 ) Wireless Backhaul and Other Uses and to ) Provide Additional Flexibility to Broadcast ) Auxiliary Service and Operational Fixed ) Microwave Licensees

REPLY COMMENTS OF THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY

These reply comments (“Reply Comments”) are submitted by The Walt Disney Company

(“Disney”), on behalf of the ABC Television Network (including ABC News), the ABC Owned

Television Stations,1 and ESPN. As a general matter, these Reply Comments are filed in support

of the comments filed jointly by the Association for Maximum Television Service, Inc.

(“MSTV”) and the National Association of Broadcasters (“NAB”), as well as in support of the

comments filed by the Engineers for the Integrity of Broadcast Auxiliary Services (“EIBASS”).2

In particular, these Reply Comments are being filed to stress the extent of usage of the spectrum in the broadcast auxiliary service (“BAS”) bands by the undersigned entities. As an initial matter, Disney wishes to emphasize that we, of course, support the efforts of the Federal

Communications Commission (“FCC” or “Commission”) to increase broadband access. Like

NAB and MSTV, we submit that this laudable goal can be accomplished without compromising

1 The ten ABC Owned Television Stations are located in the following markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham, Fresno, Flint, and Toledo. 2 See Comments of The Association for Maximum Television Service, Inc. and the National Association of Broadcasters, WT Docket 10-153, et al (filed Oct. 25, 2010) (“MSTV/NAB Comments”); Comments of EIBASS, WT Docket 10-153, et al (filed Oct. 25, 2010) (“EIBASS Comments”).

broadcasters’ ability to cover local and national events in a manner that viewers have come to expect.

I. INCREASING DEMANDS ON BAS SPECTRUM HAVE NECESSITATED DISNEY’S EXTENSIVE USE OF THE 7 GHZ AND 13 GHZ BAS BANDS ON A DAILY BASIS

As producers of local and national content, the integrity of our existing fixed paths and

the ability to continue to cover events for news, sports or entertainment is paramount in our operations. As explained below, ABC News, ESPN, and the ABC Owned Television Stations use spectrum frequencies in the 7 GHz (i.e., 6875-7125 MHz) and the 13 GHz (i.e., 12700-

13200 MHz) bands to a great extent on a daily basis to support our news, sports and entertainment operations.

The usage of frequencies in the 7 GHz and 13 GHz spectrum bands is critical for us to provide coverage of “breaking news” on both the local and national level, as well as to enable us to provide the high-quality coverage of sporting and entertainment events that our viewers expect. The experiences of ABC News, ESPN, and the ABC Television Network (including the

ABC Owned Television Stations) demonstrate that the need to use the 7 GHz and 13 GHz bands is greater as the 2 GHz bands become more and more overcrowded.

ABC News. ABC News maintains news bureaus in markets including New York and

Washington D.C. In these markets, ABC News often uses frequencies from the same, overcrowded 2 GHz pool used by local broadcasters in the market. As a result of the already- existing overcrowding in the 2 GHz BAS band, ABC News must rely heavily on the 7 GHz and

13 GHz BAS bands to cover events of national interest. Similarly, when covering news events in various cities around the nation, we have on numerous occasions found that 2 GHz congestion has rendered the 2 GHz band unusable such that we have been forced to coordinate frequencies in the 7 GHz and 13 GHz bands. Moreover, because news operations on both the local and

national levels are very dynamic, ABC News often has limited advance notice of where news

coverage will be required and, therefore, prior coordination (e.g., through notification) is difficult, if not impossible.

The challenges faced by broadcasters attempting to coordinate BAS spectrum use is often exacerbated when covering special news events, such as political conventions and Presidential inaugurations. To cover special news events, ABC News operates wireless cameras, fixed cameras, temporary and fixed ENG receive sites, and other relay locations. Because special news events are covered by a wide variety of media outlets, it is not uncommon to find that all available spectrum in the BAS bands is occupied. Indeed, ABC News faced this exact challenge in connection with its coverage of the inauguration of President Obama in 2009.

