AT&T and Sirius XM are asking the FCC to adopt new rules that the two companies say would limit interference between Satellite Digital Audio Radio Services (SDARS) and Wireless Communications Services (WCS), both of which have been operating for the past 15 years in the 2.3 GHz band.
The FCC had previously offered rules governing the 2.3 GHz band, but Sirius and other SDARS providers had felt there was room for improvement as they look toward possible complications from the coming rollout of LTE. AT&T and Sirius have proposed a number of rules that they hope will allow for the smooth running of satellite radio services and LTE within the band.
Specifically, the new rules provide for everything from the prohibition of mobile transmitters in the WCS C- and D-blocks to AT&T’s separate proposal to extend the build-out deadlines to permit the deployment of LTE equipment.
Sirius said in a FCC filing that it will support an extension to build-out requirements upon adoption of the proposed rules, as they are intended to promote the development of mobile broadband in the WCS band in a manner least likely to cause harmful interference to SDARS receivers.
The rules also define what would be considered “harmful interference to SDARS operations.”
The companies are pitching the proposed rules as a compromise from both sides.
“The WCS licensees will not get quite as much flexibility as they had hoped, and SDARS operations may not be quite as immune from interference as Sirius XM had wanted,” the filing states. “However, both AT&T and Sirius XM are confident that they have developed a set of technical rules that, if adopted in total, will allow each service to flourish while ending the uncertainty that has plagued both for far too long.”
The full report, with a detailed explanation of all of the proposed rules, can be found here.