Federal Communications Commission.
Proposed rule.
In this document, the Commission initiated a process to further its ongoing commitment to addressing America's growing demand for wireless broadband services, spur ongoing innovation and investment in mobile and ensure that America keeps pace with the global wireless revolution, by making a significant amount of new spectrum available for broadband. The approach proposed is consistent with the goal set forth in the
Comments must be filed on or before March 18, 2011, and reply comments must be filed on or before April 18, 2011.
You may submit comments, identified by ET Docket No. 10–235, by any of the following methods:
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For detailed instructions for submitting comments and additional information on the rulemaking process, see the
Alan Stillwell, Office of Engineering and Technology, (202) 418–2925, e-mail:
This is a summary of the Commission's
Pursuant to §§ 1.415, 1.419, and 1.430 of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 1.415, 1.419, and 1.430, interested parties may file comments and reply comments on or before the dates indicated on the first page of this document. Comments may be filed using: (1) The Commission's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS), (2) the Federal Government's eRulemaking Portal, or (3) by filing paper copies.
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Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by commercial overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service mail. All filings must be addressed to the Commission's Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.
• All hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings for the Commission's Secretary must be delivered to FCC Headquarters at 445 12th St., SW., Room TW–A325, Washington, DC 20554. The filing hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. All hand deliveries
• Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743.
• U.S. Postal Service first-class, Express, and Priority mail must be addressed to 445 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554.
1. In the
2. The specific bands under consideration are the low VHF spectrum at 54–72 MHz (TV channels 2–4) and 76–88 MHz (TV channels 5 and 6), the high VHF spectrum at 174–216 MHz (TV channels 7–13), and the UHF bands at 470–608 MHz (TV channels 14–36) and 614–698 MHz (TV channels 38–51); for purposes of this NPRM, the Commission will refer to this spectrum as the “U/V Bands.” This NPRM proposes three actions that will establish the underlying regulatory framework to facilitate wireless broadband uses of the U/V Bands, while maintaining current license assignments in the band. First, the Commission proposes to add new allocations for fixed and mobile services in the U/V Bands to be co-primary with the existing broadcasting allocation in those bands. The additional allocations would provide the maximum flexibility for planning efforts to increase spectrum available for flexible use, including the possibility of assigning portions of the U/V Bands for new mobile broadband services in the future. Second, the Commission proposes to establish a framework that, for the first time, permits two or more television stations to share a single six-megahertz channel, thereby fostering efficient use of the U/V Bands. Third, the Commission intends to consider approaches to improve service for television viewers and create additional value for broadcasters by increasing the utility of the VHF bands for the operation of television services.
3. By taking these important steps to facilitate wireless broadband uses in the U/V Bands, this NPRM is the first in a series of actions that will allow us to make progress toward our goal of improving efficient use of the bands and enable ongoing innovation and investment through flexible use. The Commission intends to propose further actions consistent with other of the
4.
5. This NPRM takes the first step towards achieving these important objectives by proposing additional frequency allocations, a framework that will permit two or more television stations to share a single six-megahertz channel, and changes to rules for use of the VHF band to improve its utility for television service. The Commission recognizes that broadcast television provides an important service to the public, and our actions in this proceeding will take full account of the vital role played by over-the-air television while increasing the flexible use of spectrum in a manner that meets consumer and business needs. The Commission remains committed to preserving the free, over-the-air broadcast television service and maintaining the diversity of local voices and important informational and entertainment benefits it provides the American public.
6. It is our strong intention to provide for an orderly transition of a portion of the U/V Bands to flexible use, in a manner that will minimize any impact on over-the-air television broadcasting and the consumers it serves, both off-the-air and through multichannel video program distributors. In this regard, broadcast television stations and other primary services operating on the spectrum to be recovered will be co-primary with and be protected from interference from new broadband services for as long as they remain on channels in that spectrum.
7. To facilitate the recovery of underutilized television channels while continuing to maintain existing broadcast television services, the Commission also proposes in this NPRM new rules that would allow a television service licensee to voluntarily reduce its occupation of spectrum by offering to operate on a shared six megahertz channel. Under this provision, all of the stations sharing a channel would broadcast their services through the same ATSC digital television signal using that signal's multicasting capabilities. Each licensee would have the same rights and service obligations as a licensee operating from a full channel today, including the right to carriage by cable and satellite providers pursuant to the rules for mandatory carriage or retransmission consent. The Commission believes that channel sharing could be beneficial to certain licensees, particularly those that wish to save on their operating costs or minimize the amount of their investment in spectrum or transmission facilities. In addition, channel sharing
8.
