TORONTO – The World Broadcasting Unions are asking satellite service providers and government regulators to protect the availability of the upper part of the C-Band spectrum, where the band has been allocated to satellite services and is currently used to provide many broadcasting services.
In a recent position paper, WBU says that C-Band FSS downlink frequencies between 3,400–4,200 MHz, have been and are extensively used worldwide by WBU members for Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) applications and will continue to be used for the foreseeable future, in particular above 3,600 MHz. C-Band allows the operation of reliable, efficient and cost effective global and regional contribution/distribution systems and is also ideally suited to delivering media services into rapidly developing regions of the world.
The paper notes that since FSS downlink sites receive extremely weak signals from satellites in geosynchronous orbit, they are particularly fragile and susceptible to interference. WBU says its members have experienced “serious interference” to services where this spectrum has been opened up to other users and, because few countries require these receive-only downlink sites to be licensed or registered, little recourse is available. The WBU is also urging members to register their downlink sites.
“The potential allocation of C-Band FSS spectrum to Mobile Services will create chaos to the economics of broadcasting by satellite, potentially interrupting services to audiences around the world”, continues the paper. “Furthermore, C-Band is critical for satellite services in tropical regions as it suffers less from the attenuation effects of heavy rainfall than higher frequency bands.”
In producing the proposed position, WBU says the group referenced and updated the 2015 WBU-ISOG position on C Band. The World Broadcasting Unions International Media Connectivity Group (WBU-IMCG) was previously known as the WBU International Satellite Operations Group (WBU- ISOG).
Established in 1992, the WBU is the coordinating body for broadcasting unions who represent broadcaster networks across the globe. The North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) acts as secretariat for the WBU.
