Modernizing Spectrum Sharing for Satellite Broadband

Summary

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission or we) adopts a Report and Order (Order) that revises the spectrum sharing framework for Geostationary Orbit (GSO) and Non- Geostationary Orbit (NGSO) systems that currently relies on NGSO systems complying with Equivalent Power Flux Density (EPFD) limits developed in the late-1990s. The consequence today of applying such EPFD limits in the United States is that operators must overprotect GSO systems, which in turn means that American households and businesses-- most critically in rural and remote areas--do not receive the fastest space-based NGSO satellite broadband American innovation has available. Based on the technical record in this proceeding, the Order replaces the EPFD framework with modern, performance-based GSO protection criteria. The Order extends the Commission's framework for good-faith coordination and allow NGSO and GSO operators to bargain for appropriate interference protections through voluntary, private agreement. The Order further adopts technical backstops to protect GSO systems when coordination has not been reached.