9. These new allotments would allow us to consider the entire range of the U/V Bands in selecting the specific frequencies to be designated for new licensed and/or unlicensed uses. This approach will provide maximum flexibility in planning for the future assignment of a portion of the U/V Bands for flexible use, including new broadband services. The Commission's goal is to adopt a band that will provide for flexible use while continuing to support the needs of the television service. It is not proposing to change or add to the existing allocations for land mobile (medical telemetry and medical telecommand) and radio astronomy that are at 608–614 MHz (at channel 37). The Commission requests comments on this proposed plan for adding new allocations to the U/V Bands and invite suggestions for alternative approaches.
10. The
11. The Commission envisions, consistent with the Plan, that two stations could generally broadcast one primary HD video stream each over a shared six-megahertz channel or more than two stations broadcasting in SD (not HD) could share a six-megahertz channel. As noted in the Plan, “numerous permutations are possible, including dynamic arrangements whereby broadcasters sharing a channel reach agreements to exchange capacity to enable higher or lower transmission bit rates depending on market-driven choices.” In this regard, the Commission observes that at the Broadcast Engineering Forum participants expressed concerns that sharing a single channel would not be practical because it would not provide sufficient transmission capacity for two or more stations to offer the highest quality HD programming simultaneously. Stations were also concerned that channel sharing could impact or eliminate current and future DTV services, such as expansion of high-definition programming and deployment of mobile television service. The Commission intends to consider these issues in this proceeding and welcomes comments on these concerns.
12. Other approaches to channel sharing that involve sub-channel services such as mobile broadcast may also be possible. The Commission seeks comment on those approaches. The only requirement would be that all stations utilizing a shared channel be required to retain at least enough spectrum to operate one SD channel. The Commission seeks comment on this approach and whether stations sharing a single channel will be able to continue to comply with the requirement to operate at least one SD channel.
13. In designing a channel sharing plan that will result in the more efficient use of television spectrum and free channels for flexible use, the Commission indicated that its goal will be to retain as much of its existing policy framework for allocating, licensing, and operating television stations as possible. Despite sharing a single channel and transmission facility, each station will continue to be licensed and operated separately, have its own call sign and be separately subject to all of the Commission's obligations, rules, and policies. Each station's programming obligations will remain the same (
14. The Commission also proposes to limit channel sharing to television stations with existing applications, construction permits or licenses as of the date of adoption of this NPRM. The dual intentions in proposing this channel option are to provide (1) a means for stations that may need to be more economically efficient in their operations to share transmission resources and (2) a path for stations to make their spectrum available for new broadband services and continue to operate a broadcast television service. The Commission requests comment on this proposal.
15. Voluntary operation of broadcast stations on shared channels will help to increase the efficient use of the U/V Bands while ensuring that local public interest and service requirements continue to be fulfilled. Since it ultimately seeks an appropriate, market-based balance with flexible use in the U/V Bands, the Commission expects that the extent of channel sharing will vary between markets.
16. The Commission seeks comment on whether commercial and noncommercial educational (NCE) stations should be permitted to share a single television channel. NCE television stations operate on special reserved channels and are prohibited from airing commercial material. The Commission contemplates that stations that share a channel will continue to be licensed and operated separately, although they will be sharing a single transmitting facility. Therefore, there would be no overlap of programming between a commercial and NCE station. However, the Commission seeks comment on whether a commercial station should be permitted to operate on a shared channel reserved for NCE use. The Commission seeks to determine how the new “shared” channel might be partitioned or designated to preserve the NCE status while allowing the channel to be shared by a non-NCE entity.
17. The Commission seeks comment on whether to require that a certain level of television service be preserved in the shared channel environment. Specifically, it seeks comment on whether the Commission should consider any prospective loss of television service when determining whether to permit stations to make the modifications to their transmission facilities necessary to achieve channel sharing. Since stations sharing a single television channel must operate from a single transmission facility, changes to one or more of the stations' existing facilities will be necessary for sharing to occur. Such changes could result in a loss of television service to some persons presently able to receive over-the-air signal from one or more of the stations, and could also result in gains to television service.
