FCC Registration Will Protect PRSS Earth Terminals

NPR Distribution has undertaken an important initiative on behalf of the Public Radio Satellite System (PRSS) to register earth terminals with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This service, provided at no cost to qualified stations, will help to protect stations against potentially costly terrestrial interference.

While public radio stations have enjoyed virtually interference-free access to the C-band spectrum for over ten years, industry experts and the FCC have indicated that could change. As new and expanded services vie for spectrum, public radio stations could begin to experience interference on existing and adjacent bands or lose their space on the spectrum altogether.

To guard against this, NPR Distribution has engaged Comsearch, an industry leader in spectrum management, to register PRSS earth terminals with the FCC on each station's behalf. Although this is a PRSS initiative, Comsearch will be in direct contact with stations to coordinate the registration process. Once registered, stations' use of the C-band spectrum will be protected (to the extent possible under the FCC regulations) against any new interference caused by terrestrial sources for the term of the registration.

Under this initiative, the Earth Terminal Refurbishment Project (ETRP) will provide for a new interference study and an application submission for stations that have not renewed prior licenses or registrations for their PRSS antenna. Stations that have not completed the ETRP evaluation will be able to have their earth terminals coordinated and registered once the ETRP team reviews their site.

For qualified stations the PRSS will cover costs associated with the frequency coordination, spectrum analysis, registration, and maintenance. More information about this PRSS initiative will be forthcoming as we continue to move forward.