Description of Research Project

1683-EX-ST-2017 Text Documents

CCO Fiberlink, LLC

2017-12-08ELS_202113

DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH PROJECT Pursuant to Sections 5.3(j) and 5.61 of the Federal Communications Commission’s rules, 47 C.F.R. §§ 5.3(j) and 5.61, CCO Fiberlink, LLC (“Charter”), a limited liability company and subsidiary of Charter Communications, Inc., seeks Special Temporary Authority (“STA”) for 180 days, beginning January 2, 2018, to test and evaluate coverage, capacity, and propagation characteristics in the 3550-3700 MHz band. The proposed operations will occur only in the 3650-3700 MHz portion of the band, where Charter is an existing Wireless Broadband Licensee (call sign WQVB849), to avoid Naval radar interference. The testing will advance Charter’s understanding of technology and network potential in the full 3550-3700 MHz band and will advance the potential deployment of fixed and mobile wireless services. Location of Testing Charter will conduct outdoor and indoor fixed and mobile testing within 8 miles (12.87 km) of the provided fixed location of 27° 58' 47" N, 82° 27' 18" W in Tampa, Florida. Description of Testing Charter will deploy experimental fixed and mobile equipment in various configurations. The majority of devices will be attached to Charter’s existing aerial cable strand, similar to how numerous cable operators, including Charter, have deployed outdoor WiFi access points to date. In addition, Charter will test some devices attached to existing buildings and poles, and some devices indoors. Specifically, Charter will use the following deployment approaches: 1. Strand mount deployment (Category A or B Radios)1 2. Building/pole mount deployment (Category A or B Radios) 3. Indoors (Category A Radios) Other equipment will be used by Charter to receive signals from the mounted devices and transmit back to those devices (“End User Equipment”). Charter will evaluate propagation characteristics; conduct connectivity and throughput testing in the vicinity of each device; and assess inter-cell interference, mobility characteristics, Spectrum Access System (“SAS”) compatibility and individual performance of each vendor. Additionally, Charter will assess Citizens Broadband Radio Service (“CBRS”) device co-existence with our own 3650 MHz devices deployed in the Tampa test area. Radio Equipment Description For the testing, Charter will use 7 different models of fixed equipment and 6 different models of mobile End User Equipment. The technical information below provides the greatest bandwidth and power levels that will be used for each piece of prototype equipment. 1 Category A and B radios are defined in Sections 96.3 and 96.41 of the FCC’s rules. See 47 C.F.R. §§ 96.3 and 96.41. 1

While Charter intends to install approximately 200 fixed transmitters and employ up to 10 mobile transmitters during the testing, less than 20% of the total devices will be operational at any given time, with the remainder in a non-transmitting state. Fixed Equipment (7 models): Tx ERP Mean Modulation EIRP Emission Frequency Equipment Category Power (Watts) or Peak (dBm) Designator Tolerance (mW) Prototype 1 B 2000 50 100 Peak 20M0W7D 0.00001% 256 QAM/64 QAM/16QAM/ QPSK Prototype 2 A 250 33 2 Peak 20M0W7W 0.002% 64 QAM/16QAM/ QPSK Prototype 3 A 125 33 2 Mean 20M0W7D 0.00001% 64 QAM/16QAM/ QPSK Prototype 4 B 1000 50 100 Mean 20M0W7D 0.00001% 64 QAM/16QAM/ QPSK Prototype 5 A 320 33 2 Mean 20M0W7D 0.00001% 64 QAM/16QAM/ QPSK Prototype 6 B 350 33 2 Peak 18M5D7D 0.000005% 64 QAM/16QAM/ QPSK Prototype 7 B 350 50 100 Peak 18M5D7D 0.000005% 64 QAM/16QAM/ QPSK End User Equipment (6 models): Tx ERP Mean Modulation EIRP Emission Frequency Equipment Category Power (Watts) or Peak (dBm) Designator Tolerance (mW) Prototype 8 EUD 200 23 0.2 Peak 20M0W7W 0.0001% 64QAM/16QAM/ QPSK/BPSK Prototype 9 EUD 200 23 0.2 Peak 40M0W9W 0.0005% 64QAM/16QAM/ QPSK/BPSK Prototype 10 EUD 200 23 0.2 Peak 40M0W9W 0.0005% 64QAM/16QAM/ QPSK/BPSK Prototype 11 EUD 200 23 0.2 Peak 40M0W9W 0.0005% 64QAM/16QAM/ QPSK/BPSK Prototype 12 EUD 200 23 0.2 Mean 20M0W7D 0.00001% 64 QAM/16QAM/ QPSK Prototype 13 EUD 200 23 0.2 Peak 40M0W9D 0.00001% 64QAM/16QAM/ QPSK/BPSK 2

All testing will be conducted within Charter’s existing service areas, and employ power and backhaul from Charter’s existing cable distribution plant. The fixed devices will be mounted on Charter’s existing strand, as well as select street furniture and/or building facades. Based on the height of these facilities, the devices may be more than 6 meters above ground level. However, there is no risk of physical interference because all devices will be mounted on existing facilities, and will not extend above those facilities. Protection Against Interference Charter requests use of the 3650-3700 MHz band. Charter understands that it must accept interference from any federal and non-federal incumbent users of this band and that all Charter operations will be on a secondary basis. Charter is conducting this testing in cooperation with Federated Wireless (“Federated”), and will employ Federated’s developmental SAS database. Although Tampa is located within NTIA’s coastal exclusion zone, this authorization seeks authority only to test in the 3650-3700 MHz frequencies. The following methods will be used to prevent harmful interference:  Primary: Via the design process of a fully functional SAS combination, with the SAS commanding test CBRS devices to non-interfering channels.  Secondary: Federated will manually command the SAS to command CBRS test devices to shift to non-interfering channels.  Tertiary: Charter has established a point of contact, identified below, available 24/7 during all testing with “kill switch” authority should any interference occur to primary licensed services. Should interference occur, Charter will take immediate steps to resolve the interference, including, as appropriate, channel shifting or discontinuing operations. In the 3650-3700 MHz band, Charter is an existing Wireless Broadband Licensee (call sign WQVB849) with four registered locations within the Tampa test area. Charter will coordinate all testing with other grandfathered Wireless Broadband Licensees with registered locations in the requested testing areas, and intends to employ Federated’s developmental SAS to coordinate channel assignments. Where the SAS is not capable of doing so, Charter will manually coordinate operations. Charter has confirmed there are no Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) earth stations operating in the 3650-3700 MHz band in the areas in which Charter seeks to conduct testing. Finally, given the low EIRP transmit levels of the proposed radios, coupled with their low installed elevation, Charter expects limited RF propagation distances as well as limited and localized aggregative contribution to the RF noise floor. 3

Restrictions on Operation Charter does not seek authority to perform a market study under the requested license and will retain control over the equipment in the testing at all times. Contact Information Point of contact for FCC licensing issues: Colleen King Vice President, Regulatory Affairs (202) 621-1921 colleen.king@charter.com Point of contact for questions about testing operations: Greg McLaughlin Sr. Director of Wireless Operations, R&D (720) 482-4290 greg.mclaughlin@charter.com The following individual will be available 24/7 during all testing, and has authority and ability to immediately cease all operations: Todd Herring Director of Wireless Operations (303) 345-7907 todd.herring@charter.com Wireless Ops Hotline: (720) 536-9205 4


Document Created: 2017-12-08 15:32:21
Document Modified: 2017-12-08 15:32:21
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