FierceWireless

November 17, 2015

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) launched a new online portal that lets carriers and federal agencies coordinate spectrum use in the 1695-1710 MHz band, one of three bands recently made available in the AWS-3 spectrum auction. The new NTIA portal fulfills an important requirement to enable sharing in the 1695-1710 MHz portion of the band.

Although many federal incumbent users will eventually relocate out of the AWS-3 bands, NTIA noted that relocation is not feasible for agencies that operate meteorological satellite Earth stations in the 1695-1710 MHz band. To make this band available for sharing, the FCC came up with rules that require carriers to successfully coordinate with federal incumbents prior to operating in certain geographic areas (or coordination zones) around these stations, which will continue to operate indefinitely. Two designated entities, in which Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH) has an 85 percent economic stake, won the bulk of the licenses in the 1695-1710 MHz band.