ISED Update DGSO Presentation to RABC January 16, 2019 Agenda - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

ISED Update – DGSO

Presentation to RABC January 16, 2019

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Agenda

The purpose of this presentation is to provide the RABC with an overview

• f highlights and of next steps on:
• Spectrum Operations
• ISED’s December 2018 response to letter from RABC
• CPC 2-0-20 Antenna Installation — Site Compliance and Access

Control

Part 1: Spectrum Operations

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2019 Renewals and Assessments

• AWS-1, PCS G-block and I-block licences have begun to expire

(December 2018):

• Assessed renewal eligibility, notified licensees of results
• Continue submitting annual reports/site data prior to licence expiry…

Reminder letter for licences expiring by March 2019 will be sent later this month

• End of term spectrum renewals, including:
• PCS (FCFS), 3500 MHz, 2300 MHz WCS, Air-to-Ground, and 24 / 38 GHz BWA

(FCFS)

• Mid-term audits:
• 700 MHz, PCS (FCFS)

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Fees – Fixed Radio Point-to-Point

• In November 2018, initiated consultation on modernizing fixed radio

licence fees:

• Consumption-based model
• Periodic fee adjustment – fee escalator
• Minimum, short-duration and prorated fees
• Comments from the 20 respondents were posted January 10th
• Reply comment period closes January 25th

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New set of service areas (Tier 5)

• Initiated consultation on a new set of service areas for spectrum

licensing (Tier 5) – Nov. 27

• Service areas based on municipality boundaries, or
• Small, medium and large population centres, or
• Alternative proposals
• Design principles
• Granted 2 week extension for comment and reply comment periods
• Comments due: February 14, 2019
• Reply comments due : March 21, 2019

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Service Fees Act

• In 2017 the Government of Canada passed the new Service Fees Act (SFA):
• Includes the requirement that all federal government departments adjust

fees periodically

• Our licence fees have not changed since 1996 (radio) and

2004 (spectrum)

• Radio and spectrum licence fees, will go up annually by the cost of living by

the "All-items Consumer Price Index” (CPI), as published by Statistics Canada:

• The CPI fee increase as of March 15, 2020, will be 2.2%
• As the CPI can be unpredictable, we are planning on consulting on an

alternative fee adjustment

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Part 2: ISED’s December 2018 response to letter from RABC

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Background

• Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada received a letter from the

RABC concerning the Safety Code 6 (SC6) Reporting Program

• The letter makes a series of recommendations concerning:
• Site-by-site certifications
• Availability of accurate data for SC6 analyses
• Certification of SC6 compliance reports
• Revision and simplification of GL-08
• SC6 section in the Engineering Brief for Broadcasting Undertakings
• ISED recently provided a response to the letter

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Recommendations: Status and Next Steps

• Site-by-site certifications
• ISED will permit aligning expiry dates of broadcasting certificates on a site basis, upon

written request from all site broadcasters

• Next step: Department to work with RABC to agree on requirements to submit

requests

• Availability of accurate data for SC6 analyses
• Data integrity is a concern for all stakeholders
• ISED will address issues when identified but relies on licence holders providing correct

information

• Certification of SC6 compliance reports
• SC6 compliance reports do not require sign-off by certified engineers
• The submitting operator is responsible to ensure that information contained in the

report is technically correct and that the analysis has been properly conducted

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Recommendations: Status and Next Steps (Cont’d)

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• Revision and simplification of GL-08
• A draft of GL-08 has been shared with RABC in December
• Next Step: Once RABC comments received, GL-08 to be finalized
• SC6 section in the Engineering Brief for Broadcasting Undertakings
• ISED will accept a preliminary RF exposure analysis in the engineering brief for an

application, with a detailed report to be submitted later in the application process

• Next Steps:
• ISED will engage with the RABC during the review of BPR-1, Section 8, Assessment
• f Exposure to RF Energy
• ISED will release the source code of the Hi-Field analysis software to the RABC

through an “as-is” licence agreement. A draft agreement will be provided to the RABC for comment

Part 3: CPC 2-0-20 Antenna

Installation — Site Compliance and Access Control

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Compliance with Safety Code 6

• ISED adopted Safety Code 6 (SC6) for the purpose of protecting the

general public from radio frequency (RF) overexposure

• Health Canada is solely responsible for the development SC6
• Compliance with SC6 is a condition of authorization. Sites must

comply with the uncontrolled environment (UE) limits of SC6 at all times

• Includes consideration of local radio environment (nearby

transmissions)

• Compliance is based on the entire site, not each individual

transmitter separately

Antenna Installation – Site Compliance and Access Control (CPC-2-0-20)

• Current version (Issue 1) came into effect March 2013, replacing GL-02

guidelines

• In order to be compliant, the general public must not have access to

any area where the UE limits of SC6 are exceeded

• Individuals who are at a site for work purposes (any work) are not

considered to be the general public

Antenna Installation – Site Compliance and Access Control (CPC-2-0-20)

• ISED has received questions from industry on what was required to be

compliant; need for additional information

• Later this year, ISED plans to propose amendments to the current

CPC to provide clearer guidance

• Guiding Principles for all types of installations
• Fencing requirements
• Upfront requirements for new sites, phase-in for existing sites
• Existing sites are still required to meet minimum compliance

requirements in order to protect the general public (this is a current requirement)

Antenna Installation – Site Compliance and Access Control (CPC-2-0-20)

• Some guiding principles that may be proposed
• Clarity on preventing access by general public
• Considerations for environmental factors (snow accumulation,

frost heave, soil conditions)

• Consideration for surrounding structures (natural or man-made)
• Conductivity of the access control mechanisms
• Clarity on access point security
• Clarity on scenarios requiring anti-climbing devices