FCC Hosts 600 MHz Band Plan Workshop

The Federal Communications Commission hosted a public workshop May 3 as part of its LEARN program. The workshop focused on how best to structure the 600 MHz wireless band plan in the upcoming incentive auction.

In proposing a band plan, the Commission focused on five key policy goals: utility, certainty, interchangeability, quantity, and interoperability. The workshop focused on tradeoffs of elements within these goals to achieve balance. At the workshop, FCC staff moderated a highly informative discussion among stakeholders representing a wide range of interests, including television broadcasters, licensed mobile broadband providers, device and component manufacturers, and other interested parties. The discussion indicated support for many of the band plan elements proposed in our Incentive Auction NPRM. We also received valuable input regarding some of the more challenging issues associated with developing the 600 MHz band plan. In particular, we had very productive technical discussions on intermodulation and harmonics interference, mobile antenna issues, filter pass band issues, and how to accommodate technical flexibility in the band.