Billing Code 3510-60-P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Telecommunications and Information
Administration
Notice,
Establishment of a Frequency Assignment Coordination Website
AGENCY:
National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S.
Department of
Commerce
ACTION: Notice
SUMMARY: The National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), as
part of an agreement with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
in its Allocations
and Service Rules for the 71-76 GHz, 81-86 GHz and 92-95 GHz Bands Report
and Order, plans
to establish a web-based coordination system to facilitate frequency
assignment coordination
between federal and non-federal operations within the 70, 80, and 90
GHz bands.
Until the
complete web-based coordination system is operational, NTIA and the
federal agencies will
continue to process private sector assignments for coordination within
14 working days of the
FCC providing those assignment requests to NTIA. Although the automated
coordination
system will not be ready for use for several months, NTIA is publicly
announcing that the
following website
http://ntiacsd.ntia.doc.gov/webcoord/status.cfm can be accessed
by non-federal applicants to determine the status of their frequency
assignment applications for these
bands at any point in time.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Karl B. Nebbia, Office of Spectrum
Management, Deputy Associate Administrator, at (202) 482-1850, or
electronic mail: knebbia@ntia.doc.gov; or
Thomas Woods, Office of Spectrum Management, Frequency
Assignment Branch Chief, at (202) 482-1132, or electronic mail:
twoods@ntia.doc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION: New technologies are making widespread beneficial
use of the 70, 80, and 90 GHz bands possible for the first time. These
bands, which are shared
between federal and non-federal users, can now be used to offer a broad
range of new products
and services, such as high-speed wireless local area networks, and to
increase access to
broadband services, including access systems for the Internet. In order to accelerate the
introduction of these technologies, NTIA and the FCC have agreed to use
an innovative web-based frequency coordination mechanism to coordinate
use between the federal and non-federal
sectors. The FCC’s recent Allocations and Service Rules Order for
the 71-76 GHz, 81-86 GHz,
and 92-95 GHz bands, set in motion the steps necessary to
implement these technologies.. The
NTIA/FCC agreement calls for the formulation of a plan for the
web-based frequency
coordination mechanism within four months of the release of the Allocations
and Service Rules
Order.
Within another four months, the
interactive system would be operational. This new
system will allow non-federal users to use a website to determine
whether they have any
potential conflict with federal users. Non-federal user applicants
will be required to input certain
information into a database. Once that information has been submitted,
it will be processed
within minutes and a determination will be made on whether or not the
applicant can move
forward in planning for their system’s operational use within those
bands of spectrum.
Until
the complete web-based system is operational, however, federal and
non-federal
users will continue to coordinate their assignments through NTIA’s
Interdepartment Radio
Advisory Committee (IRAC) Frequency Assignment Subcommittee (FAS). To
help each
applicant know the status of a particular application with respect to
its FAS review, NTIA will
provide status information at http://ntiacsd.ntia.doc.gov/webcoord/status.cfm. This
site will
identify when non-federal applications for these bands have been
submitted to the FAS, when
those applications completed federal agency review, and the final
result.
While not a part of the agreement regarding
the automated mechanism for the 70, 80, 90
GHz bands, the 21.2-23.6 GHz band is also shared between federal and
non-federal users and
presents similar coordination challenges. Accordingly, NTIA will also
provide on this website
status information regarding the processing of non-federal applications
for that band.
Dated: December 17, 2003
Kathy
D. Smith
Chief Counsel, National Telecommunications
and Information Administration