[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 227 (Wednesday, November 25, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 65087-65128]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-31334]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Parts 1, 21 and 74
[MM Docket No. 97-217; FCC 98-231]
MDS and ITFS Two-Way Transmissions
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: In this Report and Order (``Order''), the Commission adopts
amendments to its rules to enable Multipoint Distribution Service
(``MDS'') and Instructional Television Fixed Service (``ITFS'')
licensees to engage in fixed two-way transmissions. These rule changes
enhance the flexibility of MDS and ITFS operations through facilitated
use of response stations, use of cellular configurations, use of signal
booster stations with program origination capability, and use of
variable bandwidth (``subchanneling'' or ``superchanneling''). As a
result of these rule changes, any MDS and ITFS frequencies in the 2 GHz
band may be used by licensees, or leased to wireless cable operators,
for broadband data, video or voice transmissions to and/or from
subscribers' premises, promoting the competitive position of the
wireless cable industry, augmenting the educational uses of these
frequencies by ITFS entities, and increasing services to consumers.
DATES: Effective January 25, 1999.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael J. Jacobs, (202) 418-7066 or
Dave Roberts, (202) 418-1600, Video Services Division, Mass Media
Bureau.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a synopsis of the Commission's
Report and Order, MM Docket No. 97-217, adopted September 17, 1998, and
released September 25, 1998. The full text of this Order is available
for inspection and copying during normal business hours in the FCC
Reference Center (Room 239), 1919 M Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., and
also may be purchased from the Commission's copy contractor,
International Transcription Services, Inc., (202) 857-3800, 1231 20th
Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.
Synopsis of Report and Order on MDS and ITFS Two-Way Transmissions.
I. Introduction
1. This Order is adopted by the Commission after receiving and
evaluating comments and reply comments, including ``permit-but-
disclose'' ex parte comments, filed in response to the Commission's
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (``NPRM'') in this docket. MDS and ITFS
Two-Way Transmissions, 62 FR 60025, Nov. 6, 1997, as corrected, 62 FR
60750, Nov. 12, 1997. The NPRM was issued after the Commission
initially sought comment on a petition for rulemaking filed by a group
of 111 educators and participants in the wireless cable industry
(collectively, ``Petitioners''), comprised of MDS and ITFS licensees,
wireless cable operators, equipment manufacturers, and industry
consultants and associations. Currently, MDS and ITFS licensees are
authorized to use digital technology in order to increase the number of
usable one-way channels available to them, leased ITFS frequencies and
MDS channels may be used for asymmetrical high speed digital data
applications so long as such usage complies with the Commission's
technical rules and its declaratory ruling on the use of digital
modulation by MDS and ITFS stations (``Digital Declaratory
[[Page 65088]]
Ruling,'' 11 FCC Rcd 18839 (1996)), and MDS licensees have been
permitted to provide two-way service on a limited basis. Response
channels, which currently are allocated in 125 kHz blocks for use in
association with most MDS and ITFS stations, must be individually
licensed under the Commission's existing rules. Prompted by the
petition for rulemaking, the NPRM anticipated that many MDS and ITFS
licensees and wireless cable operators engaging in two-way
transmissions will require more capacity for return paths than is
available through such 125 kHz channels, and recognized that the
individual licensing of such channels is too cumbersome and imposes too
great a financial burden on licensees seeking to implement two-way
wireless services. Instead, the NPRM proposed to implement a system
under which MDS and ITFS licensees would be permitted to utilize all or
part of a 6 MHz channel for return path transmissions from subscriber
premises, to cellularize their transmission systems to take advantage
of spectrally efficient frequency reuse techniques, and to employ
modulation schemes consistent with bandwidths either larger or smaller
than 6 MHz, all while providing incumbent MDS and ITFS licensees
interference protection equivalent to what they currently receive.
2. The comments and reply comments from wireless cable industry
participants generally support the NPRM's proposals, and include a
Joint Statement of Position (``Joint Statement'') supported by several
industry participants in an attempt to reach agreement primarily on
issues related to leasing of excess spectrum capacity by ITFS
licensees. While several commenters express concern over the details of
the proposals advanced in the NPRM and of the Joint Statement, the
comments and reply comments reflect unanimous support in the MDS and
ITFS communities for rules which would enable MDS and ITFS licensees
and wireless cable operators to offer a wide array of new, enhanced
services, including new digital and two-way communications services. As
a result, in this Order we: (1) permit both MDS and ITFS licensees to
provide two-way services on a regular basis; (2) permit increased
flexibility on permissible modulation types; (3) permit increased
flexibility in spectrum use and channelization, including combining
multiple channels to accommodate wider bandwidths, dividing 6 MHz
channels into smaller bandwidths, and channel swapping; (4) adopt a
number of technical parameters to mitigate the potential for
interference among service providers and to ensure interference
protection to existing MDS and ITFS services; (5) simplify and
streamline the licensing process for stations used in cellularized
systems; and (6) modify the ITFS programming requirements in a digital
environment. We believe that the rules that we adopt in this Order will
facilitate the most efficient use of the affected spectrum, enhance the
competitiveness of the wireless cable industry, and provide benefits to
the educational community through the use of two-way services, while
still permitting traditional use of the spectrum, thus giving both MDS
and ITFS licensees the flexibility they need to serve best the public
interest.
II. Technical Changes to Rules
A. Revised Definitions of Service
3. The ITFS/MDS spectrum is used primarily for the provision of
either one-way video service to students, in the ITFS context, or, in
the MDS context, wireless cable service to subscribers, which likewise
historically has constituted primarily the provision of one-way video
services. While our Rules already permit MDS licensees to provide non-
video services, under our current regulatory scheme, MDS operators
typically only provide two-way service to subscribers using telephone
return links or individually licensed subscriber premises stations.
This is an outgrowth of the basic one-way approach to MDS transmission
from which our current rules originated.
4. Changes that we adopt in the Order to MDS and ITFS service
definitions fully incorporate the concept of two-way transmission and
reflect the reorientation of the regulatory approach to a flexible
service, from that of an essentially one-way service. A regulatory
system is created authorizing the use of response station hubs and the
more flexible use of response stations, enabling the two-way operation
of wireless cable systems. Specifically, the definition of a ``response
station'' is amended to indicate that licensees may use all or part of
any of their 6 MHz channels as a response channel. Response stations
will be the means of transmission from a subscriber's premises, and can
use either separate transmitting antennas for return paths or combined
transmitting/receiving antennas. The concept of a response station hub
is added, and these hubs will serve as the collection points for
signals from the response stations in a multipoint-to-point
configuration for upstream signal flow. Thus, response stations would
not need to be licensed individually, and they could operate at lower
power because the response station hubs would be located closer to
subscriber premises than are current transmitter sites. Moreover, the
hubs are expected to improve service reliability and permit greater
frequency reuse than if each subscriber were required to communicate
directly with their associated main transmitter site.
