The Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), on behalf of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry (the Minister), is initiating a consultation on a policy, licensing, and technical framework for the use of certain bands allocated to flexible use and/or commercial mobile services to support the expansion of coverage via satellite, which is referred to hereafter as supplemental mobile coverage by satellite (SMCS).
ISED’s new public consultation seeks contributions on the proposed considerations to identify frequency bands where the proposed SMCS framework will be applied.
As of now, the proposal is to apply the SMCS framework to the following initial bands:
- 600 MHz (617-652 MHz/663-698 MHz)
- 700 MHz (698-756 MHz and 777-787 MHz)
- 800 MHz Cellular (824-849 MHz/869-894 MHz)
- PCS (1850-1915 MHz/1930-1995 MHz)
- AWS-1 (1710-1755 MHz/2110-2155 MHz)
- AWS-3 (1755-1780 MHz/2155-2180 MHz)
Other important points being considered are:
- The areas that will be covered by the proposed changes;
- Potential for the SMCS satellites to have smaller beam sizes such that they could serve smaller service areas and potentially reduce protection areas around existing mobile networks.
- Other considerations should be considered when identifying frequency bands where the proposed SMCS framework will be applied.
- Comments on any other bands that are used for commercial mobile services for which the SMCS framework should be applied
- Other questions are available on the Public consultation’s website
In providing comments to the proposed questions, respondents are asked to include supporting rationale and arguments.
The following dates are applicable for this public Consultation:
Closing date for comments: September 13, 2024 Closing date for reply comments: October 25, 2024
Given the time required to complete this consultation and implement new procedures, ISED intends for the new SMCS to take effect on April 1, 2025, following the publication of a decision arising from this consultation.
Type Approval Impacted? No
Spectrum Impacted? Yes
Imports Impacted? No