Interference on the Line

In May, the Federal Communications Commission issued a comprehensive incentive auction framework order that represented a substantial step toward a successful auction. While the order resolved many open issues, it also set the stage for a series of new ones and the published list of follow-on proceedings made clear that significant work remains to be done. We recognize that the FCC has yet to adopt the final technical rules that will govern the proposed unlicensed uses in the 600 MHz band and a draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on this issue just circulated for a vote. But I must be honest; we do not, at this time, share the FCC’s confidence that unlicensed devices in the duplex gap in the configuration and at the power levels identified in the order can operate without creating interference to the adjacent licensed allocations. Indeed, at least one technical analysis has concluded that a 600 MHz LTE device would be unable to properly receive if it was within 20 meters of an adjacent unlicensed device operating at 40 mWs.