[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 145 (Tuesday, July 29, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 40494-40497]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-20016]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 25

[IB Docket No. 96-111; CC Docket No. 93-23; FCC 97-252]


Non-U.S.-Licensed Satellites Providing Domestic and International 
Service in the United States

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: With this Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the 
Commission seeks additional comment on a framework to allow non-U.S.-
licensed satellites to provide domestic and international satellite 
services in the United States. The Commission tentatively concludes 
that the public interest requires adoption of uniform standards to 
determine whether a non-U.S. satellite system should be permitted to 
serve the United States. The Commission aims to promote greater market 
access, to foster fair competition, and to ensure lower prices, better 
service, and more innovative service offerings for U.S. users and 
competitors. This Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking contains 
proposed or modified information collections subject to the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). It has been submitted to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review under the PRA. OMB, the general 
public, and other Federal agencies are invited to comment on the 
proposed or modified information collections contained in this 
proceeding.

DATES: Comments may be filed no later than August 21, 1997. Reply 
Comments may be filed no later than September 5, 1997. Written comments 
by the public on the proposed and/or modified information collections 
are due September 29, 1997. Written comments must be submitted by the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on the proposed and/or modified 
information collections on or before September 29, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Office of the Secretary, Room 222, Federal Communications 
Commission, 1919 M Street, NW., Washington, DC 20554. In addition to 
filing comments with the Secretary, a copy of any comments on the 
information collections contained herein should be submitted to Judy 
Boley, Federal Communications Commission, Room 234, 1919 M Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20554, or via the Internet to [email protected], and to 
Timothy Fain, OMB Desk Officer, 10236 NEOB, 725--17th Street, NW.,

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Washington, DC 20503 or via the Internet to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Fern Jarmulnek at (202) 418-0751, 
William Kirsch at (202) 418-0764, or Robert Calaff at (202) 418-0431 of 
the International Bureau. For additional information concerning the 
information collections contained in this Further Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking, contact Judy Boley at (202) 418-0214, or via the Internet 
at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's 
Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in IB Docket No. 96-111; CC 
Docket No. 93-23; FCC 97-252, adopted July 16, 1997 and released July 
18, 1997. The complete text of this Further Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking is available for inspection and copying during normal 
business hours in the FCC Reference Center (Room 239), 1919 M Street, 
NW., Washington, DC, and also may be purchased from the Commission's 
copy contractor, International Transcription Service, Inc., 1231 20th 
Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036, telephone: 202-857-3800, facsimile: 
202-857-3805.
    This Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking contains either a 
proposed or modified information collection. The Commission, as part of 
its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, invites the general 
public and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to comment on the 
information collections contained in this Further Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public 
Law 104-13. Public and agency comments are due on or before August 21, 
1997; OMB notification of action is due September 29, 1997. Comments 
should address: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the 
Commission, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimates; (c) 
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on the respondents, including the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
    The modifications to approve collections have been submitted to the 
Office of Management and Budget for review under Section 3507(d) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3507(d)). For copies of the 
submissions contact Judy Boley at (202) 418-0214. A copy of any 
comments filed with the Office of Management and Budget should also be 
sent to the following address at the Commission: Federal Communications 
Commission, Performance Evaluation and Records Management Branch, Room 
234, Paperwork Reduction Project, OMB No. 3060-0678, Washington, DC 
20554. For further information contact Judy Boley, (202) 418-0214.
    OMB Approval Number: 3060-0678.
    Type of Review: Revision of existing collections.
    Title: Rules and Regulations for Satellite Applications and 
Licensing Procedures.

(Note: title name change)

    Form Number: 312.
    Respondents: Businesses or other for profit, including small 
businesses, governments.
    Number of Respondents: 1,310.
    Estimated Time Per Response: The Commission estimates that all 
respondents will hire an attorney or legal assistant to complete the 
form. The time to retain these services is 2 hours per respondent.
    Total Annual Burden: 2,620 hours.
    Estimated Costs Per Respondent: This includes the charges for 
hiring an attorney, legal assistant, or engineer at $150 an hour to 
complete the submissions. The estimated average time to complete the 
Form 312 is 10 hours per response. The estimated average time to 
complete space station submissions is 20 hours per response. The 
estimated average time for prepare submissions using non-U.S. licensed 
satellites is 22 hours per response. The estimated average time to 
complete the ASIA submission is 24 hours per response. Earth station 
submissions: $1935. ($1500 for Form 312; $375 remainder of application; 
$60 for outside hire). Space station submissions: $4560 ($1500 for Form 
312; $3000 for remainder of submission; $60 for outside hire). ASIA 
submissions: $3,660 ($3,600 for submission; $60 for outside hire). Non-
U.S. licensed satellite filings: $3,360 ($3,300 for submissions; $60 
for outside hire). Fee amounts vary by type of service and application. 
Total fee estimates for industry: $5,814,347.00
    Needs and Uses: In accordance with the Communications Act, the 
information collected will be used by the Commission in evaluating 
applications requesting authority to operate pursuant to Part 25 of the 
Commission's rules. The information will be used to determine the 
legal, technical, and financial ability of the applicants and will 
assist the Commission in determining whether grant of such 
authorizations are in the public interest.

