GigaBeam Founders Pioneer FCC Rulemaking

Louis Slaughter, GigaBeam CEO, filed an FCC rulemaking petition on September 10, 2001 for licensing of the 71-76 GHz, 81-86 GHz frequency bands. Doug Lockie, GigaBeam CTO, led the effort for licensing of the 92-95 GHz band. A Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) was released by the FCC on June 13, 2003. Cisco Systems provided strong backing for Mr. Slaughter’s petition on May 13, 2003 when they submitted an Ex Parte filing to the FCC in support of the proposed rulemaking. With this filing Cisco Systems documented the demand drivers and quantified the large market potential for wireless fiber-speed point-to-point communications in the United States. On November 1, 2002, the Wireless Communications Association International (WCAI) filed comments proving virtually universal industry backing for Mr. Slaughter’s petition with their support of the FCC’s NPRM. The FCC announced their rulemaking intentions in a press release on October 16, 2003, and announced the rules on November 4, 2003. On February 23, 2004, the WCAI filed a petition which underscored wide industry support for the announced rules and made recommendations to “fine tune” the rules regarding interference with prior users, frequency channelization, power density, interference criteria, and authorization for conditional operation. On February 24, 2005 the FCC adopted rules as detailed in report 05-45 “Allocations and Service Rules for the 71-76 GHz, 81-86 GHz, and 92-95 GHZ Bands.” These rules were released March 3, 2005. Part 101 details the service rules applicable to all US Fixed Microwave Services.