The FCC is looking closely at certain satellite ‘guard bands’ which separate designated key frequencies in order to avoid unwanted interference. These bands are frequently used for TT&C, the jargon for Telemetry, Tracking and Command of satellites in orbit.

The FCC issued one of its Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on March 5th asking stakeholders for comments on how this spectrum could be reused and in particular focusing on the 2320-2345 MHz frequencies. The FCC titled its documents: Spectrum Abundance for Weird Space Stuff.

“America’s leadership in space relies on predictable spectrum resources. Whether we’re talking about repairing a satellite in orbit or creating pharmaceutical solutions to our health care challenges in a space lab, these very real ventures will require very real resources, including secure radio signals for control and basic operations. Today’s proposal is the first step toward the spectrum abundance needed to give America’s space activities the predictable spectrum environment they need to thrive,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in a statement.

For example, AT&T has rights to the 2320-2345 MHz frequencies which are considered something of a dead zone and unable to be exploited by AT&T because of the FCC’s own strict rules on cross-band interference, and in this case designed to protect transmissions from North American pay-radio operator SiriusXM to vehicle radios. The frequencies under examination are licensed to SDARS-users, the term of satellite radio transmissions and TT&C control of the satellite radio craft.

“Within the 2320-2345 MHz band, SiriusXM operates a network of terrestrial repeaters in the center portion of each of the two 12.5 megahertz assigned to Sirius and XM (2320.0-2332.5 MHz and 2332.5-2345 MHz).91 Because a direct line of sight is generally required to receive an acceptable satellite signal, ground-based terrestrial repeaters are used in many areas to re-transmit the same signals provided,” said the FCC.

The FCC’s thinking is that – subject to the NPRM being adopted – then SiriusXM could become the licensee of the bandwidth and could then sub-let the frequencies to US Agencies such as the Dept. of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management Agency or similar bodies. The frequencies would be one-way, that is from the satellites to the Earth below and used for emergency communications including transmissions to smart phones.

The FCC already allows AT&T to access the spectrum for satellite-based emergency services (via an Order dated November 25th 2024).

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Categories: Blogs, Inside Satellite, Regulation, Satellite, Spectrum

Tags: FCC, siriusXM, spectrum