Hand off our C-band say SES

Zaphod · 10-11-2007 10:19AM #1

They're fighting a losing battle on this one I reckon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBh-iI4ZxsE

Ulsterman 1690 · 10-11-2007 11:19AM

I thought all SES satellites used Ku band ?

In fact I thought C-band for broadcasting was a fairly obsolecent technology

The video mentions C-band being useful in regions of heavy rainfall but how heavy ? Are we talking UK/Ireland levels or Monsoon region levels ?

L1011 · 10-11-2007 12:31PM

C-band is still used heavily in the middle east and Africa. And yes, monsoon rainfall - the Irish level of rainfall isn't enough to justify using C-band...

I like the way they show offest small dishes as being used (which won't work for crap for C-band really)

watty · 10-11-2007 05:02PM

We are losing it on Ku as well. SCTV and their MMDS on 11.7GHz. A disgrace. Or if it is so good an idea why won't Comreg let others use that band too for MMDS and broadband.

Also C-band used N.America to feed cable headends. Former USSR area and South America too.

Ku tends to be smaller beams. A 1/3 earth coverage from C-Band is not unusual. One way of getting Asian and S.America channels here, that arn't on European Ku band spots.

WARC 2008 is on. Another proposal at WARC 2008 supported by Ofcom and Comreg, is to auction top half of TV band for mobile Broadband, They call it the Digital Dividend, rather than allowing the terrestrial broadcasters to add HD etc.

Satellite (Ku Band) 2000MHz spectrum now every 3 to 5 degrees. Adding another 2000MHz+ band (Ka 18Ghz to 20GHz) too http://www.lyngsat.com/launches/ka.html

TV now 400MHz. They want to reduce TV spectrum to about 200MHz. They argue that people shouldn't expect to have much free TV and should get fibre, cable, Satellite PayTV if they want 100 SD channels and 100 HD channels.

machiavellianme · 10-11-2007 05:11PM

What C-Band are we talking about here? Think I mustve stumbled into this thread by accident. I thought the C-Band was 1525-1565nm which are optical wavelengths and only used for DWDM and fiber/waveguide deployment. Is there a similar C-Band in RF?

watty · 10-11-2007 05:37PM

3.7GHz to 4.3GHz. Just above the Irish 3.5GHz FWALA wireless broadband (see Comreg).

Actually the FWALA licences may encroach.

Generically C band is 4GHz to 8GHz
X Band 8GHz to 11GHz
Sat users think of Ku as 10.7GHz to 12.75GHz, but it's offically 11MHz to 18GHz.

Ulsterman 1690 · 10-11-2007 10:20PM

We are losing it on Ku as well. SCTV and their MMDS on 11.7GHz

Surely though the SCTV allocation is on a secondary basis (i.e. if they cause interference to anyone’s satellite reception and cannot resolve it they have to change frequency/reduce power/close down as necessary)

Terrestrial interference should be less problematic at Ku band because of improved receive antenna directivity at these frequencies.

Have there actually been any proven instances of 11 GHz MMDS interfering with people’s satellite reception ?

watty · 10-11-2007 11:22PM

Ah .. but what is likely is that the pixelation is higher on some channels or some such and its it likely the installer would suspect SCTV?
How many bases, where and what power? Why no map on Comreg like for FWALA licences?

Antenna · 11-11-2007 10:05AM

For Cork City, South coast Digital have one of their transmitters on RTE Network's Spur Hill mast and another transmitter at Hollyhill on the northside (nearly all Cork city would have line of sight with one or both).

Areas outside the city presently being served are in the main towns near Cork Harbour, Ballincollig and also areas around Bandon-Kinsale, AFAIK using existing UHF deflector masts, with the addition of another site just north of Carrigaline. The service originates at their main mast on the hill south west of Carrigaline, the other sites just retransmit on the same frequencies and polarisation (H)

Their eight MUXs use the same frequencies as vertical ones on Sky Digital but with opposite polarisation (Horizontal) to reduce the possibility of interference

Zaphod · 12-11-2007 10:16AM

Ulsterman 1690 wrote: »

I thought all SES satellites used Ku band ?

All SES Astra satellites. But the parent company have been busy buying up a number of different operators e.g. New Skies, Americom etc.

Zaphod · 19-11-2007 11:19AM

Satellite Industry Safeguards C-band Frequency Spectrum Use At WRC-07
GENEVA --(Business Wire)-- The global satellite industry emerged today from four weeks of successful negotiations to protect the users of its C-band spectrum from terrestrial interference. With its unequivocal "no change" campaign, the satellite industry at WRC-07 has ensured its uninterrupted, interference-free use of C-band for the future. The 2007 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07) of the UN's International Telecommunication Union (ITU), is the place where 191 Member States assemble every four years to work out the rules by which countries get to use the precious radio frequency spectrum.

"This outcome represents a strong endorsement by a large number of administrations of the critical nature and value of C-band satellite services as they exist today," said Rob Bednarek, CEO of SES NEW SKIES, an SES Company. "The certainty and stability provided by today's outcome allows us to continue our further development of new markets and services, including mobile broadband, by an industry well acquainted with customers real needs."

Andrew Sukawaty, Chairman and CEO of Inmarsat, stated: "We would like to thank all WRC 2007 delegates for recognizing the importance of the C-band for the satellite industry. Their decision to protect the C-band will enable us to continue offering essential communications to mobile users where terrestrial networks cannot reach, including aeronautical and maritime safety services"".

In addition to ensuring their uninterrupted use of the C-band, WRC-07 also gave satellite operators assurances that any future IMT (International Mobile Telecommunications) networks will provide them with full protection from interference. The endorsement of the satellite industry's use of this highly valuable spectrum in the band 3.4 - 4.2 GHz will ensure that operators will also have adequate bandwidth to roll out future service - especially in those regions where they are most in demand. These include the developing world, large industrialized countries, and remote regions.

"The results from the conference were very positive for the satellite industry," Phil Spector, General Counsel of Intelsat, commented. "The satellite industry and our customers worked together in an unprecedented manner to raise the awareness of regulators to how critical satellites are to the global telecommunications infrastructure," Spector continued.

The WRC has decided against the global identification for IMT, including Wimax, in any part of the satellite C band (3.4-4.2 GHz). In effect, the ITU table of allocations remains unchanged and the limited number of countries in favour of change are identified in an opt-in footnote. With this approach, the world's regulators participating in the WRC have clearly signaled that these bands are not globally harmonised for IMT. The WRC further restricted IMT, including Wimax, by imposing stringent requirements for the protection of existing and future satellite services in the band, including transborder protection.

Specifically, in Region 2 (the Americas and the Caribbean), there is no identification for IMT, just an upgrade, through a footnote, in 14 countries of the mobile service allocation in 3.4-3.5 GHz. In Region 3, only a very few (8) countries inserted their name to the footnote identifying IMT. Only in Region 1 was there broader support from countries to be included in the footnote identifying IMT for national use.

This outcome therefore shows overwhelming recognition of the need for continued interference-free operation of C-band satellite services that are essential for the provision of national over-the-air and cable television services, emergency and disaster recovery communications, Internet services, and mobile and wireline telephony trunking services.

The WRC-07 saw a well-organized lobbying campaign that included support from governments, international organizations, non-profits, and technology companies. Also on offer was terrestrial spectrum below 1 GHz that results from the transition from analogue to digital television, and here the mobile network operators were awarded the promise to use much of that spectrum in years to come.

http://latinamerica.tmcnet.com/news/2007/11/16/3100862.htm

Hand off our C-band say SES

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