ESPN/ABC Sports. ESPN and ABC cover significant numbers of sports events,

including NASCAR, the X-Games, and Monday Night Football. In connection with these

events, ESPN and its vendors typically coordinate any number of frequencies in the 7 GHz and

13 GHz BAS bands. Indeed, larger sports events often also include coordination of frequencies

in the 2 GHz BAS bands, as well as frequencies in the 1.4 GHz, 2.3 GHz, and other spectrum

bands (pursuant to special temporary authorization as necessary).

Certain events, such as NASCAR, Indy Racing League and horseracing, are heavily

dependent on 7 GHz spectrum to enable the use of in-car (point of view) and wireless cameras.

ESPN also uses wireless cameras in connection with its coverage of Monday Night Football,

where it uses two sideline wireless cameras, and golf tournaments, where it uses several wireless

cameras in order to cover the entire course. For events such as marathons and the X-Games,

ESPN occasionally deploys wireless cameras inside ground-based vehicles or helicopters.3

3 Depending upon their design, these wireless cameras may transmit signals to final production control points via building rooftops.

These wireless cameras may use spectrum in the 7 GHz or 13 GHz BAS bands. In congested

markets like Los Angeles, 7 GHz and 13 GHz frequencies are heavily used and may not be

available to ESPN. In these cases, ESPN has resorted to a variety of solutions, from obtaining

special temporary authority to use spectrum in the 1.4-2.3 GHz bands (e.g., for coverage of the X

Games) to splitting the available 25 MHz in the 7 GHz band channels into two 10 MHz channels.

Appendix A hereto provides additional examples of ESPN’s use of frequencies in the 7 GHz and

13 GHz BAS bands.

Importantly, as technology evolves, so will the demands on BAS spectrum. For example, although the inception of 3D television is an exciting development for the coverage of sports events, the wireless 3D cameras used for such coverage currently demand a full 24 MHz of channel bandwidth per camera system. This demand will place even greater strain on both the 7

GHz and 13 GHz bands.

ABC Owned Television Stations. Today, most of the markets in which the ABC Owned

Television Stations operate are experiencing overcrowding in the 2 GHz BAS band. As a result,

in order to continue to meet the increased demand for coverage of news events, many of the ABC

Owned Television Stations have had to move to the 7 GHz BAS band for mobile operations and

resort to using the 13 GHz BAS band primarily for temporary fixed operations.

ABC Television Network. As is the case with the ABC Owned Television Stations, the

ABC Television Network relies on various BAS spectrum bands to meet its needs. For example,

both the Academy Awards and Dancing with the Stars are produced in the Los Angeles television

market. Given the high demand on BAS spectrum in this market, ABC is required to rely on frequencies in the 1.4 GHz, 2 GHz, and 6.5-7 GHz bands to produce these programs.

A. 7 GHz Band: Use and Frequency Coordination

Many broadcasters currently rely on frequencies in the 7 GHz BAS band to provide

longhaul and shorthaul links in support of their coverage of major events. To this end,

broadcasters use a variety of system designs, including mobile operations,4 Coded Orthogonal

Frequency Division Multiplexing (“COFDM”),5 and wireless cameras.6 For example, ABC

News operations in Washington, D.C. utilize COFDM, diversity receivers, and different antenna

configurations to create a very robust receive network that combines many receive sites to yield

a much larger coverage area. ABC News operations outside of the Washington metro area use

similar engineering designs. This type of system design also is used on a smaller scale as a

temporary set-up at sports events covered by ESPN, such as golf and auto racing.