5. We further amend the definition for ``signal booster stations''
to allow such stations to originate transmissions, as well as to relay
transmissions from other stations. Booster stations now may be used to
cellularize wireless cable operations in areas too large to be served
by a single station. High-power boosters are those which operate above
-9 dBW EIRP, while low-power boosters may operate at or below the -9
dBW threshold. Permitting boosters to originate as well as relay
programming will facilitate frequency reuse, cellular configurations,
two-way high speed Internet access and other services. Booster station
signals will receive interference protection within the booster's
service area, but not at receive sites beyond the booster's service
area, and booster stations may not have overlapping service areas. We
also agree with the Joint Statement and with the comments of several
parties that all booster stations should be licensed to the licensee of
the channels used by the booster station.
6. After receiving broad support in the comments and reply comments
to the NPRM, flexible subchannelization (i.e., the division of a
channel of a particular bandwidth into multiple, but not necessarily
equal, channels of smaller bandwidth) will be permitted to allow more
efficient channel reuse within a given service area, and
superchannelization (i.e., the combining of more than one channel into
a single, wider channel) will be allowed and may be used for the
transmission of high data rates and/or the use of spread spectrum
emissions. Superchannels also will be licensed to multiple entities in
many instances, due to the fact that the interleaved, non-contiguous
channels in this band generally are licensed to different entities.
Subchannels and superchannels will be limited to digital transmissions
with fixed uniform power spectral density across the bandwidth, in
order to make possible the use of spectral density analysis as part of
the interference analysis process. However, we are permitting the
maximum possible flexibility for digital subchannelization and
superchannelization. Such flexibility includes: subchannelization and
[[Page 65089]]
superchannelization of 6 MHz and 125 kHz channels; permitting such
techniques both for point-to-multipoint (downstream) and response
channel use; subchannelization of superchannels, e.g., an 18 MHz
superchannel could be redivided into two 9 MHz channels or any other
combination which sums to 18 MHz; division of superchannels into
partially overlapping subchannels which sum to greater than the width
of the superchannel, e.g., an 18 MHz channel subdivided into three
channels each 8 MHz wide, thus producing two overlapping areas of 3 MHz
each; and permitting licensees to use either static (fixed and
unchanging) or dynamic (not fixed and changing) bandwidths at their
stations, so as to optimize the efficiency and speed of information
flow. We will continue to issue individual authorizations to individual
licensees for 6 MHz and 125 kHz channels, and we will not issue
specific authorizations for superchannels or subchannels.
7. Finally, after receiving support from most commenters, we adopt
rules in accordance with the most flexible framework proposed in the
NPRM for use of the 125 kHz channels. Such flexibility includes:
permitting the 125 kHz channels to be used as response channels and/or
for point-to-multipoint transmissions, which promotes greater options
for two-way system design and more efficient use of the spectrum;
allowing licensees to swap 125 kHz channels and removing requirements
that each 125 kHz channel be used solely in conjunction with a
specifically associated 6 MHz channel, which together present
opportunities for licensees to create channels with bandwidths
exceeding 125 kHz; and, as suggested by the Instructional
Telecommunications Foundation, Inc. (Foundation), allowing the content
of those channels to be independent of that transmitted on related 6
MHz channels. For the sake of simplicity and consistency with the MDS/
ITFS database, we also redesignate the 125 kHz channels as the I
channels. In adopting this flexible approach towards the 125 kHz
channels, we deny the request of the Catholic Television Network (CTN)
that we reallocate all of the 125 kHz channels to ITFS and use them
solely for response transmissions, and we also deny the University of
Maryland's request that we mandate that any non-ITFS use of I channels
licensed to an ITFS entity be secondary to ITFS use. Where the I
channels are used for downstream transmissions, they will be afforded
interference protection in the same manner as other point-to-multipoint
MDS and ITFS facilities. An MDS or ITFS licensee or applicant wishing
to use its I channels for downstream transmissions shall apply for such
authority using FCC Form 331, and shall prepare interference showings
and serve them on potentially affected parties.
B. Interference Considerations
8. Spectral Mask. In the Digital Declaratory Ruling, the Commission
waived its rules with respect to out-of-band emissions and permitted
the use of a somewhat relaxed spectral mask for digital transmission
modes. This action was taken because the Commission concluded that the
application of the current analog emission mask to digital emissions
would be unnecessarily restrictive and could increase the cost of
digital equipment while providing no benefit. In addition, the results
of laboratory tests submitted in connection with the Commission's
consideration of this issue demonstrated that a digital station using
the relaxed mask is less likely to cause interference than an analog
station using the existing, more restrictive, mask.
9. As proposed in the NPRM, and subject to slight modifications
based on comments of the General Instrument Corporation (formerly
NextLevel Systems, Inc.) which we believe will have no impact on the
interference environment, we permanently incorporate into the Rules the
digital spectral mask waiver provisions of the Digital Declaratory
Ruling, specifically for main station, high-power booster and response
station transmitters which operate on a single 6 MHz channel; masks
also are specified, albeit with certain further modifications, for sub-
and superchannels, 125 kHz channel stations, and high-power booster
stations transmitting using analog or digital modulation on multiple
non-contiguous channels simultaneously carrying separate signals
(``broadband boosters''). Furthermore, as in the Digital Declaratory
Ruling, all spectral mask calculations involving digital emissions will
use the average power of the emission across its bandwidth, and steps
must be taken to ensure substantially uniform power spectral density
across the bandwidth in use, including constant power per unit of
bandwidth for sub-and superchannels, with 6 MHz as the reference
bandwidth, and continuous energy dispersal during times of no
modulation. We also incorporate into the Rules formulas provided by
Petitioners for consistent spectral mask measurement and
interpretation, and based on comments by CTN and as a result of
technological advances over the past year, we eliminate the exception
proposed in the NPRM to the mask for response stations, which would
have allowed for discrete spurious emissions. No spectral mask
whatsoever will be applicable to low-power booster stations using
analog or digital modulation, but such transmitters will be shut down
if it is established that they are causing harmful interference.
10. Power. As requested by Petitioners, we will permit response
stations to use up to 33 dBW EIRP. While the Commission had proposed in
the NPRM to place a limit of 18 dBW EIRP on response station
transmitters in cellularized systems, and although we continue to be
concerned about interference, we concur with the conclusions of
Petitioners' propagation analysis that the proposed 18 dBW power limit
would adversely impact system range and reliability, thereby increasing
the number of stations needed and increasing system costs. As a
practical matter, however, we do not expect that all, or even most,
response stations will utilize the maximum power permitted. In
addition, while current MDS and ITFS rules limit booster power to 18
dBW EIRP, henceforth we allow boosters to operate up to 33 dBW EIRP,
the maximum power level for MDS and ITFS. The 33 dBW power limit is
predicated on a bandwidth of 6 MHz, and the power limit for stations
using lesser bandwidth must be reduced proportional to that bandwidth.