18. The Commission notes that its current policy is to consider losses of service on a case-by-case basis, and it seeks comment on continuing that policy in the context of channel sharing arrangements. Although the Commission historically has viewed any loss of service as
19. In terms of counterbalancing factors, the Commission has examined whether gain areas will be created including establishment of first television service, second television service, first network service, etc. However, the mere fact that total gains exceed losses does not, standing alone, constitute an affirmative factor offsetting those losses. The Commission may also consider the availability of other television services in the loss area as well as whether the population which would lose service is outside the station's DMA and is predicted to receive the same network programming from a station in their home DMA. The Commission seeks comment on whether to consider these factors in a similar fashion when evaluating losses that result from facility modifications and relocations related to channel sharing.
20. In weighing the public interest benefits that will result from channel sharing, should the Commission consider mitigating circumstances such as the percentage of local cable penetration or satellite use in the loss area? Should sharing stations be allowed to offset otherwise disqualifying service losses by offering to deploy on-channel Digital Transmission Systems (DTS) or other technical measures to restore service to the loss area?
21. In addition to the specific areas set forth in this proceeding, the
22. Full power television broadcast stations, and certain qualified low-power television broadcast stations, have a right to carriage on cable systems that the Supreme Court has recognized as essential to preserving “the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources.” Full power broadcasters have similar rights to mandatory carriage on satellite (DBS) systems. The rules proposed in this proceeding are designed to ensure that stations voluntarily electing to share a channel retain their existing rights to mandatory carriage, and the Commission seeks comment on such rules.
23. The Communications Act of 1934, as amended, provides for the mandatory carriage, by cable operators and satellite providers, of certain local broadcast signals. The Act and the Commission's implementing rules establish slightly different thresholds for carriage, depending on whether the station is full power or low-power, or commercial or noncommercial, and also depending on whether carriage is sought on a cable or DBS system. Stations meeting these thresholds are guaranteed carriage of only a single “primary” stream of programming, and carriage for any additional streams must always be negotiated. It is the Commission's intent to adopt a channel sharing framework that will neither increase nor decrease the carriage rights of any broadcaster on any type of system. The Commission anticipates, therefore, that regardless of the number of licensed stations sharing a six-megahertz channel, each would continue to have at least one, but only one, “primary” stream of programming. The Commission seeks comment on specific proposals and in general on the rules necessary to achieve this result.
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26.
• “Licensed and operating on a channel regularly assigned to its community by the Commission (for purposes of cable carriage of a commercial station)”;
• Licensed to a specific “principal community” or configured with technical facilities that have an NLSC that encompasses the cable system's principal headend (for purposes of cable carriage of a non-commercial station); and
• “Located within” a designated market area (for purposes of DBS carriage of commercial and noncommercial stations).
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34. Recognizing that UHF spectrum is highly desirable for flexible use, the Commission is interested in exploring the steps needed to increase the utility of VHF spectrum for television broadcasts. VHF channels have certain characteristics that have posed challenges for their use in providing digital television service. In particular, the propagation characteristics of these channels allow undesired signals and noise to be receivable at relatively farther distances, nearby electrical devices tends to emit noise in this band that can cause interference, and reception of VHF signals requires physically larger antennas that are generally not well suited to the mobile applications expected under flexible use, relative to UHF channels. The Commission recognizes that television broadcasters have had some difficulty in ensuring consistent reception of VHF signals, and it seeks comment through this NPRM on technical changes to the Commission's rules, broadcast transmission equipment, or television receiver technology that would improve the performance of VHF channels for television broadcasts, including the costs and benefits associated with such changes. The Commission's intent is to treat stakeholders in a fair and equitable manner through procedures established in later actions.
35.
36.
