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 NEWS  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).  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE:  NEWS  MEDIA  CONTACT:  September  8,  2006  Chelsea  Fallon:  (202)  418-  7991 
 FCC  SEEKS  COMMENT  ON  POSSIBLE  MODIFICATIONS  TO  RULES  GOVERNING  THE  700  MHz  GUARD  BAND  LICENSEES 
 Washington,  D.  C.  –  Today,  the  Federal  Communications  Commission  (FCC)  released  a  Notice  of  Proposed  Rule  Making  (Notice)  that  seeks  comment  on  possible  changes  to  the  rules 
 governing  the  licensees  in  the  Guard  Band  portions  of  the  700  MHz  spectrum  band.  The  Notice  also  seeks  comment  on  possible  changes  to  the  surrounding  upper  portions  of  the  700  MHz  band 
 plan  allocation. 
 The  Guard  Band  licensees  are  governed  by  a  unique  set  of  service  rules  that  stem  from  their  role  in  protecting  adjacent  public  safety  licensees.  Although  the  main  purpose  of  the  Guard 
 Bands  is  to  protect  public  safety  from  adjacent  commercial  operations,  the  FCC  has  also  permitted  operations  in  the  Guard  Bands  in  order  to  allow  for  effective  and  valuable  use  of  the 
 spectrum.  The  Guard  Band  licensees,  or  Guard  Band  Managers,  make  the  700  MHz  Guard  Bands  spectrum  available  either  to  system  operators  or  directly  to  end  users  in  varying  degrees  of 
 quantity,  geographic  areas,  and  duration  through  private,  written  contracts  known  as  “spectrum  user  agreements.”  Guard  Band  Managers  retain  ultimate  control  of  the  spectrum  within  the 
 scope  of  their  licenses,  and  are  responsible  for  coordinating  the  use  of  their  frequencies  with  other  Guard  Band  Managers  and  with  frequency  coordinators  in  the  adjacent  public  safety  bands. 


 In  2000  and  2001,  the  FCC  completed  two  auctions  of  Guard  Band  licenses.  According  to  existing  Guard  Band  licensees,  only  a  handful  of  systems  have  been  deployed  since  the 
 completion  of  the  auctions.  The  FCC  is  seeking  to  promote  more  efficient  and  effective  use  of  this  spectrum.  In  addition,  two  other  developments  make  this  an  appropriate  time  to  seek 
 comment  on  possible  rule  changes  for  this  spectrum.  First,  as  part  of  the  800  MHz  band  reconfiguration  proceeding  (WT  Docket  No.  02-  55),  the  FCC  reclaimed  all  of  Nextel 
 Communications,  Inc.  ’s  (Nextel)  Guard  Bands  licenses  in  2004,  which  covered  42  of  the  52  B  Block  markets.  Second,  Congress  recently  established  a  “hard  date”  of  February  17,  2009  for  the 
 completion  of  the  digital  television  (DTV)  transition.  Incumbent  analog  television  broadcasters  must  vacate  the  entire  700  MHz  band  by  this  date,  thereby  making  the  spectrum  available  for 
 commercial  wireless,  public  safety,  and  Guard  Bands  licensees. 
 Today’s  Notice  seeks  comment  on  several  service  rule  changes  that  may  provide  greater  flexibility  to  700  MHz  Guard  Bands  licensees,  while  maintaining  adequate  interference 
 protection  for  public  safety  licensees.  These  include: 
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