Spectrum Management Operations Branch Updates RABC Quarterly Meeting

Spectrum Management Operations Branch Updates RABC Quarterly Meeting April 28, 2015 Montréal, Québec Presented by Matthew Mulvihill DOS

Decision on 3500 MHz Band (3475– 3650 MHz) New Decision released December 2014 Eligible licensees will be issued new spectrum licences with a one-year term for their entire licensed area (tier or grid) Licensees with partial deployment will be issued one year radio licences (grid cell) Returned licences issued on first-come, first-served (FCFS) basis Mobile use to begin following future consultation; licences to remain fixed -only in interim Eventual transition of incumbent FWA licensees to new band plan following a future consultation Licence renewal process is ongoing for existing licensees. 1

Decision on a Licence Renewal Process for the 24 and 38 GHz Bands Renewal Decision released December 2014 Eligible licensees will be issued a new spectrum licence for a subsequent 10 -year term based on existing links All new or modified links require a new site specific licence Deployment condition = 8 links per million pop. Partial deployment requires site specific licences for existing links FCFS site-specific licensing of available spectrum Evaluation of existing licences for renewal is ongoing as the expiry dates are staggered between January 2015 and May 2018. 2

Consultation on Changes to the Definition of Competitive and User-Defined Service Areas for Spectrum Licences Consultation released February 2015 Industry Canada is making changes to the way spectrum licence areas are generated. The new areas will use small squares, rather than the current hexagonal shape to create licence areas. This will align Canada’s spectrum management system with that of other countries, and allow us to use readily available spectrum management software instead of a more expensive customized version. To ensure licensees can continue to serve their customers with no disruptions, we plan to grandfather all existing sites, coverage and licence fees. Measures to mitigate the effects on population coverage, geographic boundaries and power flux density (PFD) are addressed in the Consultation. We are currently working to publish the Decision 3