PUBLIC NOTICE 1 Federal Communications Commission 445 12 th St., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 1-888-835-5322 DA 15-750 Released: June 25, 2015 Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Announces Comment Dates for 3.5 GHz Second FNPRM and Upcoming Releases in GN Docket No. 12-354 GN Docket No. 12-354 On April 17, 2015, the Commission Adopted a Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (collectively, 3.5 GHz Order) 1 that established a new Citizens Broadband Radio Service in the 3550-3700 MHz band (3.5 GHz Band). 2 The 3.5 GHz Order described several additional actions that the Commission would take in this proceeding during the coming months. This public notice provides an approximate schedule for these activities. Second FNPRM Comment Deadlines. On June 15, 2015, the Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published in the Federal Register. Comments on issues raised in the Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking are due on or before July 15, 2015 and reply comments are due on or before August 14, 2015. The Report and Order was published separately on June 23, 2015. Machine Readable List of Rural Census Tracts. A machine readable list of census tracts meeting the definition of “rural” set forth in section 96.3 of the Commission’s rules was released on June 24, 2015. 3 The list is available at: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-334099A1.xlsx. Spectrum Access System (SAS)/Environmental Sensing Capability (ESC) Approval Process. Consistent with the 3.5 GHz Order, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) and the Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) will solicit proposals from prospective SAS Administrators and ESC operators and establish a process for evaluating such proposals. 4 WTB and OET will issue a public notice requesting proposals from entities interested in administering an SAS for a 5-year term. 5 The public 1 Separate portions of the 3.5 GHz Order are referenced as the Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, respectively. 2 See Amendment of the Commission's Rules with Regard to Commercial Operations in the 3550-3650 MHz Band, GN Docket No. 12-354, Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 30 FCC Rcd 3959 (2015) (3.5 GHz Order). 3 47 C.F.R. § 96.3. 4 See 3.5 GHz Order, 30 FCC Rcd at 4067, ¶¶ 369-73. 5 See id. 2notice will establish proposal submission procedures. We anticipate that this public notice will be released in the third or fourth quarter of calendar year 2015 and we will begin accepting proposals no sooner than the fourth quarter of calendar year 2015. Additional information regarding review and approval procedures for prospective SAS Administrators will be provided in the above referenced public notice. However, consistent with the 3.5 GHz Order, prospective SAS Administrators will be required to demonstrate, at a minimum, how they plan to meet the Commission’s rules governing SAS operations, demonstrate their technical qualifications to operate an SAS, and provide any additional information requested by WTB and OET. 6 Based on the information provided, WTB and OET will determine whether to conditionally accept the proposals. Any party whose proposal is conditionally accepted will then be required to demonstrate that its SAS meets all of the requirements set forth in the Commission’s rules and any other conditions that these offices deem necessary before final approval. Prospective SAS Administrators may also be required to participate in workshops and will be required to submit their SASs to WTB and OET for testing. All stages of the process, including review of proposals and system compliance testing, will be overseen by WTB and OET, in close consultation with NTIA and DoD. 7 A similar, parallel process will be used to review proposals from prospective ESC operators. These two processes may be combined if a party seeks to operate both an SAS and an ESC. We encourage prospective SAS Administrators to work in earnest toward common industry standards through multi-stakeholder fora, since this will ultimately facilitate approval of their proposals. To the extent that some of the rules require interoperability and coordination among multiple SAS providers, our review process will give consideration to proposals that incorporate common industry standards that achieve these goals. 3650-3700 MHz Grandfathered Protection Contours Public Notice. WTB will release a public notice seeking comment on an appropriate method for determining the protected contours for grandfathered 3650-3700 MHZ band licensees. 8 Consistent with the 3.5 GHz Order, only sites registered by existing licensees on or before April 17, 2015 and constructed, in service, and in compliance with the rules by April 17, 2016 will be included in the protected contours. 9 We anticipate that this public notice will be released in the third quarter of calendar year 2015. Registration Process for Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) Earth Stations.WTB will release a public notice describing the annual registration process for qualified in-band FSS earth stations. 10 We expect the public notice to be released by early 2016. Auction Comment and Procedures Public Notices. Consistent with practice in past spectrum license auctions, the Commission will determine specific final auction procedures through a public notice process. The process will be initiated by release of an Auction Comment Public Notice, which will solicit public input on final auction procedures and will include specific proposals for auction components such as minimum opening bids. Thereafter, the Auction Procedures Public Notice will specify final 6 See id. 7 See id. 8 See id. at 4077, ¶ 404. 9 See id. at 4078, ¶ 406. 10 See id. at 4046, ¶ 290. 3procedures, including dates, deadlines, and other final details of the applications and bidding processes. 11 We expect the notices to be released in 2016. NTIA Technical Report. In addition, on June 18, 2015, NTIA released a report that presents the assumptions, methods, analyses, and system characteristics used to generate the maps of the revised exclusion zones that NTIA submitted to the FCC in March. 12 The report provides a description of the technical and deployment parameters of Citizens Broadband Radio Service Devices and end user equipment, technical characteristics of federal radar systems, and the analysis methodology used to compute the distances that established the revised exclusion zones. The report also provides detailed descriptions of the propagation and clutter loss models used to predict transmission loss in a variety of scenarios and the computational methods used to predict aggregate interference power. For additional information, please contact Paul Powell, Attorney Advisor, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Mobility Division at paul.powell@fcc.gov or (202) 418-1613. To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY). 11 See id. at 4007-09, ¶¶147, 152-54. 12 See E. Drocella, J. Richards, R. Sole, F. Najmy, A. Lundy, P. McKenna, “3.5 GHz Exclusion Zone Analyses and Methodology,” NTIA Report 15-517 (June 2015), available at http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/publications/2805.aspx.