[VHFcontesting] We're about to lose 3456 MHz band entirely

[Wayne Overbeck]

A proposal that is on the agenda for the FCC's Dec. 12 meeting would remove amateur radio from the 9 cm. band entirely.  As mandated by Congress in the MOBILE NOW Act, the FCC is proposing to entirely eliminate our allocation in the 3.3-3.55 GHz band as part of a plan to make much more spectrum available for 5G mobile phone systems.

The Notice of Proposed Rule Making is WT Docket 19-348.

If enacted as proposed, this would be catastrophic for the weak signal community that is now on 3456 MHz.  I alone have nearly $10,000 worth of equipment for 3456 MHz--with receipts to prove it.  That includes transverters, amplifiers and antennas.  Each transverter cost me between $500 and $800 (U.S.) and I have seventeen (17) 3456 transverters manufactured by either DB6NT or DEMI.

Where was ARRL when the "MOBILE NOW" Act was approved?   Why haven't we heard a lot more about this before now?  I've searched ARRL.org and can't find any reference to "MOBILE NOW" there.  I just bought another 3456 transverter after the MOBILE NOW Act was signed into law (after being amended into another bill).  I wish I'd known that we're about to lose this band before spending still more money on equipment for 3456.

I know about this now only because of Brennan Price's message on the "My ARRL Voice" section of Facebook.  In a comment on Brennan's posting, ARRL Director Ria Jairam confirmed that this docket does indeed propose to remove our 9 cm. allocation entirely.

It sounds as if the sky is falling.  Can someone tell me that the sky ISN'T falling?

-Wayne Overbeck, N6NB