[ARRL-ODV:7869] Mostly good, some bad news on 2300-2305 MHz

There was both good and bad news, mostly the former, in an FCC Order released last Thursday. In it, OET dismissed three petitions concerning 2300-2305 MHz and decided to maintain the band as part of its "spectrum reserve." Two of the petitions sought the band for commercial applications; the third, filed by ARRL, sought an upgrade in the amateur allocation from secondary to primary. That the commercial petitions were dismissed is of course good news. We had argued for that outcome. That our petition (RM-10165) was also dismissed is mildly disappointing, since a status upgrade would provide some measure of protection against future commercial proposals. However, while the Order does not use the term, the dismissal of our petition is "without prejudice" in that the Commission has not decided against the upgrade but has simply put off considering the question until some future reevaluation of the spectrum reserve. Paragraph 13 of the Order reads: "Since we are dismissing the Petitions for Rulemaking from Microtrax and AeroAstro for access to this spectrum, amateur operator's weak signal communications in the 2300-2305 MHz band will be protected if the amateur allocation remains secondary. This band will remain in the Commission's reserve, and the status quo in the band will be maintained until the Commission reevaluates the spectrum reserve at some future date. At that time the Commission can address any modifications to the allocation status for the amateur service that may be appropriate. Accordingly, we are also dismissing the ARRL Petition for a primary allocation to the amateur service in the 2300-2305 MHz band." The complete text of the Order is attached. 73, Dave Sumner, K1ZZ <<Order dismissing RM-10165.doc>>
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Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