With respect to the 7 GHz BAS band, prior frequency coordination is not always practical

and real-time coordination is generally the rule of thumb. Either a “home” channel is issued to

4 Mobile operations generally transmit from a given location to either (i) a fixed ENG receive site (point to point) or (ii) various receive sites from airborne systems or dynamically moving vehicles (point to multi-point). Many of these fixed ENG sites are capable of receiving signals originating at the same time from various locations and usually frequency “stacking” is deployed for these applications. Typical ENG sites operate with steerable high gain antennas. These antennas are capable of receiving a signal from locations within a 360 degree radius. 5 COFDM is unique in that it generates many carriers and the paths of these carriers are unpredictable. COFDM “bounces” can add another level of complexity to mobile operations and potential interference scenarios. With the development of digital technologies and modulation schemes, COFDM transmitters have evolved and become a major contributing factor in the way we cover news and sports events. When combined with diversity-receive antenna systems and sensitive receivers (-96 dBm or better), our production efforts benefit from the enhanced flexibility, wider coverage areas and lower “cost to cover” efficiencies. 6 A small transmitter with an omni-directional antenna on one or more cameras has become prevalent in coverage at many types of events. For news coverage, the use of wireless cameras has increased as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks because ENG vehicle parking restrictions are in place around many government and other buildings. In many markets, the ENG vehicle must be located outside of these restricted zones where it can receive a wireless camera on 7 GHz, then re-transmit the signal to a fixed ENG site on 2 GHz or 7 GHz. The wireless camera signals received at fixed ENG receive sites and/or mobile vehicles usually incorporate a diversity receiver. As part of the engineering design some fixed or mobile receive sites also utilize omni-directional and/or sector antennas working with diversity receivers to increase the coverage areas.

users for mobile and/or temporary fixed purposes or the band has isolated channels for

STL/TSL/ICR use and the remaining channels are used for the other applications on a

coordinated basis. In some locales, both types of channel assignment measures are used. Our

crews that travel to various cities to cover events contact the local frequency coordinator to

inform them of our needs. The majority of the time 7 GHz BAS band is the only available

spectrum for us to use. On several occasions, coordination of frequencies in the 7 GHz band has been difficult. This especially has been the case as a result of the recent transition of the 2 GHz

BAS band.

B. 13 GHz Band: Use and Frequency Coordination

ABC News, the ABC Owned Television Stations and ESPN generally use the 13 GHz

BAS band for shorthaul links (temporary fixed paths or, on occasion, wireless cameras). For

example, ABC News, the ABC Owned Television Stations and ESPN may use frequencies in the

13 GHz BAS band to (i) create links from a government building to an ENG truck or satellite

vehicle, (ii) create a temporary fixed relay, or (iii) attach temporary cameras to production

vehicles. The aforementioned uses typically are implemented when cabling is not practical.

The frequency coordination process for frequencies in the 13 GHz BAS band for

temporary fixed use varies market to market. For example, in Los Angeles, the band is

extremely congested and, therefore, using this band for temporary fixed uses in Los Angeles

requires a significant amount of coordination. In New York City and Washington D.C., some

channels have been set aside for temporary fixed usage, either by creating a “home” channel plan

or by requiring users to check first with local users for specific paths. With respect to

coordination of fixed paths in the 13 GHz BAS band (STL/TSL/ICR), the existing frequency

coordination processes (via Comsearch, Micronet, etc.) works well because these private

database managers have used coordination notices to mitigate interference. Unfortunately, this

process cannot, in our view, be relied on for temporary operation in the 13 GHz band. This is

largely because there often are unknown operations or logistics requirements that are

discoverable only just prior to an event.

II. DISNEY SUPPORTS THE POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS PRESENTED BY MSTV AND NAB AS WELL AS EIBASS

As discussed above, our usage of shorthaul, longhaul and mobile links for our news and

sports operations in local and national markets is critical to our ability to cover these events in a manner that our viewers have come to expect. Because of this, Disney supports the policy recommendations contained in the MSTV/NAB Comments and the EIBASS Comments.

Specifically, as discussed in the MSTV/NAB Comments, the Commission should designate

wireless backhaul uses as secondary to BAS operations and should, in certain congested markets,

protect a portion of the 7 GHz and 13 GHz bands to ensure that no wireless backhaul operations

are licensed to operate in the set-aside portions.7 A few other proposals are discussed below.