37. The other approach to overcoming noise is to increase the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N ratio) by raising the transmitted power,
38. Stations requesting power increases under the proposed new limits would be required to afford protection to other full power television stations from new interference under the existing regime of desired-to-undesired (D/U) signals limits. The Commission believes such an increase would allow many VHF stations experiencing difficulties in reaching viewers indoors to raise their signal levels by a reasonable level to overcome localized noise indoors, consistent with maintaining the approximate range of service provided by the existing maximum power limits. It does, however, recognize that higher power operation would increase the service range of VHF stations by as much at 14 km (9 miles). The Commission stated that is intention is not generally to extend the service range of these stations, as such expansions can to some degree limit the potential for introduction of new stations and changes by other co-channel and first-adjacent channel stations by enlarging the service area that must be protected. Nonetheless, it believes the interests of making the VHF channels more useful to stations and consumers outweigh these concerns about limiting opportunities of other stations. The Commission requests comment on this proposal and suggestions for alternative approaches, including both power limits and protection of service. In this regard, any increases in VHF power under this proposal by existing stations and new stations that are located within 300 kilometers (183 miles) of our border with Canada or within 400 kilometers (248.5 miles) of our border with Mexico will need to be coordinated with the appropriate foreign administration.
39. The Commission also observes that the provisions governing transmission of television signals in §§ 73.682(a)(14) and 73.625(c) of the rules specify that it shall be standard to employ horizontal polarization. The ERP of a television station is therefore considered to be that of its horizontally polarized component. However, § 73.682(a)(14) also provides that circular or elliptical polarization may be employed and that, in such cases, transmission of the horizontal and vertical components in time and space quadrature shall be used. Where such polarizations are used, the ERP of the vertically polarized component may not exceed the ERP of the horizontally polarized component. Stations therefore could achieve an increase in signal levels at indoor locations of perhaps 3 dB by using circular polarization. This step could also be combined with an increase in ERP (horizontal ERP) under the proposal to allow higher VHF maximum power levels. We encourage stations to make use of the option to use increased power under the vertical polarization provisions as a means to improve reception of their signals by indoor viewers.
40. A collateral issue that arises in the context of consideration of increases in the power limits for digital television stations on VHF channels is whether the Commission should also increase the minimum distance requirements for new, post-transition VHF channel allotments with regard to other stations or channel allotments on the same and first-adjacent channels, as specified in §§ 73.616 and 73.623(d) of the rules. Stations on new allotments that operate at the proposed new power limits and are at or close to the current minimum distances with regard to other stations could cause more interference to such stations (and vice versa) than would occur under the current power limits. Increasing those distances would resolve the interference concerns but would also tend to limit opportunities or new stations or for stations desiring to change channels (which necessitates modifying the allotment on which they operate). The Commission generally believes it would be desirable to maintain the current distance standards for new and changed allotments in order to avoid further limiting opportunities for new allotments. The Commission therefore is not proposing to change the minimum distance requirements for new and modified allotments.
41. In taking this approach, the Commission observes that the rules require a station that operates on a new allotment that meets the distance standards to protect other co-channel and adjacent channel stations from new interference in accordance with the desired-to-undesired (D/U) ratio interference protection criteria in § 73.616(e). In describing the services to be protected, this paragraph provides that “[f]or this purpose, the population served by the station receiving additional interference does not include portions of the population within the noise-limited service contour of that station that are predicted to receive interference from the post-transition DTV allotment facilities of the applicant * * *” The rules are not specific, however, as to the post-transition DTV allotment facilities of the applicant, that is, the facilities that a station would be allowed under the allotment without concern for new interference. The Commission proposes to amend § 73.616(e) to clarify that the post-transition DTV allotment facilities are the maximum facilities allowed currently under § 73.622(f). Thus, an applicant for a new station would be allowed to operate up to the current maximum facilities of ERP and antenna height on a new allotment that meets the distance requirements.
42. A station on a new allotment could also operate with facilities that exceed the post-transition allotment facilities if such operation would not cause new interference to other stations as defined under § 73.616(e). In addition, a licensee could apply to operate a station on a new allotment at facilities that exceed the post-transition allotment facilities (up to the proposed new limits) and could possibly cause new interference to another station by taking steps to avoid such interference. Such steps could include use of a directional antenna and/or location of the station's transmitter at a site that is different from the site of the allotment (such sites are generally farther from any stations that would otherwise receive interference). The Commission requests comment on its plan to maintain the existing distance requirements as it increases the maximum allowed power for digital TV stations on VHF channels and on whether it should alternatively increase the minimum distance requirements to match the changes in the power limits. The Commission also asks parties that advocate that it increase the minimum distance requirements to submit suggestions for new minimum distance standards.