We also retain frequency tolerance requirements for digital and analog
main station and high-power booster station transmitters, while
declining to impose such requirements for low-power booster and
response station transmitters; retain rules requiring type
certification of main and booster transmitters, and adopt rules
requiring type certification of response station transmitters, subject
to exceptions set forth in the Digital Declaratory Ruling regarding the
use of existing analog equipment for digital emissions; and adopt rules
protecting against excessive radio frequency (``RF'') emissions
exposure from MDS/ITFS return path transmissions, in a manner similar
to the approach that we adopted for LMDS.
11. Interference Protection Criteria. The Commission's current
regulations in ITFS and MDS for interference protection were designed
to minimize the potential for destructive cochannel and adjacent
channel interference between systems located in proximity to each
other. The specific criteria for protection are of two forms, namely,
(1) cochannel and adjacent channel
[[Page 65090]]
desired-to-undesired signal (D/U) ratios and (2) limits on the
magnitude of a station's free space field as measured at the edge of
the station's protected service area. For cochannel interference
protection, an applicant must configure its system so that the signals
from each of its transmitters are at least 45 dB weaker than the
signals of the existing licensee's transmitters within the licensee's
protected service area and/or, in the case of ITFS licensees, at the
licensee's protected receiver sites. For adjacent channel protection,
the ratio must be at least 0 dB. In order to meet the second form of
protection, an applicant generally must be able to demonstrate that the
magnitude of the free space radiated field from each transmitter does
not exceed a particular limit (i.e., a power flux density -73 dBW/
m2) at the boundary of the applicant's service area.
12. As proposed in the NPRM, and as supported by all parties
commenting on this issue, we will apply the existing interference
criteria in essentially unchanged form, and supplement them with
similar new criteria to be applied to hub, booster, and response
stations. Furthermore, because two-way systems will involve large
numbers of transmitters with heavy frequency reuse and simultaneous
operation, a calculation of the combined field produced by the main
station transmitter, all cochannel boosters, and the aggregated power
from cochannel response stations within a system will be utilized to
determine compliance with the interference criteria where these
stations partially or completely share spectrum. These criteria shall
be adjusted to account for the particular bandwidths involved in the
calculations. We also emphasize that where an interfered-with receive
antenna meets the antenna characteristics set forth in our MDS and ITFS
rules, the station causing the harmful interference is responsible for
curing it.
13. Interference Prediction Methodology. In order to predict the
interference potential of response stations in cellularized systems, we
will implement a modified version of the three-step process proposed in
the NPRM, which uses statistical analysis and worst-case assumptions in
deriving theoretical estimations of the locations and characteristics
of individual response stations, because these response stations will
be licensed under blanket authorizations which specify only the
locations of the associated hubs to which the response stations
transmit. This methodology is found in Appendix D to the Order, and is
captioned ``Methods for Predicting Interference from Response Station
Transmitters and to Response Station Hubs and for Supplying Data on
Response Station Systems.'' This sequence of system design, development
and authorization necessitates a radical departure from the customary
process whereby interference calculations are made based on specific
information concerning specific stations at specific locations with
specific operating parameters.
14. In step one, the hub station response service area (``RSA'') is
defined and a grid of points is located within this area representative
of the expected actual distribution of response station transmitters
within the area. Regions within the area are defined so that an
adequate population uniformity exists for purposes of predicting
interference from a distribution of response station transmitters.
While the methodology originally proposed in the NPRM would have
determined population uniformity using a complex formula involving
evaluation of the population density within each ZIP Code within the
planned boundaries of a region, in response to comments filed by Spike
Technologies, Inc. (Spike) and others that this procedure would not
produce results representative of the actual distribution of response
stations, the methodology has been corrected so that interference
analyses will be conducted from the grid points which have the greatest
interference potential, taking into account, both for TDMA and CDMA
systems, all potential victim sites both inside and outside the RSA. In
step two, the technical characteristics of response stations which will
be associated with each point in the RSA grid are identified. One or
more classes of response stations are identified within the RSA and its
regions, with each class being a function of several variables, such as
transmitted power (EIRP), antenna height, frequency, bandwidth, and
maximum number of assumed simultaneously operated response stations in
the regional class; these characteristics and others will be specified
in the response hub application. In response to comments of EDX
Engineering, Inc. (EDX) and others that the originally-proposed
methodology ignored terrain data, each grid point now will be assigned
the highest elevation AMSL of all the geographic area surrounding that
grid point, thus making the theoretical stations assigned to each grid
point much more likely to be representative of the actual interference
potential.
15. The final step in calculating response station interference
would require combining the radiated fields of all response stations of
all classes, regions and RSAs within the primary station's protected
service area. In order to simplify this calculation, the statistical
population uniformity within each region will be used as a basis for
grouping response stations of all classes in proximity at the grid
points laid out within each RSA; multiple classes could share the same
grid points. For each class of response stations assigned to a grid
point, a set of worst-case assumptions will be made concerning the
transmitting antenna radiation pattern, transmitter power (EIRP) and
antenna height. Several complex calculations, including procedures for
checking the initial calculations, combining the radiated field for all
of the transmitters for each class of response station at each grid
point from all RSAs will then be used to evaluate compliance with the
interference criteria. Subsequently, licensees are free, upon
notification to the Commission, to continue adding response station
transmitters within their systems until calculations indicate that
permissible interference values would be exceeded.
16. We also have considered other proposed modifications to the
proposals in the NPRM for predicting interference from response
stations and to hubs, which we believe render the methodology
sufficiently comprehensive and conservative without being overly
protective or stifling of growth. For instance, we agree with CTN and
others who argue that the ``minimum receivable signal'' hub protection
standard proposed in the NPRM would have, in some instances,
overprotected the hub and thus potentially precluded construction of
other stations. Instead, we adopt Petitioners' amended proposal to
protect the hub's noise floor, and to take into account the actual
antenna(s) in use at the hub. However, in adopting the methodology as
modified, we decline to adopt several other proposed modifications,
including: EDX's proposed alternate methodology, in which all response
station transmitters within a defined area would be represented by a
single hypothetical aggregate response station located at the hub site,
and which likely would give erroneous interference calculations for
many two-way system configurations; Spike's suggestion that applicants
should be free to choose any methodology they wish for making
interference calculations, which would have promoted uncertainty and
slowed the evaluation of applications; and Spike's recommendation that
hubs be
[[Page 65091]]
redefined to include transmitting capability, which would add
unnecessary complexity to the interference protection rules and which
is further unnecessary in light of the ability of licensees to
collocate hubs with boosters and main stations.
17. We also decline to adopt the guardband proposal for
interference protection advanced by CTN. CTN contends that interference
could be caused to ITFS receive sites by nearby response stations which
are neither cochannel nor adjacent channel to the channels in use at
the ITFS receive sites, as a result of brute force overload (``BFO'')
to broadband downconverters used at these sites. As a solution to the
potential problem of interference from response stations, including
BFO, CTN proposes that a guardband be used as a buffer between
downstream ITFS operations and upstream operations, with downstream MDS
operations occupying the guardband. CTN argues that a guardband would
have several benefits, such as mooting the need for calculating
response station interference into ITFS receive sites, and confining
the risk of BFO, as well as cochannel and adjacent channel
interference, solely to MDS licensees. While we find CTN's guardband
proposal unduly limiting of system design flexibility, and we also at
this time reject as unduly restrictive CTN's proposal of on-air testing
of response stations within a certain proximity of ITFS receive sites
prior to activation of those response stations, we adopt a slightly
modified version of CTN's proposal that no response station may be
installed until a notification is sent to each ITFS licensee with any
registered receive site within a distance of 1960 feet of the location
of the proposed response station. Moreover, because we agree with CTN
that BFO is a possibility in certain limited circumstances, we will
require that licensees of stations causing interference immediately
commence a full cooperative effort with licensees receiving
interference, to solve the problem as quickly as possible at the
expense of the offending licensee. We emphasize that we will order the
immediate deactivation of part or all of a system if that system is
causing any interference--whether cochannel, adjacent channel or BFO--
and the licensee has not cooperated fully and in a timely manner to
eliminate the interference.
C. Modulation Methods
18. In the Digital Declaratory Ruling, the Commission authorized
the use of QAM and VSB modulation. While the Commission declined to
consider the use of other digital modulation methods in the context of
that proceeding, it stated that it would consider future requests for
declaratory rulings where the requesters submit appropriate data to
demonstrate that other modulation techniques could be used in a manner
that would not interfere with MDS and ITFS analog and digital
operations.
19. As in the Digital Declaratory Ruling, and as supported by the
commenters on this issue, we decline to adopt one or more ``standard''
digital technologies. We retain and add provisions for accommodating
the use of different modulation types. In the NPRM, the Commission
solicited comment on whether there is a basis for concluding that use
of particular digital modulation types by MDS and ITFS stations other
than VSB and QAM would not be prone to interference, based on the
current 45 dB/0 dB protection ratios for cochannel and adjacent channel
interference respectively, i.e. that such modulation formats should be
permitted without requiring test data. For example, one modulation type
may be a subset of VSB and QAM and, therefore, is covered under the
industry tests used to support the Digital Declaratory Ruling. In
response, four parties filed a joint request for declaratory ruling
asking that the Commission permit the use of two additional forms of
digital modulation, CDMA and QPSK, and we are persuaded to permit use
of those modulations on a regular basis at all MDS and ITFS stations.
In addition, because we wish to encourage parties to continue to
identify different digital modulation schemes that could be useful in
MDS and ITFS, we emphasize that we remain open to considering future
requests for declaratory rulings in accordance with the Digital
Declaratory Ruling, upon submission of appropriate data. Finally, in
order to facilitate testing and use of different digital modulations
where possible, we will permit licensees and system operators to use
any digital emission in limited circumstances which we set forth where
interference is unlikely or where all parties potentially affected by
interference have consented to such use, and so long as such emissions
meet spectral mask and uniform power spectral density requirements.
III. Application Processing Issues
20. We set forth a scheme governing the filing and processing of
applications for new or modified response station hubs, boosters or
downstream I Channel operations, that will substantially shift review
of such applications from Commission staff and leave much of the
interference environment to be worked out among licensees. As proposed
in the NPRM, we adopt a rolling, one-day filing window system. While
each applicant will be required to demonstrate protection of existing
or previously proposed facilities, applications filed on the same day
will be granted and the filers left to resolve incompatibilities
amongst themselves with little or no intervention by Commission staff.
Because parties will be unable to offer reliable service without
resolving such conflicts, we believe that the incentive to reach a
resolution will be so great that Commission involvement will be
unnecessary to resolve disputes.
21. Specifically, applications first will be placed on public
notice without prior staff review of interference studies. While the
Commission tentatively rejected in the NPRM Petitioners' proposal that
the applications then would be granted automatically on the 61st day
after that notice, unless a petition to deny was filed or the
Commission notified the applicant prior to that date that a grant would
not be made, the majority of commenters on the subject supported some
type of streamlined process, especially when coupled with a complete
guarantee of protection against interference. Upon review of these
comments, we have been persuaded that failure to adopt an expedited
processing system would be seriously detrimental to the provision of
two-way service, despite the increased burden that such a system places
on licensees to track and monitor applications. Thus, we adopt a
modification of the automatic grant proposal, a certification
procedure, whereby an applicant must certify in its application that it
has completed, served upon potentially affected parties, and submitted
to the Commission's copy contractor all required interference studies
(or consent letters) and engineering showings demonstrating no
interference. Before placing an application on public notice,
Commission staff will review it to ensure that all required
certifications are included, and any application that does not contain
the proper certifications will be dismissed. The application will be
granted in reliance on the certifications on the 61st day after public
notice, unless a petition to deny is filed against it or the Commission
finds in a random audit that the applicant certified falsely. A false
certification also could be grounds for revocation of a license. Though
consistent with similar certification procedures that have been adopted
for other communications
[[Page 65092]]
services, this approach is particularly appropriate for MDS and ITFS,
because the interdependence of those two services in most cases relies
on the parties working together. And, as a safeguard, systems causing
interference must cure it immediately or face shut-down, even if the
station applications had been unopposed.
22. A large number of applications are likely to be filed once the
new rules become effective, and many of the applications submitted at
that time may conflict with others filed simultaneously. Therefore, as
proposed in the NPRM, in order to smooth the transition to the rolling
one-day filing window application processing system, we adopt a special
one-week initial filing window, the opening of which will be announced
by public notice, where all applications filed during this window will
be deemed to have been filed as of the same day. Following the
publication of a public notice announcing the tendering for filing of
applications submitted during that window, applicants will have a
period of 60 days to amend their applications to resolve conflicts.
During this 60-day period, no additional applications may be filed,
affording those who filed during the one-week window an opportunity to
resolve any conflicts without fear that, during the pendency of
settlement discussions, third parties will propose facilities that will
have to be protected if the original applicants amend their
applications. After this initial 60 day period, public notice and
application grant procedures akin to those that we adopt for the
rolling one-day filing windows will be implemented. On the 61st day
after the publication of the second public notice, the rolling one-day
filing window will go into effect. We believe that our adoption of the
one-week initial filing window will lessen the burden on all affected
parties, including the Commission's staff, during the first round of
application filing. We also believe that providing parties with an
initial 60-day period during which they can resolve any apparent
conflicts and then amend their applications without prejudice will
serve to expedite service to the public by allowing parties to resolve
their differences without the need to seek Commission review through
the petition to deny process.
23. In the NPRM, the Commission solicited comment on whether to
adopt a system whereby an applicant, once authorization for service has
been granted, may switch from common carrier to non-common carrier
service and back without seeking subsequent authorization. The
Commission also sought comment on whether operators should be required
to give the Commission notice when they are switching back and forth
between common carrier and non-common carrier service, even if prior
approval is not required. What little comment we received on this
subject was supportive of providing the requested flexibility, and we
adopt rules implementing it, subject to a requirement that licensees
provide the Commission with 30-days advance notice of such changes.
IV. Proposals and Issues Primarily Involving ITFS
24. Under Sec. 74.931 of the Commission's Rules, ITFS stations are
operated by educational organizations and are ``intended primarily to
provide a formal educational and cultural development in aural and
visual form,'' to students enrolled for credit in accredited secondary
schools, colleges and universities. Currently, Sec. 74.931(e)(9)
specifies that an ITFS licensee who leases excess channel capacity to a
wireless cable operator must provide a total average of at least 20
hours per channel per week of ITFS programming on its authorized
channels. ITFS licensees in such lease arrangements also retain the
right to recapture ``an average of an additional 20 hours per channel
per week for simultaneous programming on the number of channels for
which it is authorized.'' In addition, an ITFS licensee may shift its
required educational programming onto fewer than its authorized number
of channels via channel loading or channel mapping. The licensee may
further agree to transmission of recapture time on channels not
authorized to it but which are included in the wireless cable system of
which it is a part.
A. ITFS Programming Requirements
25. In the NPRM, the Commission sought comment on several issues
related to the question of whether to change our ITFS programming
requirements in light of the use of digital technology by ITFS
licensees. It asked whether there should be different rules depending
on whether the wireless cable system employs digital or analog
transmissions, or some combination of both. It further asked whether
our existing program content requirements should be retained or whether
they should be modified. Specifically, the Commission sought comment on
whether data transmission and voice transmission should count toward
the fulfillment of minimum programming requirements, and if they were
to count, how they would be measured. The Commission also welcomed
suggestions on whether education-related upstream transmissions should
be applied towards satisfaction of minimum ITFS programming
requirements, and, if so, how they should be measured for that purpose.
The Joint Statement takes positions on many of these issues. To the
extent that it and its supporters represent an agreement by most of the
parties in the wireless cable industry and MDS and ITFS services, we
have accorded it deference in formulating our policies. Nonetheless,
while we find some its approaches sound, we find some if its provisions
unworthy of adoption.
26. Redefinition of Eligible Content. Commenters unanimously
support the proposal that spectrum usage beyond video programming be
eligible to satisfy ITFS educational usage requirements. We agree that
availability of advanced technologies dictates that it is now time to
accord ITFS licensees increased flexibility in determining which
transmissions qualify as satisfying educational usage requirements, so
long as such transmissions are in furtherance of the educational
mission of an accredited public or private school, college or
university, or other eligible institution (such as certain uses by
health care facilities), offering courses to enrolled students. Such
uses may include downstream or upstream video, data and voice
transmissions. In addition, while heretofore not qualifying to satisfy
educational usage requirements, qualifying uses now may include, but
are not limited to, teacher conferencing, remote test administration,
distribution of reports and assignments, research towards and sharing
works of progress in projects for courses, professional training,
continuing education, and other similar uses. Furthermore, in light of
the myriad of possible uses of the spectrum for courses by accredited
schools, we no longer need a separate rule pertaining to where
transmissions are not to on-campus receive sites.
27. We also will subject ITFS signal booster stations to
educational usage requirements, in conjunction with those to which main
ITFS stations are subject, and unless otherwise specified in the Rules,
a ``channel'' henceforth shall refer to any of the 6 MHz frequency
blocks assigned pursuant to Secs. 21.901(b) and 74.902(a) of the
Commission's Rules. We amend Sec. 74.931 and other pertinent rules to
reflect all of these changes. However, while Hispanic Information and
Telecommunications Network contends that qualifying educational service
should not be
[[Page 65093]]
limited to that offered by accredited institutions, we disagree,
because requiring that a qualified licensee be an accredited
institution provides greater certainty of the integrity of the
licensee's educational function. Thus, we will keep intact our
eligibility requirements of Sec. 74.932(a).
28. Analog Programming Requirements. Commenters who address this
subject unanimously believe that the current programming requirements
should be retained for ITFS licensees solely engaged in transmission of
downstream analog programming. We agree, and we will impose no changes
to programming requirements where licensees solely use analog
transmissions. However, for some commenters there is still discord over
what the extent is of the recapture time requirement. In the NPRM, the
Commission rejected Petitioners' proposed changes to Sec. 74.931(e)
that sought to revise the absolute 20 hours per channel per week
recapture time requirement to provide that the ITFS programming
requirements constitute a total of 40 hours per channel per week,
including both actual programming and recapture time. While Petitioners
and some other commenters argue that the Commission's stance in the
NPRM will deter investment, we believe that the Commission's rejection
in the NPRM of Petitioners' proposed changes to our recapture time
requirements was correct. However, in response to concerns expressed by
BellSouth, we clarify that the Rules do not require that 20 hours
always be reserved without accounting for the amount of recapture
already exercised.
29. Digital Educational Usage Requirements. While CTN insists that
educational usage requirements must be modified to reflect increased
capacity arising from use of digital technology, and argues that a
proportionate increase in instructional usage is needed to prevent the
dilution of the instructional nature of ITFS channels, the overwhelming
majority of commenters on these issues favors retaining the current
minimum educational usage requirements in a digital environment. Some
of these commenters, such as BellSouth, argue that ``there is no direct
correlation between technological advancements and the need for ITFS
programming''; others, such as Wireless One of North Carolina, L.L.C.,
observe that many ITFS licensees are finding it difficult even to
satisfy the existing ITFS minimum educational usage requirements;
several others assume the posture reflected in the Joint Statement,
that while the educational usage requirements should not be changed,
25% of an ITFS licensee's capacity should be immediately available to
the ITFS licensee or subject to recapture (with a minimum of 5% of the
licensee's capacity immediately available); and some others, such as
the San Francisco-San Jose Educator/Operator Consortium, contend that
recapture requirements are inefficient and urge that the Commission
abolish them.
30. Because we seek to maximize the flexibility of educators and
wireless cable operators to design systems which best meet their varied
needs, we will adopt ITFS excess capacity leasing rules which best
promote this flexibility while at the same time safeguarding the
primary educational purpose of the ITFS spectrum allocation. After a
careful review of the comments in this proceeding, we decide that these
goals are best harmonized where digital transmissions are used by
retaining the current 20 hours per channel per week educational usage
requirements, adopting the Joint Statement's proposed absolute
reservation of a minimum of 5% of an ITFS station's licensed capacity
for instructional purposes only, and eliminating requirements setting
aside capacity for ready recapture by ITFS licensees. We emphasize that
the 20 hours per channel per week minimum educational usage requirement
is independent from, but concurrent with, the minimum 5% capacity
reservation; further, the reserved capacity can be devoted to
satisfying minimum educational usage requirements. These complementary
standards are in the public interest because they insure the immediate
devotion of ITFS spectrum to formal educational usage, and the
provision by ITFS licensees of at least as much educational usage as
they provide under the current rules, while providing for expansion of
ITFS service offerings and maximization of spectrum available for
leasing to wireless cable operators. Thus, these standards also serve
the same purposes as the recapture provisions that they supplant.
31. Whether a reservation of 5% of the licensee's capacity is
sufficient to meet the minimum educational usage requirements, let
alone provide for future expansion of service, will depend both on the
digital compression ratio employed by the licensee, and on the
particular form of transmissions utilized by the licensee to meet its
usage requirements; in some cases, an ITFS licensee may need to reserve
more than 5% of its capacity in order to satisfy its educational usage
requirements or to provide room for future expansion of services. We
also emphasize that an ITFS licensee may reserve for itself in excess
capacity lease negotiations more than the minimum required reservation
of capacity, and is free not to lease its excess capacity at all if it
does not wish to do so.
32. Measurement of Educational Usage. In recognition of the
difficulty of measuring compliance with the requirements of 20 hours
per channel per week of educational usage and the 5% minimum capacity
reservation, and in light of the varied forms that ITFS spectral usage
can take, we agree with those parties commenting on this issue that at
least for now, the best course is to rely on the good faith efforts of
ITFS licensees to meet these requirements, subject to potential
Commission audits with the licensee bearing the burden of proof of
compliance. We decline to adopt time-of-day requirements for measuring
educational usage, and in light of changed content requirements and
available service options as a result of this proceeding, we grant
relevant portions of pending petitions for reconsideration of a 1994
Commission decision that only programming transmitted for ``real time''
viewing by students counts towards minimum educational usage
requirements.
B. Channel Loading, Shifting and Swapping
33. It is anticipated that system developers will attempt to
utilize contiguous 6 MHz channels for two-way services in order to
minimize the amount of spectrum that would be lost to the spectral mask
whenever a return path is adjacent to a downlink channel. Furthermore,
entire ITFS channel groups may need to be devoted for return paths.
Thus, in the NPRM, the Commission advanced Petitioners' proposal that
we allow ITFS licensees to satisfy their educational usage requirements
on other channels within the wireless cable system (``channel
loading''), and not mandate that licensees meet these requirements
using at least one of their own channels (``channel shifting''). The
Commission also proposed to allow the trading of channels between
licensees (``channel swapping''), and solicited comment on whether ITFS
licensees should be required to retain one or more channels for
downstream transmissions. The general concepts of channel loading,
shifting and swapping are endorsed by the Joint Statement and supported
by almost all of the commenting parties. With the exception of our
channel loading rules and intra-ITFS channel swaps between licensees
using analog transmissions only, the concepts which we permanently
adopt in the Order apply only to licensees using digital
[[Page 65094]]
transmissions, leasing excess capacity to an operator which uses
digital transmissions, or swapping channels with a licensee which uses
digital transmissions.
34. Channel Loading. The parties commenting on our channel loading
rules unanimously support their retention, and we shall do so. In
response to comments of Petitioners and of BellSouth, we also modify
these rules to eliminate the requirement that each ITFS licensee
engaged in channel mapping or channel loading preserve the ability to
transmit all of its ready recapture time simultaneously on the number
of channels for which it is licensed.
35. Channel Shifting. The overwhelming majority of commenters on
this proposal wholeheartedly support it. While the Joint Statement
supports the proposal so long as the usage is shifted onto channels
licensed to other ITFS entities, we are amending our Rules to permit
maximum flexibility in voluntary channel shifting for an ITFS licensee
which itself uses, or leases excess capacity to a wireless cable
operator which uses, digital transmissions. Such flexibility
encompasses the right of an eligible ITFS licensee to shift its
required educational usage onto any other channel(s) within the same
wireless cable system, regardless of whether licensed to an MDS or ITFS
entity. We hope that the flexibility we accord to ITFS licensees to
lease their channel capacity, along with the maintenance of minimum
ITFS educational usage requirements, also encourages educators to apply
for new ITFS stations and leads to more educational usage.
36. Downstream Channel Reservation. Of the few comments that we
received on this issue, the majority favors a mandatory preservation of
one downstream channel. We are adopting the Joint Statement's proposal,
as modified by comments of Alliance for Higher Education, et al.
(Higher Education Alliance): that each ITFS licensee leasing channels
to be used for return paths shall be required to maintain at least 25%
of its capacity to be used for downstream transmissions both during the
term of the lease and following termination of its leasing arrangement;
and that this preservation need not be over the licensee's own licensed
channels. In order to provide additional safeguards of the ITFS
spectrum allocation, we stipulate further that in the event the leasing
arrangement ends, the wireless cable operator must return to the ITFS
licensee unfettered use of as many 6 MHz channels as are authorized to
the licensee; only 25% of these channels, however, must be devoted to
downstream transmissions.
37. Channel Swapping. The comments that we received unanimously are
in favor of the concept, and most commenters on these issues indicate
full support both for swaps between ITFS channels, as well as between
ITFS and MDS channels. The rules that we adopt allow nearly maximum
flexibility in the types of swaps that may take place. We decline to
adopt proposals limiting the location of response channels, such as a
proposal which the Commission tentatively rejected in the NPRM as
unduly restrictive, which sought to convert MDS channels 1, 2 and 2A to
upstream use only, leaving the rest of the MDS and ITFS spectrum solely
for downstream use. Moreover, because channel swapping is voluntary and
its terms negotiable, we see no need to adopt the proposal of Schwartz,
Woods & Miller (SWM) to require that the wireless cable operator cover
all of the costs of channel swaps. We implement simple procedures for
channel swap applications: Each licensee seeking to swap channels shall
file a pro forma assignment application with the Commission, attaching
an exhibit which clearly specifies that the application is filed
pursuant to a channel swap agreement.
38. Effects on ITFS License Renewal. Several commenters urge that
it is important that we clarify that channel shifting, in particular,
will not constitute a basis for, or be a factor in, a license renewal
proceeding; the Joint Statement also contains a provision to this
effect. This concern arises over possible effects of an ITFS licensee
not providing any educational usage over its own licensed channels,
even if it satisfies its educational usage requirements on other
channels in the same wireless cable system. Because we recognize that
two-way system design may be based largely on the implementation of
channel shifting, and that wireless cable operators and their ITFS
lessors may be deterred from utilizing these efficiencies without
assurances that doing so will not have an adverse effect at the time
the ITFS licensee seeks renewal, we amend Sec. 74.931 to reflect that
the fact that an ITFS licensee utilizes channel shifting, channel
loading or channel mapping will not itself be considered adversely to
the licensee in seeking a license renewal.
C. Autonomy of ITFS Licensees and Agency Role
39. When the Commission solicited comments in preparation for the
NPRM, several of the ITFS parties who commented at that time expressed
concern that the proposed two-way scheme presents threats to the
independence of ITFS licensees and their future ability to use spectrum
capacity for instructional purposes. Some of those concerned commenters
focused on the effect that the proposed rules may have on the
engineering autonomy of ITFS licensees. Concerned commenters also
identified issues relating to possible encroachment upon the financial
autonomy of ITFS licensees by implementation of the proposed two-way
framework. While the Commission, in the NPRM, sought comment on the
effects that cellularization would have on the engineering and
financial autonomy of ITFS licensees, it also acknowledged that any
proposed solutions inherently would implicate the fundamental question
of what degree of oversight the Commission should maintain in
regulating the wireless cable industry and ITFS. The Commission
solicited views on this fundamental question, and on one of its
principal offshoots, the question of what impact the proposed two-way
rules should have on the Commission's requirements regarding excess
capacity lease agreements.
