House lawmakers warn FCC that spectrum sharing in the 1675-1680 MHz band may inhibit climate data collection

In a November 21 letter signed by Commerce Secretary Raimondo and Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Arati Prabhakar, Reps Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Frank Lucas (R-OK) warn the Federal Communications Commission about disruptions to climate data collection in the 1675-1680 MHz band due to spectrum use by wireless providers. "We write to urge you and the Commission to stop consideration of the proposal for sharing the 1675-1680 MHz band for commercial wireless carriers operating in the downlink mode," the lawmakers wrote. "The 1675-1680 MHz spectrum band is used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for the transmission of real-time satellite meteorological and environmental data, including critical information about severe weather and flooding, from NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) to antennae on the ground. The 1675-1680 MHz spectrum band sits within the 1670-1710 MHz band allocated globally for meteorological satellite services; NOAA has already made half of this allocation available for sharing with commercial wireless broadband services."