SB QST @ ARL $ARLB025   
   ARLB025 Amateur 47 GHz Allocation Avoids 5G Juggernaut in the US for   
   Now, Worldwide Defense Continues   
      
   ZCZC AG25   
   QST de W1AW   
   ARRL Bulletin 25  ARLB025   
   > From ARRL Headquarters   
   Newington CT  July 20, 2016   
   To all radio amateurs   
      
   SB QST ARL ARLB025   
   ARLB025 Amateur 47 GHz Allocation Avoids 5G Juggernaut in the US for   
   Now, Worldwide Defense Continues   
      
   There's good news regarding the future of Amateur Radio's primary allocation   
   at 47 GHz in the US. Still a test bed for point-to-point propagation   
   experimentation by dedicated enthusiasts, the 47-47.2 GHz band is among those   
   under consideration at the next World Radiocommunication Conference in 2019   
   (WRC-19) to accommodate so-called 5G wireless broadband devices. Early this   
   year, some FCC commissioners indicated they would include bands on the WRC-19   
   agenda in the Commission's "Spectrum Frontiers" 5G initiative. As the   
   Commission put it this week as it made nearly 11 gigahertz of spectrum above   
   24.25 GHz available for licensed, unlicensed, and shared use: "High-band   
   millimeter wave spectrum is key to unlocking the potential for 5G." The FCC's   
   Spectrum Frontiers included several of the bands set for consideration at   
   WRC-19, but not the 47 GHz band - although it did target 47.2-50.2 GHz.   
      
   "Maintaining the status quo in the 47-47.2 GHz band is a win for continued   
   Amateur Radio use of the band in the United States, and amateurs continue to   
   do great things there," ARRL Chief Technology Officer Brennan Price, N4QX,   
   allowed. He pointed to the new US-Canada distance record of 215 kilometers set   
   recently by radio amateurs from both countries. But, he suggested, Amateur   
   Radio could be doing more there.   
      
   Spectrum in the millimeter range has come under increasing scrutiny, because   
   the demand for greater throughput has driven demand for bandwidth - hence, the   
   greater focus on spectrum above 24.25 GHz for next-generation 5G wireless   
   broadband applications. As Price explains, it's easier to find 200 megahertz   
   of spectrum in the millimeter range than at UHF.   
      
   Price noted that radio amateurs have set up broadband networks on several   
   lower microwave bands - nearly all of them allocated to hams on a secondary   
   basis. "The 47 GHz band is allocated to the Amateur Service and the   
   Amateur-Satellite Service on a worldwide primary and exclusive basis," Price   
   pointed out. "We don't have to work around others in this space."   
      
   He suggested that Amateur Radio broadband experimenters consider and develop   
   upon the work of Ted Rappaport, N9NB - the founding director of NYU Wireless   
   at New York University's Tandon School of   
   Engineering - whose investigations have demonstrated that the millimeter waves   
   may serve next-generation broadband systems. "For a long time, millimeter   
   waves were thought to be most suitable for the point-to-point work that radio   
   amateurs perfected and continue to advance," Price said. "Ted's work indicates   
   that point-to-multipoint systems are feasible at this range, and the world has   
   taken notice."   
      
   Price stressed the need going forward for the worldwide Amateur Radio   
   community to maintain a staunch defense of all spectrum allocated to the   
   Service, as the 47 GHz band remains under consideration by other countries.   
   The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) is organizing the protective   
   effort on this and other issues as it continues to get ready for WRC-19.   
      
   NNNN   
   /EX   
      
   )\/(ark   
      
   Always Mount a Scratch Monkey   
      
   ... Chicken: The only animal you eat before it's born and after it's dead.   
   ---   
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