Elefante Asks FCC to Start Work on Hovering 5G/IoT Platforms Rules

Elefante Group, developing a stratospheric-based communications and IoT-enabling system, petitioned the FCC to amend part 2 and 101 rules to allow deployment of stratospheric-based communications services (SBCS). Friday's petition seeks "a new model of spectrum access" where SBCS systems "will exhibit compatibility by design," and it wants co-primary access to the 21.5-23.6 GHz band for uplinks, 25.25-27.5 GHz band for downlinks and the 71-76 and 81-86 GHz bands for feeder links. It said its proposed stratospheric platform stations will operate at nominally fixed locations at 65,000-feet altitudes and allow SBCS services of 1 Tbps in both directions between the stations and user terminals. The company said each airship would have a coverage area of 6,000 square miles. Elefante said SBCS applications include 5G deployment and commercial communications services such as 4G and 5G backhaul and residential broadband. The petition asks for a co-primary allocation in the 26 GHz band, SBCS technical and operational rules for the 22-23 GHz and 26 GHz bands, rules allowing SBCS feeder links the 70/80 GHz bands and licensing rules for non-exclusive assignments to SBCS operators based on regional economic area. It asks the agency to start a rulemaking within a year and complete it within two years.