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 STATEMENT  OF  FCC  COMMISSIONER  MICHAEL  J.  COPPS 
 March  10,  2005 
 RE:  Wireless  Operations  in  the  3650-  3700  MHz  Band  (ET  Docket  No.  04-  151);  Wireless  Operations  in  the  3650-  3700  MHz  Band;  Additional  Spectrum  for 
 Unlicensed  Devices  Below  900  MHz  and  in  the  3  GHz  Band  (ET  Docket  No.  02-  380);  and  Amendment  of  the  Commission’s  Rules  with  Regard  to  the  3650-  3700 
 MHz  Government  Transfer  Band  (ET  Docket  No.  98-  237). 
 I’m  hopeful  that  our  actions  in  this  item  will  lay  the  groundwork  for  much  needed  new  broadband  competition  and  additional  broadband  service  to  rural  parts  of  the 
 Country.  To  encourage  this,  we  adopt  a  licensing  system  that  draws  much  of  its  inspiration  from  the  success  of  the  unlicensed  bands.  While  each  operator  will  need  an 
 FCC  license  and  will  have  to  register  fixed  facilities,  these  licenses  are  not  exclusive.  Multiple  licenses  will  be  able  to  provide  service  in  the  same  community,  competing  with 
 one  another  or  serving  different  types  of  customers.  In  this  way,  the  system  we  create  today  is  much  like  the  system  we  use  in  the  unlicensed  bands.  Entrepreneurial,  municipal 
 and  mesh  networks  can  begin  operation  without  the  heavy  financial  burden  of  an  auction  and  competition  will  not  be  limited  by  the  use  of  exclusive  licenses.  Auctions  and 
 exclusive  licenses  are  powerful  tools  that  have  given  us  great  success  in  other  bands  and  we  should  not  retreat  in  our  use  of  these  tools.  But  these  devices  do  not  always  best  serve 
 every  band,  technology,  and  business  plan,  as  the  Commission  finds  today. 
 Unlike  the  unlicensed  bands,  however,  we  allow  higher  power  use  and  establish  tools  by  which  licenses  can  avoid  or  correct  interference.  First,  each  licensee  must 
 include  technology  within  its  network  that  is  designed  to  avoid  interference.  This,  we  hope,  will  avoid  much  of  the  interference  possible  when  multiple  high  power  systems 
 operate  along  side  one  another.  Second,  each  licensee  will  know  the  location  of  each  other  licensee  because  of  the  registration  system,  reducing  the  costs  associated  with 
 identifying  potential  interference  sources  and  allowing  better  initial  system  designs.  Therefore,  while  there  is  no  first-  in-  time  interference  protection,  licensees  can  engineer 
 their  systems  to  avoid  mutually  destructive  interference  between  new  and  existing  systems.  Additionally,  every  licensee  has  the  responsibility,  when  contacted  by  another 
 licensee  asserting  that  they  are  suffering  interference,  to  work  with  them  in  good  faith  to  resolve  the  interference.  If  a  licensee  believes  another  licensee  is  intentionally  interfering 
 or  breaching  this  good  faith  responsibility,  they  can  come  to  the  FCC. 
 Importantly,  we  also  exclude  licensees  from  operations  in  areas  where  government  facilities  and  satellite  operations  are  likely  to  receive  harmful  interference. 
 Fixed  facilities  will  not  be  allowed  in  these  areas.  Mobile  devices  will  not  be  able  to  operate  when  brought  into  these  areas  because  all  mobile  equipment  must  be  able  to 
 receive  a  usable  signal  from  a  fixed  transmitter  before  itself  transmitting.  This  will  ensure  that  they  cannot  wander  into  restricted  areas.  These  restricted  areas  will 
 significantly  reduce  the  ability  for  the  3650  band  to  bring  competition  into  parts  of  the 
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 Country,  but  avoiding  harmful  interference  to  government  and  satellite  operators  is  critical.  Additionally,  satellite  and  new  terrestrial  operators  have  the  responsibility  to 
 work  in  good  faith  to  find  ways  of  allowing  new  terrestrial  use  even  in  these  restricted  areas  where  possible.  I  hope  that  this  will  result  in  some  technical  agreements  in  these 
 areas. 
 This  is  an  innovative  approach,  and  I  congratulate  OET  and  WTB  for  their  hard  work. 
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