43.
44. The Commission request comment, information and suggestions regarding the need for, and desirability of, standards for indoor antennas. The Commission is specifically proposing to require that indoor antennas comply with the industry set standards in ANSI/CEA–2032–A, “Indoor TV Receiving Antenna Performance Standard,” February 2009. The ANSI/CEA–2032–A standard defines test and measurement procedures for determining the performance of indoor TV receiving antennas. Section 3.2.2 of this standard provides that to meet the standard, an antenna must have measured gain that exceeds:
• −12 dBd on all CEA test channels 2, 4, and 6 in the VHF low band
• −8 dBd on all CEA test channels 7, 9, 11 and 13 in the VHF high band and
• −8 dBd on all CEA test channels contained in the UHF band (channels 14–[51])
ANSI/CEA–2032–A further specifies that the test procedures in CEA–744–B are to be employed to measure the antenna performance. It also provides standards for active (amplified) antennas, including gain, intermodulation and spurious emission. Further, ANSI/CEA–2032–A provides for labeling antenna packaging and antennas to indicate the channels or bands of channels for which the antenna meets the specified technical requirements. The Commission observes that the high-VHF and UHF performance levels under this industry-developed standard are well within the capabilities of the antennas tested in the MSW and FCC Laboratory studies of indoor antennas. Under this proposal, all indoor television antennas would be required to meet the ANSI/CEA–2032–A standards for reception of low-VHF, high-VHF and UHF signals. In addition, to ensure compliance with these standards indoor antennas would be subject to the Commission's “verification” equipment procedure in part 2 of the rules. This would promote the Commission's objective of improving indoor reception in the VHF bands and well as ensure that indoor antennas are able to adequately receive UHF signals. Antennas that are built-in to, or designed for use with, specific devices such as portable television receivers, dongles, laptop computers, and similar TV reception equipment would not be subject to this requirement. Given the findings of the antenna studies by MSW and its Laboratory staff the Commission believes that the performance levels set forth in ANSI/CEA–2032–A are well within the capabilities of currently available consumer grade television receive antennas.
45. The Commission requests comment on whether the ANSI/CEA–2032–A performance standards are sufficient to ensure adequate reception of digital television signals at most indoor locations and whether the CEA–744–B measurement procedures are appropriate for determining compliance. The Commission also asks whether there might be other standards or measurement methods that might be more appropriate. Its intent is to ensure that consumers are able to achieve indoor reception of digital television signals, and especially of VHF signals, that are comparable to indoor reception of the signals of the former analog television system. The Commission also asks for comment an alternative approach under which it would require only that manufacturers measure indoor antennas using the CEA–744–B test procedure and comply with the labeling requirements of ANSI/CEA–2032–A. Under that approach, antennas would also be subject to the Commission's verification equipment authorization procedure. The Commission invites interested parties to submit comment, information and suggestions for alternative standards regarding all aspects of the indoor antenna issue.
46.
47. As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA),
48. In this
49. The proposed action is authorized under sections 4(i), 301, 302, 303(e), 303(f), 303(r),of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(i), 301, 302, 303(e), 303(f), and 303(r).
50. The RFA directs agencies to provide a description of and, where feasible, an estimate of the number of small entities that may be affected by the proposed rules, if adopted.
51. Television Broadcasting. This Economic Census category “comprises establishments primarily engaged in broadcasting images together with sound. These establishments operate television broadcasting studios and facilities for the programming and transmission of programs to the public.”
52. We note, however, that in assessing whether a business concern qualifies as small under the above definition, business (control) affiliations
53. In addition, the Commission has estimated the number of licensed noncommercial educational (NCE) television stations to be 390.
54. In addition, there are also 2,386 low power television stations (LPTV).
55. Cable Television Distribution Services. Since 2007, these services have been defined within the broad economic census category of Wired Telecommunications Carriers; that category is defined as follows: “This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in operating and/or providing access to transmission facilities and infrastructure that they own and/or lease for the transmission of voice, data, text, sound, and video using wired telecommunications networks. Transmission facilities may be based on a single technology or a combination of technologies.”
