Federal Communications Commission DA 10-449
Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of Application of 
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA - ATHLETICS
Request for Waiver of Section 90.267 to Exceed 
Maximum Antenna Height 
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FCC File No. 0003927162
ORDER
Adopted:  March 16, 2010 Released:  March 17, 2010
By the Deputy Chief, Mobility Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau:
1. This item grants a request for waiver of the antenna height limit for certain frequencies 
designated for low power use. We have before us an application filed by the University of Minnesota -
Athletics (the University) for a new base station to be located at its football stadium.1 For the reasons 
discussed herein, we grant the waiver request. 
2. Section 90.267(b)(2)(ii) of the Commission’s Rules provides that the maximum antenna 
height for low power fixed stations on Group A1 frequencies is twenty-three meters.2 The above-
captioned application seeks authorization for a new base station atop TCF Bank Stadium, at a height of 
forty meters, in order to provide effective coverage both inside and outside the stadium.3 The 
communications system will support Security, Medical, Parking, Usher, and Stadium Management staff, 
which serve over sixty thousand spectators and employees on the athletic facility grounds.4 Because one 
of the frequency pairs requested in the application is in low power pool Group A1,5 the University 
requests a waiver of Section 90.267(b)(2)(ii).  
3. To obtain a waiver of the Commission's Rules, a petitioner must demonstrate either that the 
underlying purpose of the rule(s) would not be served or would be frustrated by application to the present 
case and that grant of the waiver would be in the public interest; or that, in view of unique or unusual 
factual circumstances of the instant case, application of the rule(s) would be inequitable, unduly 
burdensome, or contrary to the public interest, or the applicant has no reasonable alternative.6 We 
conclude that the University has made the requisite showing for grant of a waiver.
4. The purpose of the antenna height limit is to reduce the possibility of harmful interference to 
  
1 FCC File No. 0003927162 (filed Aug. 7, 2009). 
2 See 47 C.F.R. § 90.267(b)(2)(ii).
3 See Letter dated July 9, 2009 from Derek Hillestad, Director of Operations, TCF Bank Stadium, University of 
Minnesota at 1.  
4 Id.
5 Specifically, 451/456.7375 MHz.  See 47 C.F.R. § 90.267(b)(4).  The University’s frequency coordinator states 
that it performed a frequency search and could find no other channels that were more suitable.
6 47 C.F.R. § 1.925(b)(3).
Federal Communications Commission DA 10-449
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neighboring licensed operators, and to maximize reuse of low power pool frequencies.7 Our engineering 
staff has analyzed the University’s application, and we conclude that the proposed facility is unlikely to 
cause harmful interference to other licensee or impede the reuse of the frequency much beyond the 
University campus.  Thus, we conclude that granting a waiver of the maximum height with respect to the 
proposed antenna will not frustrate the underlying purposes of the rule.  We also conclude that a waiver 
grant is in the public interest, because it will improve the coverage of the University’s communications 
system.8
5. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Section 4(i) of the Communications Act of 1934, 
as amended, 47 U.S.C. § 154(i), and Section 1.925 of the Commission’s Rules, 47 C.F.R. § 1.925, that the 
waiver request filed on August 7, 2009 by University of Minnesota - Athletics with respect to application 
FCC File Number 0003927162 IS GRANTED, and application FCC File No. 0003927162 SHALL BE 
PROCESSED in accordance with this Order and the Commission’s Rules.  
6. This action is taken under delegated authority pursuant to Sections 0.131 and 0.331 of the 
Commission’s Rules, 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.131, 0.331.  
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Scot Stone
Deputy Chief, Mobility Division
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau
  
7 See Amendment of Part 90 of the Commission’s Rules and Policies for Applications and Licensing of Low Power 
Operations in the Private Land Mobile Radio 450-470 MHz Band, Report and Order, WT Docket No. 01-146, 18 
FCC Rcd 3948, 3959 ¶ 24 (2003).
8 See, e.g., City of El Segundo, Order, 20 FCC Rcd 10105, 10107 ¶ 7 (WTB PSCID 2005); City of Miami Beach, 
Florida, Order, 18 FCC Rcd 2589, 2592 ¶ 10 (WTB PSPWD 2003).