Today the FCC issued a Public Notice announcing the latest recommendations on WRC-03 proposals from its WRC Advisory Committee. Included in the proposals is a recommendation that mirrors the "Method 1" approach that I described in my report [ARRL-ODV:7197] on last month's meeting in Geneva of ITU-R Working Party 8A. This approach would lead in two steps to a worldwide amateur allocation of 7.0-7.3 MHz with a 250-kHz broadcasting allocation of 7.3-7.55 MHz. This is not a coincidence, of course; it is a direct result of the patient labors of our Technical Relations Office. Here is the relevant excerpt from the 56-page Public Notice. Some of the formatting may not have survived the cut-and-paste but I hope it will make sense. Please note that while this is a step forward, it does not represent either a decision by the FCC or a decision by the U.S. administration although the initial signs for FCC support are encouraging: "Based upon our initial review of the recommendations forwarded to the Commission, the International Bureau, in coordination with other Commission Bureaus and Offices, tentatively concludes that we can generally support all of the proposals recommended by the WRC-03 Advisory Committee." There is a comment window until July 12 for public comment. While the Public Notice does not express any reservations with regard to the 7-MHz proposals, it does express reservations with regard to another proposal that we have been fighting: a mobile allocation including 5650-5725 MHz for expansion of wireless LANs. This proposal is also unpopular with the Department of Defense and our support for their position has not gone unnoticed. The Public Notice goes on to state, "The FCC will consider the draft proposals and comments provided in its upcoming consultations with the U.S. Department of State and NTIA in the development of U.S. proposals to WRC-03. Once agreed by these agencies of the U.S. Government, proposals will be used by U.S. delegations at bilateral, regional and international meetings. The draft proposals attached to this Public Notice may evolve as we approach WRC-03 and during the course of interagency discussions. Therefore, they do not constitute the final national position on these issues." 73, Dave K1ZZ V. Informal Working Group 6: Public Protection and Other Issues DRAFT PROPOSAL FOR THE WORK OF THE CONFERENCE Doc. WAC/116(04.06.02) WRC-03 Agenda Item 1.23: to consider realignment of the allocations to the amateur, amateur-satellite and broadcasting services around 7 MHz on a worldwide basis, taking into account Recommendation 718 (WARC-92); ISSUE: The need for a worldwide exclusive spectrum allocation for the amateur and amateur-satellite services in the three ITU Regions. BACKGROUND: Studies in response to Recommendation 718 (WARC-92) have been ongoing in ITU-R for a number of years. The purpose of carrying out a realignment of the bands around 7 MHz is to remedy the long-standing difficulties experienced by the amateur service and the limitations placed on the broadcasting service as a result of the changes made to the frequency bands around 7 MHz at the Atlantic City WARC in 1947. Historically until the 1938 Cairo Conference the band 7 000-7 300 kHz was allocated exclusively to the amateur service. Conditions in Europe and Asia lead to the reduction to 7 000-7 150 kHz in ITU Regions 1 and 3. A final reduction to 7 000-7 100 kHz took place at WARC-59. The Region 2 allocation remained unchanged at 7 000-7 300 kHz amateur exclusive. For the amateur service, the usefulness of the allocations around 7 MHz for worldwide links is limited because only 100 kHz of spectrum between 7 000 and 7 100 kHz is common to Region 2 and Regions 1 and 3. The 7 100-7 300 kHz band is allocated exclusively to the broadcasting service in Regions 1 and 3, and exclusively to the amateur service in Region 2. Given the large disparity in signal levels between the two services, broadcasting transmissions cause interference to the sensitive receivers used in the amateur service during periods of good propagation between Regions 1 and 2. The degree of interference experienced in Region 2 varies with time-of-day, season, solar activity and distance from broadcasting stations in other regions. Prior to WARC-92, CCIR JIWP 10-6-8-9 carried out extensive studies of HF sharing including the bands around 7 MHz. Its October 1990 report, "Compatibility considerations arising from the allocation of spectrum to HF