Federal Communications Commission Fights Meteorologists Again

Artistic rendering of a NOAA meteorological satellite

Meteorologists and other experts urge the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to abandon the spectrum sharing plan, which, they say, may interfere with the transmission of satellite weather images. Experts say that data transmission over meteorological satellites is under threat due to the FCC plan.
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The controversy concerns the frequency range of 1,675–1,680 MHz, which is shared by NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the US Navy.


The American Geophysical Union (AGU), the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and the National Meteorological Association (NWA) stated to the FCC last week that its plan for the frequency band 1 675–1 680 MHz should be canceled due to the “likelihood of interference with meteorological satellite imagery” and relayed environmental data to antennas intended only for reception, which are used by representatives of American enterprises in the field of weather, water and climate ”.

The band 1675–1680 MHz is used today by NOAA for government-owned satellites that transmit data to terrestrial antennas, but the FCC, led by Ajit Pay, has proposed rules that will force federal government users to use the frequency spectrum with wireless broadband services. The FCC is targeting the band 1 675–1 680 MHz in part because it is close to the band 1 670–1 675 MHz, which is already allocated to wireless services.

Spectrum redeployment is necessary so that “national wireless networks will keep up with the ever-growing demand for wireless broadband,” the FCC says. On June 22, 2019, the Federal Communications Commission notified the media of its plans. If the FCC finally approves the plan, an auction will be opened to sell licenses in the range of 1,675–1,680 MHz to wireless network operators.

Successor LightSquared wants spectrum

The main supporter of the FCC plan in the area of ​​1,675–1,680 MHz is Ligado, formerly known as LightSquared, which failed to obtain government permission to create a 4G-LTE network in another spectrum in 2012, because testing has shown that the network will interfere with GPS devices. Now Ligado is trying to build a 5G network.

Ligado requested the FCC to open the spectrum of 1,675–1,680 MHz for sharing in 2012 and made 10 applications in April to support the current FCC plan. Ligado is already leasing access to adjacent 1670–1675 MHz, which it can combine from 1 675–1 680 MHz to obtain a 10 MHz continuous spectrum band. Ligado argues that there is no cause for concern about interference with the transmission of data from the weather satellite.

The FCC spectrum plan is also supported by CTIA, a wireless lobby group that represents AT & T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint.

In addition, Ligado this week also asked the FCC to decide on a license in December 2015 to change the license, which would allow it to use the 1526-1536 MHz band with limited power levels to protect GPS devices. Including other bands, Ligado aims to build a 5G network with a 40 MHz bandwidth.

Boeing and AccuWeather express concern

Boeing, a frequent government contractor, explained in the application that the spectrum of 1,675–1,680 MHz is “used by the FAA, NASA, NOAA, the National Meteorological Service, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Agriculture in order to receive real-time data from the transmitting channels environments (“GOES”), which include weather and hydrological (ie, flood) information. ”

There are also many users who “manage unregistered earth stations intended only for receiving, for receiving weather and flood data from GOES, including users in the aviation industry, state and local authorities, as well as sending for environmental monitoring, operational planning and disaster preparedness. Boeing said it uses the spectrum "for communications, including flight tests of airplanes manufactured for the US government, and for developing wireless communications equipment for both commercial and government use."

Internet system may be less reliable

A request from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for public participation asked whether it was possible to use the “existing content delivery system via the Internet or a private network” instead of the existing system to make GOES data accessible without using earth stations.

Boeing replied that “the Internet does not provide real-time GOES data reception” and that its speed and reliability may be incompatible during times of disasters.

AccuWeather also stated in an FCC statement that the current satellite system "was designed with a 99.988% uptime for a 30-day period, leaving only 5 minutes of downtime per month for idle time." Internet services do not necessarily provide the same level of uptime, "especially during natural disasters," the company said.

“After Hurricane Michael, which hit the Gulf Coast in 2018, many fiber optic lines were cut, and large operators had to deploy mobile towers to support Internet functionality during this“ unprecedented ”downtime,” FCC told AccuWeather. “It was at this time that satellite data is most needed, and GRB [GOES Rebroadcast] requires a small infrastructure, relying only on the cable connecting the satellite dish to the data center. Even if there was a private Internet network or fiber used by a CDN, they could become unsuitable for use in the event of a natural disaster, such as Michael. The GRB system also has a lower delay, AccuWeather said.

AccuWeather is skeptical that the FCC can prevent interference by setting power limits on broadband networks in the range of 1 675–1 680 MHz. According to AccuWeather, when transmitting data from a satellite, “the power of a transmission line is much weaker than that used by a wireless network, and it could be completely overloaded.”

The American Weather and Climate Industry Association (AWCIA), a trade team for weather specialists, argued that “radio frequency interference that can be generated from strong ground transmission lines that have the same spectrum as relatively weak signals from GOES in space, will have a devastating effect on our members.

According to AWCIA, during severe storms and natural disasters, cellular and other broadband networks are "often taxed to the maximum." In contrast, the existing systems for receiving satellite GOES data “are always present and have very little infrastructure that can be damaged in stressful conditions,” the group said.

Spectrum "under threat"

NOAA has not yet filed a protest with the FCC. But a Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) document from February 2018 describes a joint study conducted by FDOT and NOAA, and says that the weather-related applications of the 1675-1680 MHz spectrum are “under threat” from signals from neighboring bands.

The spectrum used for GOES has already been "reduced by more than half compared to 20 years earlier," and "the spectrum on both sides of the transmission line GOES is now used for cellular communications," the FDOT document says.

Ligado’s spectrum plan “will only protect a limited number of federal earth stations,” and “no non-federal earth stations will be protected,” the document also says.

“If Ligado is allowed to share the spectrum at a frequency of 1 675–1 680 MHz, there is a high probability that the earth station’s performance will be adversely affected,” the statement said.

NOAA is currently conducting research on how spectrum sharing can affect meteorological services, the American Geophysical Union, the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association said in a statement. The groups urged the FCC to wait until the study was completed before taking any action.