Federal Communications Commission FCC 06-46 Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of ) ) Amendment of Parts 1, 21, 73, 74 and 101 of the ) WT Docket No. 03-66 Commission’s Rules to Facilitate the Provision of ) RM-10586 Fixed and Mobile Broadband Access, Educational ) and Other Advanced Services in the 2150-2162 ) and 2500-2690 MHz Bands ) ) Part 1 of the Commission's Rules - Further ) WT Docket No. 03-67 Competitive Bidding Procedures ) ) Amendment of Parts 21 and 74 ) MM Docket No. 97-217 to Enable Multipoint Distribution Service ) and the Instructional Television Fixed ) Service Amendment of Parts 21 and 74 to Engage ) in Fixed Two-Way Transmissions ) ) Amendment of Parts 21 and 74 ) WT Docket No. 02-68 of the Commission's Rules With Regard to ) RM-9718 Licensing in the Multipoint ) Distribution Service and in the ) Instructional Television Fixed Service for the ) Gulf of Mexico ) ) Promoting Efficient Use of Spectrum Through ) WT Docket No. 00-230 Elimination of Barriers to the Development of ) Secondary Markets ) ) Review of the Spectrum Sharing Plan Among ) IB Docket No. 02-364 Non-Geostationary Satellite Orbit Mobile Satellite ) Service Systems in the 1.6/2.4 GHz Bands ) ) Amendment of Part 2 of the Commission’s Rules ) ET Docket No. 00-258 to Allocate Spectrum Below 3 GHz for Mobile ) and Fixed Services to Support the Introduction of ) New Advanced Wireless Services, Including ) Third Generation Wireless Systems ) ORDER ON RECONSIDERATION AND FIFTH MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER AND THIRD MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER AND SECOND REPORT AND ORDER Adopted: April 12, 2006 Released: April 27, 2006 Federal Communications Commission FCC 06-46 By the Commission: Chairman Martin and Commissioner Tate issuing a joint statement; Commissioner Copps concurring and issuing a separate statement, Commissioner Adelstein concurring in part and issuing a separate statement. TABLE OF CONTENTS Heading Paragraph # I. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................. 1 II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.................................................................................................................... 3 III. BACKGROUND.................................................................................................................................... 6 A. Big LEO Order on Reconsideration and AWS 5th MO&O.............................................................. 6 rd nd B. BRS/EBS 3 MO&O and 2 R&O .................................................................................................. 9 IV. DISCUSSION ...................................................................................................................................... 20 A. Big LEO Order on Reconsideration and AWS 5th MO&O............................................................ 20 1. Relocation Policy and BRS Operators .................................................................................... 21 2. MSS and BRS Operations in the 2496-2500 MHz Band ........................................................ 27 3. Grandfathered BAS Operations............................................................................................... 35 4. Grandfathered Part 90 and Part 101 Operations...................................................................... 43 5. Industrial, Science, and Medical Operations........................................................................... 48 6. Procedural issues ..................................................................................................................... 57 rd B. BRS/EBS 3 MO&O ...................................................................................................................... 59 1. Transition ................................................................................................................................ 59 a. Transition areas................................................................................................................. 61 (i) Size............................................................................................................................. 61 (ii) Overlapping GSAs ..................................................................................................... 66 b. MVPD opt-out .................................................................................................................. 68 (i) General discussion...................................................................................................... 68 (ii) WATCH TV Waiver Request to “Opt-Out” .............................................................. 75 c. Proponents ........................................................................................................................ 85 (i) Eligibility to be a proponent....................................................................................... 86 (ii) Determining single and multiple proponents ............................................................. 88 d. Initiation Phase ................................................................................................................. 96 (i) Pre-Transition Data Requests..................................................................................... 96 (ii) Initiation Plans.......................................................................................................... 103 e. Transition Planning Phase .............................................................................................. 107 (i) Safe Harbors............................................................................................................. 108 (ii) Eligibility restrictions/channel swapping ................................................................. 120 (iii) Financial penalties in dispute resolution process ..................................................... 123 (iv) Relocation of BRS Channels No. 1 and 2 ................................................................ 127 f. Self-transitions................................................................................................................ 133 (i) Authority to self-transition ....................................................................................... 133 (ii) Implementation of self-transitions............................................................................ 136 g. Transition Completion Phase.......................................................................................... 144 (i) Replacement Downconverters.................................................................................. 145 (ii) Transition deadline................................................................................................... 148 (iii) Post-transition Notification ...................................................................................... 151 h. Transition Costs .............................................................................................................. 153 2 Federal Communications Commission FCC 06-46 (i) Proponent-driven transitions .................................................................................... 153 (ii) Cost of EBS self-transitions ..................................................................................... 173 i. Dispute resolution........................................................................................................... 177 j. Bureau Reports ............................................................................................................... 179 2. Technical issues..................................................................................................................... 181 a. Interference Protection Rules.......................................................................................... 181 (i) Receive sites............................................................................................................. 181 (ii) Adjacent channel ...................................................................................................... 184 b. Signal Strength Limits .................................................................................................... 187 c. Emission Limits .............................................................................................................. 191 (i) Documented Interference Complaint Requirement.................................................. 191 (ii) Who can file a complaint.......................................................................................... 194 (iii) Deadline for interference complaints ....................................................................... 196 (iv) User stations ............................................................................................................. 198 d. 2495-2496 MHz Guard Band ......................................................................................... 202 e. Geographic Service Areas............................................................................................... 205 f. Modifications to Geographic Area Licensing................................................................. 209 g. Unlicensed Operations.................................................................................................... 215 h. Minimum Performance Requirements for EBS receive sites.......................................... 219 i. Miscellaneous Corrections to Sections