Federal Communications Commission FCC 15-50 Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of ) ) Amendment of Parts 1, 2, 15, 25, 27, 74, 78, 80, 87, ) ET Docket No. 12-338 90, 97, and 101 of the Commission’s Rules ) (Proceeding Terminated) Regarding Implementation of the Final Acts of the ) World Radiocommunication Conference ) (Geneva, 2007) (WRC-07), Other Allocation Issues, ) and Related Rule Updates ) ) Amendment of Parts 2, 15, 80, 90, 97, and 101 of the ) ET Docket No. 15-99 Commission’s Rules Regarding Implementation of ) the Final Acts of the World Radiocommunication ) Conference (Geneva, 2012)(WRC-12), Other ) Allocation Issues, and Related Rule Updates ) ) Petition for Rulemaking of Xanadoo Company and ) IB Docket 06-123 Spectrum Five LLC to Establish Rules Permitting ) Blanket Licensing of Two-Way Earth Stations With ) End-User Uplinks in the 24.75-25.05 GHz Band ) ) Petition for Rulemaking of James E. Whedbee to ) Amend Parts 2 and 97 of the Commission’s Rules to ) Create a Low Frequency Allocation for the Amateur ) Radio Service ) ) Petition for Rulemaking of ARRL to Amend Parts 2 ) and 97 of the Commission’s Rules to Create a New ) Medium-Frequency Allocation for the Amateur ) Radio Service ) REPORT AND ORDER, ORDER, AND NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING Adopted: April 23, 2015 Released: April 27, 2015 Comment Date: [60 days after date of publication in the Federal Register] Reply Comment Date: [90 days after date of publication in the Federal Register] By the Commission: TABLE OF CONTENTS Heading Paragraph # I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 1 II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................... 2 III. BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................... 5 A. Allocation Table .............................................................................................................................. 5 B. World Radiocommunication Conferences ....................................................................................... 7 IV.REPORT AND ORDER (WRC-07 R&O) ........................................................................................... 11 4183 Federal Communications Commission FCC 15-50 A. Amateur Service Use of LF and MF Bands ................................................................................... 12 1. 2200 Meter Band (135.7-137.8 kHz) ...................................................................................... 12 2. Raising the Amateur Service in the 1900-2000 kHz Band to Primary Status ......................... 30 B. Aviation Services Use of VHF, UHF, and SHF Bands ................................................................. 45 1. Aeronautical Mobile (R) Service Allocation in the 108-117.975 MHz Band ......................... 45 2. Aeronautical Mobile Service Allocation in the 5091-5150 MHz Band .................................. 51 3. Deletion of the AMT Allocations from 2310-2320 MHz and 2345-2360 MHz ..................... 62 4. Deletion of the Radionavigation Service Allocation from 24.75-25.05 GHz ......................... 66 5. Updates to Part 87 Aviation Services Rules ............................................................................ 72 C. Protecting Passive Sensors from Unwanted Emissions and In-Band Active Services .................. 75 1. Aeronautical Mobile Telemetry in the 1435-1452 MHz Sub-band ......................................... 76 2. Fixed Stations in the 10.6-10.68 GHz Band ............................................................................ 80 3. Inter-Satellite Links in the 22.55-23.55 GHz Band ................................................................. 88 4. Fixed Stations in the 31-31.3 GHz Band ................................................................................. 93 D. Other Issues .................................................................................................................................. 100 1. VHF Maritime Mobile Band (156-162 MHz) ....................................................................... 100 a. 156.2475-156.7625 MHz ................................................................................................ 101 b. Extending Automatic Identification System (AIS) Capabilities ..................................... 106 2. Additional Federal Coordination Areas in the 17.7-20.2 GHz Range ................................... 115 3. Rulemaking Proposals That Did Not Receive Any Specific Comments ............................... 124 a. Active Service Issues ...................................................................................................... 125 b. Passive Service Issues ..................................................................................................... 133 c. Other Matters .................................................................................................................. 139 V. ORDER (WRC-12 ORDER) .............................................................................................................. 141 VI.NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING (WRC-12 NOTICE) .................................................... 148 A. Issues Below 490 kHz .................................................................................................................. 149 1. Passive Systems for Lightning Detection (8.3-11.3 kHz) ..................................................... 149 2. Radio Buoys Operating in the 1900-2000 kHz Band ............................................................ 153 3. Amateur 2200 Meter (135.7-137.8 kHz) and 630 Meter (472-479 kHz) Bands ................... 159 B. Maritime Issues and Oceanographic Radars ................................................................................ 183 1. Maritime Mobile Service Use of the Frequency 500 kHz ..................................................... 183 2. Oceanographic Radar Applications in the 4-44 MHz Range ................................................ 186 3. Improved Satellite-AIS Capability ........................................................................................ 198 C. Sharing Between AMT and Incumbent Services in the 4400-4940 MHz and 5925-6700 MHz Bands ........................................................................................................................................... 206 1. 5925-6700 MHz .................................................................................................................... 211 2. 4400-4940 MHz .................................................................................................................... 219 D. Additional Aviation Services Uses in the 5000-5150 MHz Band ............................................... 222 E. Allocating the 22.55-23.15 GHz and 25.5-27 GHz Bands to the Space Research Service ......... 233 F. Passive and Weak Signal Issues .................................................................................................. 239 1. Deletion of Aeronautical Mobile Service from the 37-38 GHz Band ................................... 239 2. Protecting Passive Sensors in the 86-92 GHz Band .............................................................. 245 3. Passive Use of Bands Above 275 GHz ................................................................................. 250 G. Proposals for New Federal Government Allocations .................................................................. 255 1. Allocating the 7850-7900 MHz Band to the Meteorological-Satellite Service ..................... 255 2. Allocating the 15.4-15.7 GHz Band to the Radiolocation Service ........................................ 260 H. Other Matters ............................................................................................................................... 265 VII. PROCEDURAL MATTERS ............................................................................................................. 267 A. Report and Order ......................................................................................................................... 267 B. WRC-12 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ................................................................................... 270 1. Ex Parte ................................................................................................................................. 270 2. Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis .................................................................................. 271 3. Paperwork Reduction Act Analysis....................................................................................... 272 4184 Federal Communications Commission FCC 15-50 4. Filing Requirements .............................................................................................................. 273 VIII.ORDERING CLAUSES .................................................................................................................. 276 APPENDIX A – Glossary of Frequently Used Terms APPENDIX B – New and Renumbered Domestic Footnotes APPENDIX C – Commenters APPENDIX D – Final Rules APPENDIX E – Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis APPENDIX F – Proposed Rules APPENDIX G – Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis I. INTRODUCTION 1. By this action, we take necessary steps to implement the decisions