Summary of Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

    1. With this Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Commission 
seeks additional comment on a framework to allow non-U.S. licensed 
satellites to provide service domestic and international satellite 
services in the United States. These issues were raised initially in a 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Domestic International 
Consolidation (DISCO II) proceeding issued on May 14, 1996, 61 FR 32398 
(June 24, 1996). In that Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Commission 
proposed to apply an ``effective competitive opportunities'' for 
satellites or ``ECO-Sat'' test to determine whether U.S. satellites 
have access to a foreign market before allowing a satellite licensed by 
that foreign country to serve the United States.
    2. In light of the recent conclusion of a World Trade Organization 
Agreement (WTO) on Basic Telecommunications Services (``Agreement''), 
this Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking revisits the DISCO II 
proposal, and asks for comment on how best to open U.S. markets in a 
manner consistent with our overriding goal of promoting a competitive 
satellite market in the United States. The Commission seeks comment on 
whether, and to what extent, the DISCO II proposals should be changed 
both with respect to countries and services covered by the Agreement 
and those that are not. In particular, the Commission proposes (1) to 
establish a presumption that no ECO-Sat analysis is required in 
evaluating whether to permit satellites licensed by WTO members to 
provide services covered by the U.S. schedule of commitments under the 
Agreement (``covered services'') within the United States and between 
the United States and other WTO members; (2) to retain the proposed 
ECO-Sat test for non-WTO members, intergovernmental organizations, and 
services for which the United States has taken an exemption from most-
favored-nation obligations under the Agreement (``non-covered 
services''); and (3) to consider whether grant of an application to 
access a non-U.S. licensed satellite will otherwise serve the public 
interest, convenience, and necessity.
    3. In addition, this Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposes 
that non-U.S. licensed satellites be eligible to be participate in a 
U.S. satellite processing round either by filing an earth station 
application or a letter of intent to participate by the cut-off date 
for consideration in that round. The

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Commission does not propose to require participation in U.S. processing 
rounds as a prerequisite to access to the U.S. market. Rather, systems 
coordinated under International Telecommunications Union (ITU) 
procedures seeking coordination would be accommodated through earth 
station licensing to the extent possible.
    4. In this Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Commission 
tentatively concludes that the public interest requires that the 
Commission adopt uniform standards to determine whether a non-U.S. 
satellite system should be permitted to serve the United States. In 
proposing these standards, the Commission seeks to foster efficient and 
innovative satellite communications services for U.S. users through 
fair competition among multiple service providers, including non-U.S. 
service providers. In recognition of the liberalization of the global 
telecommunications market under the WTO Basic Telecom Agreement, the 
Commission proposes to rely on competitive market forces rather than an 
analysis of effective competitive opportunities abroad in evaluating 
requests to serve the United States using WTO member satellite systems. 
To promote competition where the WTO Basic Telecom Agreement does not 
apply, the Commission proposes to apply an ECO-Sat analysis where 
requests to serve the United States involve non-WTO satellite systems, 
IGO satellite systems, or services exempt from most-favored-nation 
obligations under the WTO Basic Telecom Agreement. In proposing this 
framework, the Commission aims to promote greater market access, to 
foster fair competition, and to ensure lower prices, better service, 
and more innovative service offerings for U.S. users and competitors. 
The Commission may condition or deny authorizations based on other 
important public interest considerations. These include: spectrum 
availability and technical coordination, compliance with Commission 
rules and procedures, and compliance with foreign ownership rules. The 
Commission tentatively concludes that requiring applicants to provide 
the same information the Commission requires for U.S. systems is 
consistent with the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) 
obligations. The Commission also seeks comment, on what, if any, 
additional changes should be made to the earth station application form 
(Form 312).

