The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) and the Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) (collectively, Bureaus) are seeking proposals for future Spectrum Access System (SAS) Administrator(s) and Environmental Sensing Capability (ESC) operator(s) in the 3.5 GHz Band. SASs and ESCs are essential components necessary for future operations in the 3.5 GHz Band. SASs
will serve as advanced, highly automated frequency coordinators across the band, protecting higher tier
users from harmful interference from lower tier users and optimizing frequency use to facilitate
coexistence among all users in the band. The ESCs will consist of networks of sensors that will detect the
presence of signals from federal systems in the band and communicate that information to one or more
SASs to facilitate protection of federal operations in the band.
Proposals may be submitted on or after January 15, 2016. The deadline for submission of “first wave” proposals is April 15, 2016. No fewer than 30 days prior to the “first wave” proposal deadline,
the Bureaus will hold a public meeting to discuss the proposal submission process and address questions from prospective SAS Administrators and ESC operators. The Bureaus will review all proposals submitted prior to April 15, 2016 concurrently and with equal priority. The Bureaus will continue to consider proposals and amendments thereto submitted after this date, but they may not be considered concurrently with “first wave” proposals. After review of the “first wave” proposals, The Bureaus will release a list of the conditionally approved SAS Administrators and ESC operators that submitted proposals during that time. The Bureaus will notify the public if any proposals are conditionally approved after the “first wave.” Proposals will not be considered mutually exclusive and the Bureaus will conditionally approve as many proposals as are found to satisfy all applicable requirements.
