Comments on 3GHz and 5Ghz Reallocation Due by January 18

Comments are due by January 18, 2020, in reponse to the Facilitating Shared Use in the 3.1-3.55 GHz Band (FCC 19-130) and Use of the 5.850-5.925 GHz Band (FCC 19-129) Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which will affect current Amateur Radio allocations in these bands.

All Amateur Radio Operators are encouraged to submit comments against these reallocations and in support of current Amateur operations in the bands to the FCC.

The Facilitating Shared Use in the 3.1-3.55 GHz Band NPRM proposes “to eliminate … the non-federal amateur allocation in the 3.3-3.5 GHz [as] an initial step toward potential future shared use between federal operations and flexible use commercial services, in furtherance of [the FCC’s] obligations under the MOBILE NOW Act to identify spectrum for mobile and fixed wireless use and to work with NTIA to evaluate this band for potential shared use.”¹

A discussion of the comments desired by the FCC is presented on the Future of Incumbent Non-Federal Operations section on page 5 of NPRM FCC 19-130.

The Use of the 5.850-5.925 GHz Band NPRM proposes to make spectrum available for Cellular Vehicle to Everything (C-V2X) operations as requested by the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) by by authorizing C-V2X in a 20Mhz segment of this band.

The NPRM notes “that the Amateur Service also shares the 5.9 GHz band through a secondary allocation [and proposes] that no additional rules are necessary to accommodate co-channel C-V2X use with the Amateur Service. [And the FCC proposes] that no additional rules are necessary to protect C-V2X devices from ISM operations permitted under Part 18 of our rules in the 5.850-5.875 GHz portion of the band. [The FCC seeks] comment on these proposals.”²

Comments on both of the NPRMs are due thirty (30) days after their publication in the Federal Register; their publication date was December 18, 2019. Commenters are urged to read the NPRMs before writing their comments to ensure they are effectively on-topic.

How to Comment

“Interested parties may file short comments on WT [Dockets 19-148 and 19-348] via the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing Service (Express). Visit the FCC’s How to Comment on FCC Proceedings page for information on filing extended comments”³

KA0LDG has provided sample comments in his FCC NPRM message on the Club Discussions mailing list. Please take the time to support our hobby in the face of threats to resources and activities regardless of whether or not you personally use them.

Why Bother Commenting?

First the FCC came for our allocation in the 11M band
And I did not speak out
Because 11M wasn’t harmonically related to the other HF bands

Then the FCC refused to stand up to HOAs regarding installation of effective outdoor antennas
And I did not speak out
Because I was smarter than other hams did not live under an HOA

Then the FCC came for our allocations in the 3GHz and 5GHz bands
And I did not speak out
Because data networks are useless and they are not real ham radio anyway

Then the FCC banned ARES
And I did not speak out
Because I’m only interested Contesting and Rag Chewing

Then the FCC suspended Part 97 because there’s no financial benefit to Amateur Radio
And there was no one left
To speak out for me