Big three worry generic licensing for earth stations in motion will affect rural, remote 5G deployment

Canada’s big three telecommunications companies are worried that generic licensing for earth stations in motion (ESIMs), in certain bands, will cause interference with 5G deployment and flexible use systems, the incumbents told Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) in replies, published Monday, to a consultation on earth stations and space stations. In August, ISED launched a consultation on its proposal to implement licence fees for fixed earth stations -- to which there are currently no fees in place — and to modify existing radio licence fees for ESIMs, in an effort to simplify the licensing approach and reduce prices. ESIMs provide broadband communications on platforms in motion (airplanes, boats and moving vehicles) and communicate with satellites in geostationary orbit. ISED also proposed that generic spectrum licences -- similar blocks of spectrum not tied to specific frequencies -- would be available for various types of earth stations in specific frequency bands. Rogers Communications Inc.’s primary concern is the impact the proposal will have on “existing terrestrial fixed services (FS) and upcoming, advanced new flexible use, 5G mobile wireless services which promise to be transformative,” it wrote in its Nov. 22 reply. The incumbent recommended that ISED assess how its proposal will affect existing and future terrestrial services on a band-by-band basis. Rogers stated that a generic licensing regime on the 3700-4200 MHz band is of “particular concern” because “it will provide crucial mid-band spectrum capacity” to support 5G services and future 5G applications. BCE Inc. said ISED should only allow aeronautical and maritime ESIMs to fall under a generic licensing regime, it wrote to the department in its Nov. 22 reply. Bell originally opposed the proposal in its initial comments, along with rural broadband provider Xplornet Communications Inc., claiming it will make satellite broadband less affordable for Canadians. The incumbent noted that Luxembourg-based satellite and terrestrial telecommunications network providers SES S.A., Global VSAT Forum, and OneWeb Ltd. proposed generic authorizations for all three types of ESIMs in the 10.7-10.95 GHz and 11.2-11.45 GHz (space-to-Earth) bands “as they believe that the operation of these earth stations will not impact other co-primary services.” Telesat Corp. also recommended generic licensing for all types of ESIMs in the 17.7-18.3 GHz (space-to-Earth) band, and the 27.5 -28.35 GHz (Earth-to-space) band in rural and remote areas where 5G has not been deployed. Bell argued that those bands are primarily used for fixed services which “has international limits in place to protect FS from transmitting to space stations” and that the “mobile nature of land ESIMs could lead to potential coexistence issues with FS.” ISED initially proposed to limit generic spectrum licences to aeronautical and maritime ESIMs communicating with geostationary-satellite orbit (GSO) satellites in the 27.5-28.35 GHz band and asked for comments on whether or not it should also extend that to non-geostationary-satellite orbit (NGSO). Bell told ISED that “the 28 GHz band is expected to play a key role in 5G deployment across Canada so we recommend that the Department maintain its existing licensing approach for this band.” Telus Corp. in its initial comments told ISED that it should use a case-by-case approval process for all ESIMs operating in the 28GHz band, whether they communicate with GSO or NGSO satellites, a position which Rogers and Bell supported in their replies. “Telus recommends against generic licensing of ESIMs in the 28 GHz band at this time because of the interference risk that cannot be mitigated through coordination of unregistered devices,” it wrote in its Aug. 14 comments. “Maritime ESIMs operating in coastal areas (near ports and docks) and aeronautical ESIMs operating at low altitudes may still pose interference concerns in areas where future flexible use may be deployed.” Telus reiterated that viewpoint in its Nov. 22 reply but added that interveners who supported ISED’s proposal for maritime and aeronautical GSO ESIM services provided no technical evidence “demonstrating coexistence is feasible with terrestrial systems in Canada or with the US.” Rogers further argued, in its reply, that the 28GHz band will eventually be used for a new radio access technology for 5G mobile network (5G new radio) and the Canadian Table of Frequency Allocations prioritizes FS and mobile services over fixed satellite services (FSS) in that band. Bell also disagreed with several suggestions from interveners that ISED impose "no interference, no protection" generic licences in some bands where it would not allow certain types of generic licences. Bell said that coexistence with other services in a band must be carefully studied first and ISED should wait on the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) decision regarding usage of the 12 GHz Band. Rogers said it “strongly” agreed with Bell that incumbent fixed service licensees and licence-exempt radio local area network in the band should be protected from interference. “But we do not agree that requiring ESIMs to operate under generic licences will be adequate, since any interference cases that will arise may require an unreasonable amount of time to resolve,” Rogers wrote in its reply. -- Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca and editing by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca

Big three worry generic licensing for earth stations in motion will affect rural, remote 5G deployment

News | December 1, 2021

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Big three worry generic licensing for earth stations in motion will affect rural, remote 5G deployment

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