First, because of the potential effects that a 30 MHz channel overlay would have with the

current 25 MHz wide TV BAS channels, we do not believe allowing POFS links in the 7 or 13

GHz TV BAS bands with channel widths of greater than 25 MHz is appropriate. In our view, a

30 MHz channel overlay would cause interference to existing paths and will further restrict

mobile operations.8

7 See MSTV/NAB Comments at 8. 8 Many of our stations have engineered fixed paths for contribution quality and the wider bandwidths (25 MHz) allow for a greater data rate. Reducing bandwidths would decrease bit rate throughput. In order to maintain a higher throughput, we would need to utilize advanced modulation techniques, which can impact path fade margins and link availability. To maintain high path reliability, antennas would need to be larger, which can increase tower loads and associated costs.

Second, we agree with EIBASS that the Category A or Category B Minimum standards should not be reduced because reduced standards would reduce spectrum efficiencies and increase the likelihood of interference.9 If this is allowed, smaller aperture antennas will be open

to interference from our mobile operations in the 7 GHz band, and it likely will cause excessive interference on 7 GHz and 13 GHz ENG receive sites.

III. CONCLUSION

The Walt Disney Company understands and appreciates the need to expand broadband, as

well as the need to add backhaul microwave services to support this worthy goal. However, the

BAS bands currently are extensively used to support our coverage of news and sports. We

therefore submit that the comments and proposals submitted by MSTV/NAB as well as EIBASS present appropriate ways to share this spectrum, while providing us protection and continued use of the spectrum for our operations as well.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Gary Nadler Gary Nadler General Manager Telecommunications and Affiliate Services Broadcast Operations and Engineering ABC TV Network 47 West 66th Street New York, NY 10023 (212) 456 3405

/s/ Susan L. Fox Susan L. Fox Vice President, Government Relations The Walt Disney Company 425 Third Street, S.W., Suite 1100 Washington, D.C. 20024 (202) 222-4700

November 22, 2010

9 See EIBASS Comments at 10.

Appendix A

Examples of 7 GHz and 13 GHz Usage: Select Sporting Events Covered By ESPN

Auto Racing

7 GHz BAS Spectrum. Coverage of NASCAR / Indy Racing League series runs from January through November. Venues are ovals or road courses and located in urban areas such as Long Beach, CA or rural areas such as Bristol, TN. For larger courses, up to 12 receive sites are deployed. Smaller courses usually use 2 receive sites. Combinations of omni-directional or directional sector antennas are used depending on topography. In addition, depending upon the number of in-car cameras required, ESPN may use additional 7 GHz spectrum. The transmitter’s power output is typically 250 mW. Although not preferred, the 25 MHz channel bandwidths are sliced into two 10 MHz channels when spectrum is limited. Of the 80 NASCAR and Indy Racing League events, frequencies in the 7 GHz band were used as follows:

 18 events occupied 100 MHz  16 events occupied 40 MHz  18 events occupied 80 MHz  19 events occupied 30 MHz  1 event occupied 60 MHz  2 events occupied 20 MHz  6 events occupied 50 MHz

13 GHz BAS Spectrum. Usage depends on production requirements. Usually used for temporary fixed point to point. Occasionally will be used as wireless camera and or fixed cameras.

Horseracing

7 GHz BAS Spectrum. Wireless cameras often are used in connection with ESPN’s coverage of horseracing. For example, at the Belmont Stakes in New York, ESPN used 50 MHz of 7 GHz spectrum. Coverage of the Breeders Cup in California utilized 30 MHz of 7 GHz spectrum.

13 GHz BAS Spectrum. Usage depends on production requirements. Usually used for temporary fixed point to point. Occasional will be used as wireless camera and or fixed cameras.

Monday Night Football

7 GHz BAS Spectrum. All games utilize 20 MHz of 7 GHz spectrum.

X-Games

Both the winter and summer events use many wireless cameras. To date, ESPN has used spectrum in the 1.4-2.3 GHz bands pursuant to special temporary authority (“STA”) on the 1.4- 2.3 GHz bands. If these STAs were not available, the alternative would be using both the 7 and 13 GHz bands. Average occupied bandwidth would be a combined 120 MHz.