broadcasting" formed Section 5 of the CCIR Report to WARC-92. The information is still valid and was reproduced in the Report of the Director to WRC-2000 in response to Resolution 29 (WRC-97) (Attachment 1 to Document CMR-2000/5). The study concludes, inter alia, that: the sharing of frequency bands by the amateur and broadcasting services is undesirable and should be avoided, because of system incompatibility between broadcasting and amateur services Analysis of the results of studies The following factors were identified during the studies as conditioning the search for a viable solution: 1) the fixed, land mobile and amateur allocations around 7 MHz support many important national and international applications, including those with a humanitarian and disaster relief dimension, which are particularly suited to the propagation characteristics of these bands; 2) any solution requiring sharing of spectrum between amateur and broadcasting services is not desirable, since experience has shown that this is unacceptable in the long run; 3) the entire 300 kHz is required in Region 2 for the amateur service; 4) some movement in frequency of the allocation to the amateur services around 7 MHz may be acceptable; 5) a reduction of the amount of contiguous spectrum allocated to the broadcasting service in the 7 MHz band is unacceptable to broadcasters because of existing and anticipated congestion, but there is flexibility with regard to the actual location of this band; 6) attention should be given to the spectrum requirements of the land mobile service below 7 MHz; 7) spectrum allocated to the maritime mobile, aeronautical mobile (OR), and aeronautical mobile (R) services should not be considered for reallocation; 8) the band 6 765-7 000 kHz has been identified as essential for supporting fixed service operations of all types and it is not feasible to relocate certain types of operations to higher bands because of propagation considerations; 9) sharing between the amateur service and the fixed and mobile services may be possible; 10) the realignment should involve the minimum necessary shift in allocation blocks in order to limit the economic impact on users. PROPOSALS: USA/1.23/1 Stage 1 to be implemented on or before 1 April 2007 kHz 6 765-7 450 Allocation to services Region 1 Region 2 Region 3 MOD 6 7 65-7 000 FIXED Land MobileMOBILE except aeronautical mobile (R) NOC 7 000-7 100 AMATEUR AMATEUR-SATELLITE SUP 7 100-7 300 BROADCASTING 7 100-7 300 AMATEUR 7 100-7 300 BROADCASTING MOD 7 100-7 3200 AMATEUR MOD 7 1200-7 300 BROADCASTING 7 1200-7 300 AMATEUR 7 1200-7 300 BROADCASTING MOD 7 300-7 3450 BROADCASTING MOD 7 3450-8 100 FIXED Land Mobile USA/1.23/2 Stage 1 to be implemented on or before 1 April 2007 MOD 5.142 The use of the band 7 1200-7 300 kHz in Region 2 by the amateur service shall not impose constraints on the broadcasting service intended for use within Region 1 and Region 3. USA/1.23/3 Stage 2 to be implemented on or before 1 April 2010 kHz 6 765-7 550 Allocation to services Region 1 Region 2 Region 3 MOD 6 7 65-7 000 FIXED Land MobileMOBILE except aeronautical mobile (R) NOC 7 000-7 100 AMATEUR AMATEUR SATELLITE SUP 7 100-7 300 BROADCASTING 7 100-7 300 AMATEUR 7 100-7 300 BROADCASTING MOD 7 100-7 300 AMATEUR MOD 7 300-7 3550* BROADCASTING MOD 7 3550-8 100 FIXED Land Mobile USA/1.23/4 Stage 2 to be implemented on or before 1 April 2010 SUP 5.142 Reasons: Achieves global harmonization of the allocations consistent with the factors identified as conditioning the search for a viable solution. In particular, essential fixed service operations between 6 765 and 7 000 kHz are not affected, and additional flexibility is afforded to complementary mobile operations in this band. In order to reduce the impact of the changes to the broadcasting, fixed and land mobile services, this modification would be introduced over several years in two stages, as follows: Stage 1 6 765-7 000 kHz Fixed and mobile (except aeronautical mobile (R)) co-primary 7 000-7 100 kHz Amateur and amateur-satellite co-primary (NOC) 7 100-7 200 kHz Amateur primary 7 200-7 300 kHz Broadcasting primary Regions 1 and 3, amateur primary Region 2 (NOC) 7 300-7 450 kHz Broadcasting primary Stage 2 6 765-7 000 kHz Fixed and mobile (except aeronautical mobile (R)) co-primary (NOC with respect to Stage 1) 7 000-7 100 kHz Amateur and amateur-satellite co-primary (NOC) 7 100-7 300 kHz Amateur primary 7 300-7 550 kHz Broadcasting primary