TelecomLive April 2024

37-43.5 GHz bands www.telecomlive.com 72 TelecomLIVE April 2024 37.5–40 GHz and 42.5–43.5 GH z s p e c t r um b a n d s relating to: i. Upfront payment ii. Moratoriumperiod iii. T o t a l n u m b e r o f instalments to recover deferred payments iv. Rate of discount in respect of deferred payment and prepay- ment taking weighted mean etc. should be followed? 18. Wh a t r a t i o s h o u l d b e adopted between the reserve price for the auction and the valuation of the spectrum in these spectrum bands and why? 19. What should the payment t e rms a n d a s s o c i a t e d conditions for the assign- men t o f 37–37 . 5 GHz , approach/ method should be used. 17. In case your response to the above question is negative, will it be appropriate to take t h e a v e r a g e v a l u a t i on ( s i mp l e me a n ) o f t h e valuations obtained through the different approaches attempted for valuation of a particular spectrumband, or some other approach like International scenario ISED is deferring the develop- ment of a band plan in the 37- 37.6 GHz frequency band to a later date. Only TDD systems will be permitted.” In June 2022, ISED published a consultation paper on a Policy and Licensing Framework for Spectrum in the 26, 28 and 38 GHz Bands for the auction of millimetre wave (mmWave) spectrum licences in the bands 26.5-27.5 GHz (26 GHz band), 27.5-28.35 GHz (28 GHz band), and 37.6-40.0 GHz (38 GHz band). OFCOM, UK The Office of Communications (OFCOM), UK through a state- ment on 'Enabling mmWave spectrum for newuses' in Septem- ber 2023 has decided (i) to make 40.5-43.5 GHz band (40 GHz band) available for auctioned aggregated citywide Spectrum Access licences covering 68 designated High Density areas, w h e r e h i g h e s t v o l ume o f mmW a v e d e p l o y m e n t i s expected, and (ii) in the rest of the country, to make the whole band available for local first come, first served licences from June 2028, using Shared Access licensing framework. In UK, there are three existing licensees in the 40 GHz band which hold block assigned national licenses to provide fixed services. OFCOM has completed the statutory process for revoking existing licenses in the 40 GHz bandwith effect from01.06.2028. licenses. The auction offered Upper Microwave Flexible Use Service (UMFUS) licenses for all available spectrum in the Upper 37 GHz (37.6–38.6 GHz), 39 GHz (38.6–40 GHz) and 47 GHz (47.2–48.2 GHz) bands. The services provided by UMFUS licensees are limited only by the Fixed, Mobile and co-primary Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) and Federal use designation of the spectrum allocated for UMFUS and the services rules adopted for those specific frequency bands. ISED, Canada In year 2019, the Innovation, Science and Economic Develop- ment (ISED), Canada in its decision on 'Releasing Millimetre Wave Spectrum to Support 5G' adopted a band plan consisting of 24 unpaired 100 MHz blocks for the 37.6-40.0 GHz band. Through the said decision, ISED men- tioned, inter-alia, as below: “ISED is adopting a flexible use licensing model for fixed and mobile services in the 37-40 GHz frequency band. Under this model, a licensee would be permitted to deploy mobile, fixed or a combination of both services using a single spec- trum licence. These bands will continue to be shared with other co-primary satellite services, as per the Canadian Table of Frequency Alloca- tions. ISED is adopting a band plan consisting of 24 unpaired 100 MHz blocks (…) for the frequency band 37.6-40 GHz. It has been observed that only Federal Communication Com- mission (FCC), USA has auc- tioned spectrum in these fre- quency ranges so far. Innovation, Science and Economic Develop- me n t ( I SED ) , Ca n a d a h a s released a consultation paper and OFCOM, UK has issued a state- ment after due consultation process. The details of these developments are given below: FCC, USA In May 2019, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), USA decided to permit non-Federal fixed and mobile terrestrial operation throughout 37 GHz band (37.0 GHz-38.6 GHz). It divided the band into two segments - Lower 37 GHz band (37.0–37.6 GHz) and Upper 37 GHz band (37.6-38.6 GHz). The Lower 37 GHz band is available for coordinated co-primary sharing between Federal and non- Federal users, while Upper 37 GHz band is licensed geographi- cally by Partial Economic Areas (PEA) ba s i s . Fur t he r , FCC established coordination zones for 37 GHz band for military sites and scientific sites identified by National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). In 2020 , FCC conc l uded auction (Auction 103) of Upper 37 GHz Band (37.6-38.6 GHz), 39 GHz Band (38.6-40 GHz) and 47 GHz band (47.2-48.2 GHz) in the blocks of 100 MHz each. In this auction, 28 bidders won 14,142