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 NEWS  News  media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  TTY  202  /  418-  2555  Fax-  On-  Demand  202  /  418-  2830  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  ftp.  fcc.  gov  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974). 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE:  News  Media  Contact: 
 October  12,  2000  Meribeth  McCarrick  at  (202)  418-  0654 
 e-  mail:  mmccarri@  fcc.  gov 


 FCC  ALLOCATES  ADDITIONAL  SPECTRUM  FOR  WIRELESS  SERVICES 


 Washington,  DC  –  The  Federal  Communications  Commission  has  allocated  for 
 commercial  wireless  services  50  megahertz  (MHz)  of  spectrum  transferred  from  Government  to 
 non-  Government  use  pursuant  to  provisions  of  the  Omnibus  Budget  Reconciliation  Act  of  1993 
 and  the  Balanced  Budget  Act  of  1997.  The  spectrum  is  located  in  the  3650-  3700  MHz  band  and 
 can  be  used  for  both  fixed  and  mobile  commercial  wireless  services.  The  FCC  also  proposed 
 licensing  and  service  rules  for  this  spectrum  and  seeks  comment  on  the  possibility  of  being  able 
 to  pair  this  50  MHz  of  spectrum  with  the  50  MHz  of  spectrum  available  in  the  4940-  4990  MHz 
 band.  These  actions  will  benefit  the  public  by  permitting  and  encouraging  the  introduction  of 
 new  services,  particularly  in  rural  areas. 


 Specifics  of  First  Report  and  Order  and  Second  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking: 
 In  this  action,  the  FCC  allocates  50  MHz  of  spectrum  in  the  3650-  3700  MHz  band  to  the 
 fixed  and  mobile  (base  stations)  terrestrial  services  on  a  primary  basis.  This  allocation  will 
 facilitate  the  provision  of  a  broad  range  of  services,  including  traditional  voice  telephony  and  new 
 broadband,  high-  speed,  data  and  video  services.  The  Commission  also  believes  that  this 
 allocation  will  help  foster  the  introduction  of  such  services  to  rural  areas  of  the  United  States, 
 thus  promoting  the  objectives  of  Section  706  of  the  Telecommunications  Act  of  1996  to  facilitate 
 the  rapid  deployment  of  advanced  telecommunications  services  and  technologies  to  all 
 Americans.  This  allocation  will  also  encourage  new  and  more  effective  competition  to  existing 
 wireline  local  exchange  carriers  by  providing  for  an  economical  means  to  offer  competitive  “local 
 loop”  or  “last-  mile”  facilities. 


 The  FCC  is  “grandfathering”  existing  fixed  satellite  service  ("  FSS")  earth  station  sites  in 
 this  band  and,  for  a  limited  time,  will  accept  new  applications  for  FSS  earth  stations  in  the 
 vicinity  (i.  e.  within  10  miles)  of  these  grandfathered  sites  to  operate  on  a  co-  primary  basis  in  the 
 band.  The  FCC  will  also  permit  additional  FSS  earth  station  operations  on  a  secondary  basis. 
 This  will  ensure  the  continuity  of  FSS  operations  and  permit  new  FSS  operations  to  help  alleviate 
 congestion  in  the  adjacent  3700-  4200  MHz  FSS  band.  Finally,  to  provide  for  compatibility  with 
 both  terrestrial  fixed  service  and  FSS  operations  in  the  band,  the  FCC  is  limiting  the  terrestrial 
 mobile  service  use  of  the  band  to  base  station  operations. 
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 The  Commission  also  proposes  licensing  and  service  rules  for  the  assignment  of  fixed 
 and  mobile  services  licenses  in  this  band  by  competitive  bidding.  Both  new  and  existing  FSS 
 earth  stations  will  be  subject  to  Part  25  of  the  Commission’s  rules  (the  FCC’s  satellite  service 
 rules).  Parties  who  wish  to  use  this  spectrum  for  FSS  will  have  to  comply  with  the  Part  25 
 application  and  licensing  rules.  Those  who  wish  to  provide  fixed  and  mobile  services  in  the 
 3650-  3700  MHz  band  will  be  subject  to  the  application,  licensing  and  services  rules  the  FCC 
 adopts  in  this  proceeding.  The  FCC  proposes  that  3650-  3700  MHz  licensees  who  obtain  licenses 
 pursuant  to  the  rules  it  adopts  for  fixed  and  mobile  services  and  who  subsequently  choose  to  offer 
 FSS  in  this  band  may  retain  their  3650-  3700  MHz  licenses  if  they  meet  the  proposed  FSS  build-out 
 requirement. 


 In  addition,  the  Commission  seeks  comment  on  whether  there  is  an  interest  in  being  able 
 to  pair  the  3650-  3700  MHz  band  with  the  4940-  4990  MHz  band  and,  if  so,  what  actions  the 
 Commission  can  take  to  facilitate  this  pairing.  Both  bands  are  Federal  Government  transfer 
 bands  and  both  bands  are  composed  of  50  MHz  of  spectrum.  The  Commission  has  allocated  the 
 3650-  3700  MHz  band  to  the  fixed  and  mobile  services  and,  earlier  this  year,  the  Commission 
 proposed  to  allocate  the  4940-  4990  MHz  band  to  these  same  services.  The  Commission  also 
 proposes  that  the  bands  be  similarly  licensed.  The  Commission  seeks  to  develop  a  record  on 
 whether  technical  requirements  or  other  reasons  justify  licensing  the  two  bands  at  the  same  time. 


 Action  by  the  Commission  on  October  12,  2000  by  First  Report  and  Order  and  Second  Notice  of 
 Proposed  Rulemaking  (FCC  00-  363).  Chairman  Kennard,  Commissioners  Ness,  Furchtgott-  Roth, 
 Powell,  and  Tristani. 


 Contacts:  Rodney  Conway  (Office  of  Engineering  and  Technology)  at  (202)  418-  2904,  e-  mail: 
 rconway@  fcc.  gov  or  Eli  Johnson  (Wireless  Bureau)  at  (202)  418-  1310,  e-  mail: 
 ejohnson@  fcc.  gov. 


 ET  Docket  No.  98-  237 
 WT  Docket  No.  00-  32 
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