[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 229 (Wednesday, November 30, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-29440]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: November 30, 1994]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Parts 2 and 5

[ET Docket No. 93-266; FCC 94-276]

 

Pioneer's Preference Rules

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: By this Memorandum Opinion and Order the Commission denies a 
petition for reconsideration of the First Report and Order in this 
proceeding filed by CELSAT, Inc. This action will result in Celsat's 
pioneer's preference request, PP-28, being considered in RM-7927, the 
proceeding in which Celsat's companion petition for rule making is 
under consideration, rather than in ET Docket No. 92-28, the above 1 
GHz low-Earth orbit satellite service proceeding.

EFFECTIVE DATE: November 30, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Rodney Small, Office of Engineering and Technology, (202) 653-8116.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's 
Memorandum Opinion and Order, adopted October 24, 1994, and released 
November 3, 1994. The full text of this Commission decision is 
available for inspection and copying during regular business hours in 
the FCC Reference Center (Room 239), 1919 M Street, NW, Washington, DC. 
The complete text of this decision also may be purchased from the 
Commission's duplication contractor, International Transcription 
Service, Inc., (202) 857-3800, 2100 M Street, NW., Suite 140, 
Washington, DC 20037.

Summary of Memorandum Opinion and Order

    1. In the Notice of Proposed Rule Making (Notice) in this 
proceeding, 58 FR 57578 (October 26, 1993), the Commission sought 
comment on whether and how the pioneer's preference rules could be 
amended to take into account competitive bidding and its experience 
administering them, or whether they should be repealed. In the First 
R&O, 59 FR 8413 (February 22, 1994), the Commission determined that it 
would not apply amendments to its rules to the three proceedings in 
which Tentative Decisions had been issued. Celsat requested 
reconsideration or clarification of the First R&O insofar as that 
decision affects the inclusion or exclusion of Celsat's pioneer's 
preference request, PP-28, in Docket 92-28, which is one of the three 
proceedings in which a Tentative Decision had been issued and 
therefore, under the decision in the First R&O, would be considered 
under the existing pioneer's preference rules. Celsat argues that its 
pioneer's preference request is pending in Docket 92-28.
    2. The First R&O did not address whether Celsat's pioneer's 
preference request is being considered in Docket 92-28 and had no 
effect on the status of Celsat's request. However, because Celsat 
argues that it is uncertain as to the status of the request, the 
Commission clarifies that the request has been, and remains, pending in 
RM-7927.
    3. Celsat states that the Commission issued a Public Notice on 
March 11, 1992 ``in an apparent response to Celsat's [pioneer's 
preference] filing [that] established April 10, 1992 as the final day 
for filing any additional pioneer's preference requests'' in Docket 92-
28. Celsat also argues that the Commission's Office of Engineering and 
Technology issued an Order consolidating Celsat's pioneer's preference 
request with five other pioneer's preference requests in Docket 92-28, 
and that the Commission made an initial ruling on Celsat's companion 
petition for rule making in the Notice of Proposed Rule Making and 
Tentative Decision (NPRM) in that docket.
    4. The Commission finds that Celsat's petition for rule making 
addressed a number of frequency bands, several of which were already 
the subject of an ongoing proceeding. Those portions of Celsat's 
petition that addressed two bands being considered for low-Earth orbit 
satellite operations, 1610-1626.5 and 2483.5-2500 MHz, were considered 
in the proceeding initiated to address those bands, Docket 92-28. 
Because Celsat's petition as it related to those bands proposed a 
terrestrial component that was inconsistent with the international 
allocation of those bands, the portion of Celsat's petition that 
addressed those bands was dismissed. Had Celsat's petition addressed 
only those bands, its request for pioneer's preference also would have 
been dismissed, inasmuch as a pioneer's preference request is tied to 
adoption of rules consistent with the request. However, since the 
portion of Celsat's petition addressing other bands remains pending in 
RM-7927, its companion pioneer's preference request also remains 
pending in that proceeding.
    5. Celsat's arguments that its pioneer's preference request was 
associated with Docket 92-28, either in addition to or instead of RM-
7927, are demonstrably incorrect. Celsat's request was placed on public 
notice on March 9, 1992. The public notice clearly stated on it face 
that the pioneer's preference request was filed in conjunction with 
Celsat's petition for rulemaking, RM-7927. Pioneer's preference 
requests pertaining to Docket 92-28 were separately placed on public 
notice and clearly marked with that docket number on the same day. 
There was no mention of Docket 92-28 in the Public Notice addressing 
Celsat's request, and no mention of RM-7927 in the Public Notice 
addressing Docket 92-28.
    6. Additionally, an Order extending comment time periods cited by 
Celsat as consolidating the two proceedings clearly did not do so. 
While the Order denied an extension of time request that was filed with 
respect to the two separate proceedings, the request did not ask us to 
consolidate the two proceedings. Both the caption and text of the 
Order, as released March 27, 1992, made clear that RM-7927 and Docket 
92-28 are separate and distinct. The Order twice refers to the 
``proceedings,'' and paragraph 4 exclusively discusses Docket 92-28 
while paragraph 5 separately discusses RM-7927. Not only would 
consolidation have been beyond the bounds of a routine ruling on an 
extension of time request that made no reference to consolidation, but 
the Order itself left no doubt that it did not address consolidation.
    7. Finally, the NPRM and Report and Order in Docket 92-28 dismissed 
Celsat's petition for rulemaking only with respect to the 1610-1626.5 
and 2483.5-2500 MHz bands. The Commission explicitly stated therein 
that the surviving portion of Celsat's petition remained pending. 
Furthermore, Celsat's pioneer's preference request was addressed in the 
Tentative Decision in Docket 92-28, and Celsat did not file comments 
nor request clarification of the status of its request despite its 
request not being addressed.
    8. For the above reasons, we conclude that Celsat's pioneer's 
preference request remains pending before the Commission in RM-7927. 
Whether any changes to the pioneer's preference rules that may be 
adopted in the instant proceeding will apply to pending requests, such 
as Celsat's PP-28, is yet to be determined. Accordingly, it is ordered, 
That the petition for reconsideration filed by Celsat, Inc., is denied.

List of Subjects

47 CFR Part 2

    Frequency allocations and radio treaty matters, Radio.

47 CFR Part 5

    Experimental radio services (other than broadcasting), Radio.

Federal Communications Commission.
LaVera F. Marshall,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 94-29440 Filed 11-29-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-M