56. Cable Companies and Systems. The Commission has also developed its own small business size standards, for the purpose of cable rate regulation. Under the Commission's rules, a “small cable company” is one serving 400,000 or fewer subscribers, nationwide.
57. Cable System Operators. The Communications Act of 1934, as amended, also contains a size standard for small cable system operators, which is “a cable operator that, directly or through an affiliate, serves in the aggregate fewer than 1 percent of all subscribers in the United States and is not affiliated with any entity or entities whose gross annual revenues in the aggregate exceed $250,000,000.”
58. The specific bands under consideration are the low VHF spectrum at 54–72 MHz (TV channels 2–4) and 76–88 MHz (TV channels 5 and 6), the high VHF spectrum at 174–216 MHz (TV channels 7–13), and the UHF bands at 470–608 MHz (TV channels 14–36) and 614–698 MHz (TV channels 38–51); for purposes of this
59. By establishing the underlying regulatory framework to facilitate wireless broadband uses in the U/V Bands, this
60. The RFA requires an agency to describe any significant alternatives that it has considered in reaching its proposed approach, which may include the following four alternatives (among others): (1) The establishment of differing compliance or reporting requirements or timetables that take into account the resources available to small entities; (2) the clarification, consolidation, or simplification of compliance or reporting requirements under the rule for small entities; (3) the use of performance, rather than design, standards; and (4) an exemption from coverage of the rule, or any part thereof, for small entities.
61. We do not propose in this
62. We seek comment on other areas of interest with respect to channel sharing in conjunction with the recommendations of the National Plan. We welcome comments from stations that anticipate that they may participate in channel sharing as well as from other interested parties.
63. None.
64. Pursuant to sections 4(i), 301, 302, 303(e), 303(f) and 303(r) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C.154(i), 301, 302, 303(e), 303(f) and 303(r), this
65. The Commission's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference Information Center,
Communications equipment, Incorporation by reference, Radio.
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal Communications Commission proposes to amend 47 CFR parts 2, 15, and 73 to read as follows:
1. The authority citation for part 2 continues to read as follows:
47 U.S.C. 154, 302a, 303, and 336, unless otherwise noted.
2. Section 2.106, the Table of Frequency Allocations, is amended as follows:
a. Pages 19, 20, 24, and 28 are revised.
b. In the list of Non-Federal Government (NG) Footnotes, footnotes NG66 and NG149 are removed.
The revisions read as follows:
3. The authority citation for part 15 continues to read as follows:
47 U.S.C. 154, 302a, 303, 304, 307, 336, and 544a.
4. Section 15.38 is amended by adding paragraphs (b)(14) and (b)(15) to read as follows:
(b) * * *
(14) ANSI/CEA–2032–A: “Indoor TV Receiving Antenna Performance Standard,” May 2005, IBR approved for § 15.117(l).
(15) ANSI/CEA–744–B: “TV Receiving Antenna Performance Presentation and Measurement,” February 2009, IBR approved for § 15.117(l).
5. Section 15.117 is amended by adding paragraph (l) to read as follows:
(l)
