<html><head></head><body><div class="yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><div><div><br></div></div><div id="ydpe5540f5ayahoo_quoted_3040502859" class="ydpe5540f5ayahoo_quoted"><div style="font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:#26282a;"><div><div id="ydp23457e5eyahoo_quoted_3110137512" class="ydp23457e5eyahoo_quoted"><div style="font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:#26282a;"><div><div id="ydp23457e5eyiv9224945565"><div style="font-size:12pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;color:black;"><div id="ydp23457e5eyiv9224945565"><div><div style="font-size:12pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;color:black;"><div id="ydp23457e5eyiv9224945565"><div><div style="font-size:12pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;color:black;"><div class="ydp23457e5eyiv9224945565yqt8443869393" id="ydp23457e5eyiv9224945565yqt17063"><div class="ydp23457e5eyiv9224945565yqt6907607138" id="ydp23457e5eyiv9224945565yqt21332"><div style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10pt;color:black;">-----Original Message-----<br clear="none">From: ARRL Web site <memberlist@www.arrl.org><br clear="none">To: <br clear="none">Sent: Thu, Oct 8, 2020 11:11 am<br clear="none">Subject: ARLB028 FCC Orders Amateur Access to 3.5 GHz Band to "Sunset"<br clear="none"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">SB QST @ ARL $ARLB028<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">ARLB028 FCC Orders Amateur Access to 3.5 GHz Band to "Sunset"<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">ZCZC AG28<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">QST de W1AW <br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">ARRL Bulletin 28 ARLB028<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">From ARRL Headquarters <br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">Newington CT October 8, 2020<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">To all radio amateurs <br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">SB QST ARL ARLB028<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">ARLB028 FCC Orders Amateur Access to 3.5 GHz Band to "Sunset"<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">Despite vigorous and continuing opposition from ARRL and others, the<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">FCC has ordered the "sunsetting" of the 3.3 - 3.5-GHz amateur radio<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">secondary spectrum allocation. The decision allows current amateur<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">activity on the band to continue, "grandfathering" the amateur<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">operations subject to a later decision. The FCC proposed two<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">deadlines for amateur operations to cease on the band. The first<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">would apply to the 3.4 - 3.5 GHz segment, the second to 3.3 - 3.4<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">GHz. The FCC will establish the dates once it reviews additional<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">comments.<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">"We adopt our proposal from the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">remove the amateur allocation from the 3.3 - 3.5 GHz band," the FCC<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">said in its R&O. "[W]e adopt changes to our rules today that provide<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">for the sunset of the secondary amateur allocation in the band, but<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">allow continued use of the band for amateur operations, pending<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">resolution of the issues raised in the Further Notice."<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">The Report and Order (R&O) and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">in WT Docket No. 19-348 adopted on September 30 followed a 2019 FCC<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in which the FCC proposed<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">re-allocating 3.45 - 3.55 GHz for "flexible-use service" and<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">auctioning the desirable "mid-band" spectrum (generally defined as<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">between 1 GHz and 6 GHz) to 5G providers. These and other recent<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">spectrum-repurposing actions stem from the MOBILE NOW Act, enacted<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">in 2018, in which Congress directed the Commission to make<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">additional spectrum available to auction for mobile and fixed<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">wireless broadband. The FCC action is consistent with worldwide<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">allocations adopted by the ITU for these frequencies.<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">The Report and Order can be found online in PDF format at,<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr"><a shape="rect" href="https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/1002214202488/FCC-20-138A1.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/1002214202488/FCC-20-138A1.pdf </a>.<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">In the run-up to the Commission's decision, ARRL met with the FCC's<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">professional staff to explain its concerns and to answer questions.<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">Subsequently, ARRL met with the wireless advisors to the FCC<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">Chairman and two Commissioners. In those meetings, ARRL reiterated<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">that continued secondary status for amateurs will not impair or<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">devalue use of this spectrum by the primary licensees intending to<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">provide 5G or other service. ARRL noted amateur radio's long history<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">of successful coexistence with primary users of the 9 cm band,<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">sharing this spectrum with the federal government users and<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">secondary, non-federal occupants.<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">ARRL pointed out that vital links in amateur television and amateur<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">radio high-speed mesh networks using the band have been especially<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">valuable during such emergency situations as the wildfires currently<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">raging on the west coast. Deleting the amateur secondary allocation<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">will result in lost opportunities for experimentation and public<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">service with no public interest benefit to make up for that.<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">ARRL argued that deleting the secondary allocation would waste the<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">scarce spectrum resource, particularly in areas where commercial<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">services often do not construct full facilities due to small<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">populations. The FCC action means that amateur radio will lose<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">access to the 3.5-GHz secondary allocation even where commercial<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">operations do not exist. ARRL told the Commission that it should not<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">intentionally allow this spectrum to be vacant and unused, wasting<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">the public resource, when amateurs can use some portion of it in<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">many geographic areas with no detriment to any other licensee, just<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">as it has in the past. ARRL argues that amateur operations should be<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">permitted until and unless an actual potential for interference<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">exists.<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">Deletion of the 3.3 - 3.5 GHz secondary amateur allocation will<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">become effective on the effective date of the FCC's order, but<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">amateur radio operation as of that date may continue while the FCC<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">finalizes rules to license spectrum in the 3.45 - 3.55 GHz band and<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">establishes deadlines for amateur operations to cease. The FCC<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">proposed allowing amateur operation in the 3.3 - 3.4 GHz portion of<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">the band to continue "pending further decisions about the future of<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">this portion of the spectrum," the timing for which is unknown. The<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">Commission proposed to mandate that operations cease in the 3.4 -<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">3.5 GHz portion when commercial licensing commences for the new 3.45<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">- 3.55 GHz "5G" band, which is predicted to begin in the first half<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">of 2022.<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">"[W]e seek comment on whether it is in the public interest to sunset<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">amateur use in the 3.3 - 3.55 GHz band in two separate phases, e.g.,<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">first above 3.4 GHz, which is the focus of [the R&O] and later in<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">that portion of the band below 3.4 GHz," the FCC said.<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">ARRL expressed gratitude to the many members and organizations that<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">joined ARRL in challenging the FCC throughout this nearly year-long<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">proceeding. They included multiple radio clubs, weak signal<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">enthusiasts, moonbounce participants, and the Amateur Radio<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">Emergency Data Network (AREDN), the Amateur Television Network<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">(ATN), AMSAT, and Open Research Institute (ORI).<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">ARRL will continue its efforts to preserve secondary amateur radio<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">access to 3.3 - 3.5 GHz. Members are invited to share comments by<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">visiting <a shape="rect" href="http://www.arrl.org/3-GHz-Band" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.arrl.org/3-GHz-Band </a>.<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">"We recognize that any loss of our privileges will most directly<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">impact radio amateurs who use the frequencies to operate and<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">innovate," said ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR. "Such instances<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">only embolden ARRL's role to protect and advocate for the Amateur<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">Radio Service and Amateur Satellite Service. There will be continued<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">threats to our spectrum. So I urge all amateurs, now more than ever,<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">to strengthen our hold by being ceaseless in our public service,<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">experimenting, and discovery throughout the radio spectrum."<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">NNNN<br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">/EX<br clear="none"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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