Federal Communications Commission DA 24-121 DA 24-121 Released: February 8, 2024 WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS BUREAU AND OFFICE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY ANNOUNCE THE APPROVAL AND REGISTRATION OF ADDITIONAL AND MODIFIED ENVIRONMENTAL SENSING CAPABILITY SENSORS FOR THE 3.5 GHZ BAND GN Docket No. 15-319 With this Public Notice, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) and the Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) (collectively, WTB/OET) of the Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) approve new and modified Environmental Sensing Capability (ESC) sensor deployment and coverage plans (ESC Sensor Registrations) for CommScope Inc. (CommScope), CommScope in October 2018 announced that Google and CommScope had entered into a partnership to operate an ESC. Press Release, CommScope, CommScope and Google Team Up to Drive CBRS Forward (Oct. 18, 2018), https://www.commscope.com/NewsCenter/PressReleases/CommScope-and-Google-Team-Up-to-Drive-CBRS-Forward/. Federated Wireless, Inc. (Federated Wireless), and Google LLC (Google). CommScope, Federated Wireless, and Google are approved ESC operators. Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology Announce the Approval of Environmental Sensing Capabilities for the 3.5 GHz Band, GN Docket No. 15-319, Public Notice, 34 FCC Rcd 2792 (WTB/OET 2019) (2019 ESC Operator Approval Public Notice). WTB/OET have established procedures for submitting ESC Sensor Registrations for approval. See Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology Establish Procedure for Registering Environmental Sensing Capability Sensors, GN Docket No. 15-319, Public Notice, 33 FCC Rcd 10016 (WTB/OET 2018) (ESC Sensor Registration Public Notice); Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology Announce the Approval and Registration of Additional Environmental Sensing Capability Sensors of ESC Operators for the 3.5 GHz Band, GN Docket No. 15-319, Public Notice, 34 FCC Rcd 11048, 11050 (WTB/OET 2019) (November 2019 ESC Sensor Registration Public Notice). CommScope, Federated Wireless, and Google submitted ESC Sensor Registrations to WTB/OET consistent with the process described in the ESC Sensor Registration Public Notice, as updated in the November 2019 ESC Sensor Registration Public Notice and requested confidentiality. See Letter from H. Mark Gibson, Director, Regulatory Policy, CommScope, to Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary, FCC, GN Docket No. 15-319 (filed September 8, 2023), https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/109081305402209/1 (filing jointly on behalf of CommScope and Google, pursuant to their partnership); Letter from Jennifer M. McCarthy, Vice President, Legal Advocacy, Federated Wireless, Inc. to Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary, FCC, GN Docket No. 15-319 (filed November 8, 2023), https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/1109996618686/1. WTB/OET, in close consultation with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Department of Defense (DoD), have reviewed and approved the new and updated ESC Sensor Registrations, which sufficiently describe the proposed coverage for the dynamic protection areas (DPAs) DPAs are pre-defined protection areas that extend beyond the coastline or that enclose a protected terrestrial radar facility, which may be activated or deactivated as necessary to protect DoD radar systems. Promoting Investment in the 3550-3700 MHz Band, GN Docket No. 17-258, Order, 33 FCC Rcd 4987 (WTB/OET 2018). NTIA depicts the DPAs in Attachment A of a letter sent by Paige R. Atkins, NTIA, to Julius P. Knapp and Donald K. Stockdale Jr. of the FCC on May 17, 2018. This letter and the specific coordinates for the DPAs are available at https://www.ntia.doc.gov/fcc-filing/2015/ntia-letter-fcc-commercial-operations-3550-3650-mhz-band. listed below. CommScope, Federated Wireless, and Google are authorized to operate their ESC sensors consistent with the information—including sensor locations, configuration, and DPA coverage—submitted to, and approved by, WTB/OET. 2019 ESC Operator Approval Public Notice, 34 FCC Rcd at 2794, para. 5 (citing ESC Sensor Registration Public Notice, 33 FCC Rcd at 10016); see also 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 at 4070-71, para. 386 (2015 Report and Order and 2015 FNPRM, respectively). In addition, each ESC operator must operate in conjunction with at least one Spectrum Access System (SAS) that has been approved for commercial deployment by the Commission. 2019 ESC Operator Approval Public Notice, 34 FCC Rcd at 2794, para. 5 (citing ESC Sensor Registration Public Notice, 33 FCC Rcd at 10016). Before providing commercial service for any given DPA, each ESC operator must file a notification in GN Docket No. 15-319, which must affirm that the approved sensors covering the DPA are constructed and operational and must list the approved SASs with which the ESC is communicating. CommScope and Google have satisfied the sensor coverage requirements for the following DPAs: · Hawaii 1 through 9 and Pearl Harbor. The DPAs around Hawaii will be protected by a portal-based scheduling solution through June 30, 2024.  After that time, these DPAs will be protected by ESC sensors, including those approved herein. Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology Announce Temporary and Portal-Based Protections for Federal Operations in and Around Hawaii, GN Docket Nos. 17-258 and 15-319, Public Notice, DA 23-894 (WTB/OET 2023). Federated has satisfied the sensor coverage requirements for the following DPA: · East 24 CommScope, Federated Wireless, and Google are permitted to update their ESC Sensor Registrations at any time in accordance with the process established in the ESC Sensor Registration Public Notice, and they must provide updates on an ongoing basis if any changes are made to the parameters of their approved ESC sensor deployments. WTB/OET will continue to approve ESC Sensor Registrations on a rolling basis as described in the ESC Sensor Registration Public Notice. ESC Sensor Registration Public Notice, 33 FCC Rcd at 10017. We remind ESC operators that, going forward, they must file ESC Sensor Registrations and any supplements with the Commission using the Commission’s Electronic Comment Filing System. November 2019 ESC Sensor Registration Public Notice, 34 FCC Rcd at 11050. See Electronic Filing of Documents in Rulemaking Proceedings, 63 FR 24121 (1998). ESC operators may request confidential treatment of information contained in their filings consistent with section 0.459 of the Commission’s rules. See 47 CFR § 0.459. All such filings should refer to GN Docket 15-319. These modified procedural requirements supersede those set forth in the ESC Sensor Registration Public Notice. ESC Sensor Registration Public Notice, 33 FCC Rcd at 10018. By the Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, and the Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology. - FCC - 2 FCC Privileged and Confidential Pre-Decisional Draft – Federal Government Use Only