6. The authority citation for part 73 continues to read as follows:
47 U.S.C. 154, 303, 334, 336 and 339.
7. Section 73.616 is amended by adding paragraph (e)(3) to read as follows:
(e) * * *
(3) The facilities of a post-transition DTV allotment are as follows:
(i) (A) For a station that operates on a channel 2–6 allotment, the allotment ERP is 40 kW if its antenna HAAT is at or below 305 meters and the station is located in Zone I or 45 kW if its HAAT is at or below 305 meters and the station is located in Zone II or Zone III. For a station located in Zone I that operates on channels 2–6 with HAAT that exceeds 305 meters, the allotment ERP, expressed in decibels above 1 kW (dBk) is determined using the following formula, with HAAT expressed in meters:
(B) For a station located in Zone II or Zone III that operates on channels 2–6 with an antenna HAAT that exceeds 305 meters, the allotment ERP level is determined from the following table (the allotment ERP for intermediate values of HAAT is determined using linear interpolation based on the units employed in the table):
(C) For a DTV station located in Zone II or Zone III that operates on channels 2–6 with an antenna HAAT that exceeds 610 meters, the allotment ERP expressed in decibels above 1 kW (dBk) is determined using the following formula, with HAAT expressed in meters:
(ii)(A) For a station that operates on a channel 7–13 allotment, the allotment ERP is 120 kW if its antenna HAAT is at or below 305 meters and the station is located in Zone I or 160 kW if its HAAT is at or below 305 meters and the station is located in Zone II or Zone III. For a station located in Zone I that operates on channels 7–13 with HAAT that exceeds 305 meters, the allotment ERP, expressed in decibels above 1 kW (dBk) is determined using the following formula, with HAAT expressed in meters:
(B) For a station located in Zone II or Zone III that operates on channels 7–13 with an antenna HAAT above 305 meters, the allotment ERP level is determined from the following table (the allotment ERP for intermediate values of HAAT is determined using linear interpolation based on the units employed in the table):
(C) For a station located in Zone II or Zone III that operates on channels 7–13 with an antenna HAAT that exceeds 610 meters, the allotment ERP expressed in decibels above 1 kW (dBk) is determined using the following formula, with HAAT expressed in meters:
(iii)(A) For a station that operates on a channel 14–51 allotment, the allotment ERP is 1000 kW if its antenna HAAT is at or below 365 meters. At higher antenna HAAT levels, the allotment ERP level for such a station is determined from the following table (the allotment ERP for intermediate values of HAAT is determined using linear interpolation based on the units employed in the table):
(B) For a station located in Zone I, II or III that operates on channels 14–51 with an antenna HAAT that exceeds 610 meters, the allotment ERP expressed in decibels above 1 kW (dBk) is determined using the following formula, with HAAT expressed in meters:
8. Section 73.622 is amended by revising paragraphs (f)(6) and (f)(7) to read as follows:
(f) * * *
(6) A DTV station that operates on a channel 2–6 allotment will be allowed a maximum ERP of 40 kW if its antenna HAAT is at or below 305 meters and the station is located in Zone I or a maximum ERP of 45 kW if its HAAT is at or below 305 meters and the station is located in Zone II or Zone III. An existing DTV station that operates on a channel 2–6 allotment may request an increase in power and/or HAAT up to these power levels, provided that the increase also complies with the provisions of paragraph (f)(5) of this section.
(i) For DTV stations located in Zone I that operate on channels 2–6 with an antenna HAAT that exceeds 305 meters, the allowable maximum ERP, expressed in decibels above 1 kW (dBk) is determined using the following formula, with HAAT expressed in meters:
(ii) For DTV stations located in Zone II or Zone III that operate on channels 2–6 with an antenna HAAT that exceeds 305 meters, the allowable maximum ERP level is determined from the following table (the allowable maximum ERP for intermediate values of HAAT is determined using linear interpolation based on the units employed in the table):
(iii) For DTV stations located in Zone II or Zone III that operate on channels 2–6 with an antenna HAAT that exceeds 610 meters, the allowable maximum ERP expressed in decibels above 1 kW (dBk) is determined using the following formula, with HAAT expressed in meters:
(7) A DTV station that operates on a channel 7–13 allotment will be allowed a maximum ERP of 120 kW if its antenna HAAT is at or below 305 meters and the station is located in Zone I or a maximum ERP of 160 kW if its HAAT is at or below 305 meters and the station is located in Zone II or Zone III. An existing DTV station that operates on a channel 7–13 allotment may request an increase in power and/or HAAT up to these power levels, provided that the increase also complies with the provisions of paragraph (f)(5) of this section.
(i) For DTV stations located in Zone I that operate on channels 7–13 with an antenna HAAT that exceeds 305 meters, the allowable maximum ERP, expressed in decibels above 1 kW (dBk) is determined using the following formula, with HAAT expressed in meters:
(ii) For DTV stations located in Zone II or Zone III that operate on channels 7–13 with an antenna HAAT above 305 meters, the allowable maximum ERP level is determined from the following table (the allowable maximum ERP for intermediate values of HAAT is determined using linear interpolation based on the units employed in the table):
(iii) For DTV stations located in Zone II or Zone III that operate on channels 7–13 with an antenna HAAT that exceeds 610 meters, the allowable maximum ERP expressed in decibels above 1 kW (dBk) is determined using the following formula, with HAAT expressed in meters: