DA 99-2601

November 19, 1999

# PROCEEDING TO ADDRESS SATELLITE 

# NETWORK UNWANTED EMISSIONS

# RM-9740

Comments due: **December 20, 1999**

Reply Comments due: **January 20, 2000**

In a joint letter dated July 1, 1999, Motorola Satcom, Teledesic, and
Hughes Space and Communications Corporations requested that the Federal
Communications Commission initiate a proceeding to revise and bring
up-to-date its Rules relating to out-of-band emissions from satellite
networks. The emission limitation rules are contained in Part 25,
section 25.202 of the Commission's Rules and Regulations, and are
related to unwanted emissions (the combination of spurious and
out-of-band emissions) from satellite networks. The joint letter is
being treated as a petition for rulemaking and is part of the continuing
effort to revise and streamline our rules to ensure that they are
necessary, up-to-date, and not overly burdensome to industry.

As the joint letter indicates, section 25.202(f) of the Commission's
Rules has existed in its present form for more than twenty-five years.
This section was promulgated to accommodate earlier geostationary
satellite technologies. There have been significant changes since that
time. Higher frequencies in the spectrum are being used. Low
earth-orbiting satellite networks have been introduced. Geostationary
satellite systems are operating closer together, with higher power but
usually with different, more efficient and more directive antennas.
Broadband and significantly different modulation or frequency-use
schemes are being introduced. All of these changes impact the ability to
minimize unwanted emissions.

We note that the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), in its
ITU‑Radiocommunication working groups, has been addressing the technical
and regulatory aspects of unwanted emissions for several years. Matters
related to spurious emissions were largely agreed to at the ITU 1997
World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC), and are expected to be
further considered at the upcoming WRC 2000. However, international
negotiations on out-of-band emission limitations are in early stages of
discussions, and are expected to continue for some time into the future.

Interested parties are, therefore, invited to file comments on how the
Commission should proceed with this petition for rulemaking and the
scope of the issues to be addressed in considering unwanted emissions
from satellite networks. We also ask commenters to specifically address
the following five questions raised in the joint letter:

> 1\. Should the generic out-of-band (OOB) mask be in dBc, dBs, or PFD
> units or some combination?
>
> 2\. Should the emissions of a multi-carrier system with a wideband
> frequency allocation be treated differently than those of a system
> with a single broadband carrier?
>
> 3\. Should the mask be defined as a function of authorized bandwidth
> (FCC approach) or necessary bandwidth (ITU approach)?
>
> 4\. Should a generic mask be used for all space services allocations
> unless otherwise specified?
>
> 5\. Should the FCC Rules incorporate out-of-band values agreed in
> Recommendations of the ITU-R?

Comments filed may be used to help develop FCC recommendations for U.S.
proposals and positions for the relevant international spectrum
management meetings where out-of-band emissions are being considered.
Comments must be filed by **December 20, 1999,** and replies by
**January 20, 2000**. Comments should be furnished to the Secretary,
FCC, 445 12^th^ Street SW., Washington DC 20554, with a copy to Allen
Yang of the FCC International Bureau. Comments may be filed
electronically using the FCC Electronic Comment Filing System at web
site <http://www.fcc.gov/e-file/ecfs.html> citing the FCC Proceeding
RM-9740.

The joint letter is available for inspection and duplication between the
hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. in the Public Reference Room CY-A257 at
the Portals 2 Building, 445 12th Street SW., Washington DC 20554. The
Public Reference Room may be contacted at (202) 418-0270.

For further information regarding this Public Notice, contact Allen
Yang, 202-418-0738, or at e-mail <ayang@fcc.gov>.