40. The comments that we received in response to the NPRM evince
many of the same concerns expressed by some of the ITFS commenting
parties in earlier rounds of comment, and likewise are met with
opposing comments conveying responses comparable to those previously
conveyed. Some of our decisions in the Order, such as generally
prohibiting involuntary modifications to ITFS stations in a two-way
environment, should help address some of the concerns of ITFS licensees
regarding their autonomy and ability to continue providing service
should they no longer be in a relationship with a wireless cable
operator. However, while we will continue to require certain provisions
in excess capacity leases between ITFS licensees and wireless cable
operators, and likewise will continue to prohibit certain provisions,
we believe generally that ITFS licensees can--and should--in their
negotiations with wireless cable operators arrange for lease terms that
best protect their own individual interests and needs.
41. As a starting point, we reemphasize the Commission's
declaration in the NPRM that cellularization by ITFS licensees is
[[Page 65095]]
permissive only, and not mandatory. In addition, we have decided to
grant all ITFS licensees protected service area (psa) protection, in
response to concerns over coercion such as those expressed by the
Foundation, that otherwise there would be a disparity in interference
protection between ITFS licensees that offer high-speed Internet
service pursuant to a lease with a wireless cable operator, and ITFS
licensees that provide exactly the same service on their own. We also
reaffirm the ability of stand-alone ITFS licensees to provide
communications services that are not specifically educational over
their frequencies, so long as they meet the educational usage
requirements set forth in our Rules.
42. Engineering Autonomy. We agree with the commenters who
recognize that our requirement that each ITFS licensee retain 25% of
its capacity for downstream transmissions will present significant
assistance to ITFS licensees in continuing to provide downstream
educational services. Nevertheless, we believe generally that post-
relationship configuration issues should be arranged by the ITFS
licensee in the course of negotiating the terms of its excess capacity
lease with the wireless cable operator. We further conclude that,
particularly in light of the primary educational function of ITFS
licensees, where an ITFS licensee is not the source of transmissions
over its licensed bandwidth, we will not regard the ITFS licensee as
having legal control over the content of such transmissions. At most,
an ITFS licensee's legal control over content transmitted over its
authorized bandwidth is a contractual matter between the leasing
parties.
43. Financial Autonomy. In the NPRM, the Commission sought comment
on the concerns of several commenters at that stage of the proceeding
that ITFS licensees will be unable to sever their relationship with the
wireless cable operator and acquire the equipment to either continue
cellular operations or return to non-two-way transmissions. While some
commenters such as CTN, the Foundation, and SWM propose various
regulatory solutions to these concerns, we agree with the commenters
who argue that the ITFS licensee should address these concerns itself
in its lease negotiations. Thus, we decline to adopt proposals to
require that two-way wireless cable operators establish a performance
bond or escrow account, with sufficient funds to ensure the
uninterrupted operation of participating ITFS stations for a given
period; or to have transmission systems transfer automatically to the
ownership and control of the ITFS licensee upon termination of the
lease, or upon commencement of a lease term. However, consistent with
current policy, we will require that each excess capacity lease contain
a provision assuring the ITFS licensee's right to purchase the actual
equipment, or equipment comparable to that, used by the ITFS licensee
during the lease for educational purposes. This means, for example,
that if the ITFS licensee was providing educational services during the
lease period utilizing digital transmissions, the wireless cable
operator is not obligated to retain analog transmission equipment for
ITFS licensees seeking to return to traditional downstream analog
transmissions. In addition, as requested by CTN, this required lease
provision applies to dedicated or common equipment used for educational
purposes. Nonetheless, as further indicated by CTN, negotiations
between the parties to the lease still will be required to spell out
the appropriate specific equipment that must be made available.
44. Commission Role. In the NPRM, the Commission described how in
the past, it has adopted rules and procedures to accommodate and
protect what has been viewed as the special needs of educational
institutions and organizations, believing that educational institutions
should be treated differently from commercial entities in many
situations due to limited financial and staff resources. One of these
protections has been required review by the staff of ITFS excess
capacity lease agreements, for overly restrictive provisions affecting
the licensee's rights and obligations and for compliance with the
Commission's leasing policies. The Commission requested comment on
whether parties should continue to be required to file written
agreements governing the ITFS licensee's lease of excess capacity on
its channels.
45. The comments that we received on this issue generally are split
between those who believe that many ITFS licensees are well-funded, and
those who believe that many still have very limited resources. Because
we believe that many examples supporting both viewpoints exist, we find
it still appropriate for us to maintain some degree of oversight
regarding the relations between the wireless cable industry and ITFS,
albeit a limited role which allows for maximum possible flexibility of
the parties in establishing excess capacity lease provisions, while at
the same time ensuring educational use of ITFS and a licensee's ability
to continue uninterrupted in that use should its relationship with the
wireless cable operator terminate. In this regard, we will heed the
prescriptions of the numerous commenters who request that we continue
to review excess capacity leases for provisions overly restrictive of
ITFS licensees and in order to police established safeguards, and
require amendment of noncompliant leases. However, consistent with many
of our decisions in the Order regarding the substance of such leases,
we intend this review to be on a lesser scale than previously, and to
be more deferential to the burdens and benefits which constitute the
agreement between the parties to the leases, and to allowing
flexibility in implementation of two-way services.
46. In the NPRM, the Commission tentatively rejected, but
nonetheless sought comment on, a proposal, advanced by the Foundation,
that the Commission require that two-way digital applications and
interference consents be reviewed by legal and engineering counsel that
do not represent commercial interests, and that these independent
advisors certify that in their professional opinion the submission will
not harm future instructional service. The Commission noted that past
attempts to require all leasing parties to hire separate counsel have
been declined by the Commission, having found this safeguard
unnecessary and relying instead on the staff's review and monitoring of
leases. After reviewing the comments on this issue, we continue to see
no reason to change our position on this issue, and we decline to adopt
the Foundation's proposal.
47. Grandfathering of Excess Capacity Lease Provisions. The Joint
Statement recommends that excess capacity lease agreements that provide
for digital usage and were entered into prior to release of the Order
be ``grandfathered for their duration.'' We seek to ensure a transition
as smooth as possible to two-way operations, and we are persuaded by
commenters such as Higher Education Alliance who describe how
effectively requiring amendment of numerous existing leases could prove
unduly burdensome to ITFS licensees and wireless cable operators who
did not anticipate such changes. However, since the March 31, 1997
release of our Public Notice announcing the filing of the petition for
rulemaking which initiated this proceeding, no party can be heard to
argue that it did not have notice that ITFS/MDS two-operations were
anticipated in the not-too-distant future. Thus, any excess capacity
lease entered into, renewed, or extended after March 31, 1997 is
expected to be brought into compliance immediately
[[Page 65096]]
with all of the rule changes and policies that are adopted here, as is
each new such lease, renewal, or term extension from here onward.