Procedural Issues

    5. As required by section 603 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 
the Commission has prepared an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 
(``IRFA'') of the expected impact on small entities of the proposals 
suggested in this document. The IRFA is set forth in below. Written 
public comments are requested on the IRFA. These comments must be filed 
in accordance with the same filing deadlines as comments on the rest of 
this Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, but they must have a 
separate and distinct heading designating them as responses to the 
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis. The Secretary shall send a 
copy of this Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, including the 
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, to the Chief Counsel for 
Advocacy of the Small Business Administration.
    6. Pursuant to applicable procedures set forth in Secs. 1.415 and 
1.419 of the Commission's Rules, 47 CFR 1.415 and 1.419, interested 
parties may file comments on or before August 21, 1997 and reply 
comments on or before September 5, 1997. To file formally in this 
proceeding, you must file an original and four copies of all comments, 
reply comments, and supporting comments. If you want each Commissioner 
to receive a personal copy of your comments, you should file five 
additional copies. Send comments and reply comments to the Office of 
the Secretary, Room 222, Federal Communications Commission, Washington, 
DC 20554. Comments and reply comments will be available for public 
inspection during regular business hours in the Federal Communications 
Commission, Reference Center, Room 239, 1919 M Street NW., Washington, 
DC 20554.
    7. Written comments by the public on the proposed and/or modified 
information collections are due to Commission on or before September 
29, 1997. In addition to filing comments with the Secretary, a copy of 
any comments on the information collections contained herein should be 
submitted to Judy Boley, Federal Communications Commission, Performance 
Evaluation and Records Management Branch, Room 234, 1919 M Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20554, or via the Internet to [email protected] and to 
Timothy Fain, OMB Desk Officer, 10236 NEOB, 725 17th Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20503 or via the Internet to [email protected].

    Note: OMB is required to make a decision concerning the modified 
collection of information contained in this Further Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking between 30 and 60 days after publication of this 
document in the Federal Register. Therefore, a comment to OMB is 
best assured of having its full effect if OMB receives it within 30 
days of publication.

    8. This is a permit but disclose notice and comment rulemaking 
proceeding. Ex parte presentations are permitted, except during the 
Sunshine Agenda period, provided they are disclosed as provided in the 
Commission's rules. See generally 47 CFR 1.1202, 1.1203, and 1.1206(a).

Ordering Clauses

    9. Accordingly, it is ordered that pursuant to the authority 
contained in Sections 1, 4(i), 303(r), 308, 309, and 310 of the 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 303, and 
308, notice is hereby given of our intent to adopt the policies and 
rules set forth in this Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and that 
comment is sought on all the proposals in this Further Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking.
    10. It is further ordered that the Secretary shall send a copy of 
this Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, including the Initial 
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of 
the Small Business Administration.

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

A. Reason for Action

    11. In this proceeding the Commission seeks to solicit comments and 
develop a record on the proposed policies and rules to allow non-U.S. 
licensed satellite systems and satellite transmissions originating 
outside of the U.S. to enter the U.S. market and to continue licensing 
receive-only earth stations operating with non-U.S. satellite systems. 
These proposed rules are designed in large part to promote competition 
and enhance customer service and options throughout the United States 
and the world.

B. Objective

    12. The Commission seeks to establish standard rules and procedures 
to regulate foreign entry into the U.S. satellite services market in 
order to promote competition, prevent anti-competitive conduct in the 
market for international communications services, and foster open 
communications markets around the world.

C. Legal Basis

    13. The legal basis of this action is found in Sections 303 and 
308(c) of the Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C. 303 and 308(c).

D. Reporting, Recordkeeping and Other Compliance Requirements

    14. We propose to require that earth stations and other entities 
working in

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conjunction with non-U.S. satellite systems and foreign satellite 
service providers file certain information regarding the foreign 
service, markets, and satellite systems. This is not estimated to be a 
significant economic burden for these entities.

E. Federal Rules That Overlap, Duplicate or Conflict With These Rules

    15. None.

F. Description, Potential Impact and Number of Small Facilities 
Affected

    16. The proposed rules would apply to all earth stations or service 
providers (including small entities) that seek authorization under Part 
25 and Part 100 of the Commission's rules to operate with a non-U.S. 
licensed satellite. These proposals are intended to ensure that U.S. 
satellite systems can compete effectively in international markets and 
that competition in the United States is maximally enhanced. Copies of 
this Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking will be sent to the Chief 
Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration.

G. Any Significant Alternative Minimizing Impact on Small Entities 
Consistent With Stated Objectives

    17. The Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking solicits comment on 
other alternatives to achieve the Commission's objectives.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 25

    Satellites.

Federal Communications Commission.
William F. Caton,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-20016 Filed 7-28-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-U