Ground flight crews at the Northern Plains Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site will now use Access Spectrum’s Upper 700 MHz A Block Spectrum to enhance communication capabilities with UAS.

The agreement enables the North Dakota site to test UAS command and control operations on a dedicated spectrum, according to a news release. The Upper 700 MHz A Block Spectrum, formerly used for television analog broadcast signals, is being licensed by the FCC for private use in a broad range of applications. Access Spectrum is a licensee within this FCC space on the communications spectrum.

“The Northern Plains UAS Test Site can now offer access to this dedicated spectrum to industry for any research projects and, at the same time, test the safety and efficiency of this communications channel for UAS applications,” Northern Plains UAS Test Site Executive Director Robert Becklund said, according to the release. “It is often difficult to access private spectrum, so this agreement gives us a distinct advantage to attract UAS research partners to North Dakota who want to have broader abilities within the communications spectrum.”