Finally, we emphasize that we will not adjudicate whether the
provisions of any specific lease contemplated digital operations as a
general matter. In the absence of resolution between the parties to the
lease, we believe this issue to be a matter of contract law properly
heard before a state tribunal. In framing our policies towards
grandfathering of certain excess capacity leases, we have considered,
and rejected, SWM's proposal that in order to protect the rights of
incumbent ITFS licenses, the Commission require that leases approved or
submitted under the previous rules ``be amended to make clear that the
wireless cable lessee and the ITFS licensee have together considered
the rule changes adopted and made any appropriate changes to lease
terms, prior to the commencement of commercial operations on the
frequencies using cellularization, sectorization or differing
channelization plans.''
48. Length of Leases. The Joint Statement urges that the Commission
allow excess capacity leases of up to 15 years duration, provided that
any lease extending beyond the term of a licensee's authorization
provides for termination of the lease in the event the Commission
denies the subject station's application for renewal. Virtually all of
the commenters who address this proposal support it, and we are
adopting it. In doing so, we decline to adopt the Foundation's
suggestion of maintaining the 10 year lease limit for downstream-only
digital and analog systems, while allowing a 15 year limit for two-way
systems.
49. Other Lease Requirements. Petitioners urge that the Commission
reverse two policies which, Petitioners assert, were not formed in
rulemaking proceedings: (1) Barring lease provisions that require an
ITFS licensee to assign its remaining obligations under an excess
capacity lease if it chooses to assign its underlying license; and (2)
Rejecting lease provisions which require that an ITFS licensee, seeking
to cease operating its facility during the excess capacity lease term,
provide the wireless cable operator a reasonable opportunity to secure
an eligible ITFS assignee before the license is returned to the
Commission for cancellation. We believe that it is appropriate to
continue our ban of provisions that would require an ITFS licensee to
assign its remaining obligations under an excess capacity lease.
However, henceforth we will allow provisions that would permit a
wireless cable operator to find a qualified ITFS assignee to assume the
license prior to its cancellation, and we set forth guidelines to
govern what constitutes acceptable such provisions.
50. The Joint Statement contains provisions which call for all
excess capacity leases to state that the ITFS licensee ``shall have the
right to use any Internet services offered over the system at no
greater than the lowest prevailing commercial rate and shall have
reasonable access, at rates to be negotiated between the parties, to
other services offered over the system (such as addressability and two-
way capability).'' Because we believe that these are best private
contractual matters between the parties, we decline to implement these
provisions of the Joint Statement.
D. ITFS Call Sign Transmission
51. In the NPRM, the Commission presented Petitioners' arguments
that the burdens of continued enforcement of the ITFS call sign
transmission requirement in a two-way environment will far outweigh the
benefits. The Commission sought comment on the proposed elimination of
Sec. 74.982, and solicited alternative solutions for maintaining the
accountability of ITFS licensees. The few commenters which addressed
this proposal unanimously favored eliminating the call sign
transmission requirement where digital transmissions are utilized. In a
two-way environment, alleviation of interference problems primarily
will be left to the wireless cable operator, because of all the
coordination it must do to make a two-way system function properly. In
recognition of this and the greater efficiency of digital
transmissions, we believe that the burdens embedded in Sec. 74.982,
such as costs, outweigh the benefits of applying the rule to any ITFS
station using any digital transmissions. Thus, any ITFS station using
digital modulation, whether or not in a lease agreement with a wireless
cable operator and whether or not in a two-way system, will be exempt
from the requirements of Sec. 74.982. However, because these costs
would not be prohibitive to ITFS stations using only analog
transmissions, and because the benefits of interference identification
can still be realized economically where transmissions are in analog,
we will retain Sec. 74.982 and apply it to ITFS stations which transmit
only in analog.
V. Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA)
52. As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 5 U.S.C.
Sec. 603, an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) was
incorporated in the NPRM in this proceeding. The Commission sought
written public comment on the proposals in the NPRM, including on the
IRFA. The Commission's Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) in
this Order conforms to the RFA, as amended by the Contract With America
Advancement Act of 1996.1
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Public Law 104-121, 110 Stat. 847 (1996) (CWAAA); see
generally 5 U.S.C. Secs. 601 et seq. Title II of the CWAAA is the
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A. Need for and Objectives of Action
53. In the Order, we amend parts 1, 21 and 74 of our Rules to
enable MDS and ITFS licensees to provide two-way communication
services. These services will be enhanced through the use of two-way
audio, video and data communications from ``response'' stations, the
use of booster stations with program origination capability in a
cellular configuration designed to create spectrum flexibility through
frequency reuse, and the use of variable bandwidth (``subchanneling''
and ``superchanneling'') to create additional flexibility. We believe
the final rule amendments will facilitate two-way transmission and
other improvements to the MDS and ITFS services.
B. Significant Issues Raised by the Public in Response to the Initial
Analysis
54. No comments were received specifically in response to the IRFA
contained in the NPRM. However, some commenters did raise arguments
concerning the effect that certain of our proposals may have on small
entities.
55. As to whether we should increase educational usage requirements
when ITFS licensees employ digital transmissions, Region IV argued that
greater educational usage requirements would particularly burden small
ITFS entities, by indirectly imposing financial and administrative
burdens before these licensees are in a posture to assume such
responsibilities.
56. With respect to whether we should adopt a rolling one-day
filing window for the submission of two-way MDS and ITFS applications,
the Alliance of MDS Licensees argued that such a system would place an
unbearable burden on the limited resources of incumbents, resulting in
large operators having an advantage over small operators.
C. Description and Number of Small Entities Involved
57. The RFA generally defines ``small entity'' as having the same
meaning as the terms ``small business,'' ``small organization,'' and
``small business
[[Page 65097]]
concern.'' 5 U.S.C. Sec. 601(6). In addition, the term ``small
business'' has the same meaning as the term ``small business concern''
under the Small Business Act.2 A small business concern is
one which: (1) is independently owned and operated; (2) is not dominant
in its field of operation; and (3) satisfies any additional criteria
established by the SBA. Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 632.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ 5 U.S.C. Sec. 601(3) (incorporating by reference the
definition of ``small business concern'' in 15 U.S.C. Sec. 632).
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. Sec. 601(3), the statutory definition of small
business applies unless an agency after consultation with the Office
of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration and after an
opportunity for public comment, establishes one or more definitions
of such term which are appropriate to the activities of the agency
and publishes definitions in the Federal Register.
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58. MDS: The Commission has defined ``small entity'' for the
auction of MDS as an entity that, together with its affiliates, has
average gross annual revenues that are not more than $40 million for
the preceding three calendar years. 47 CFR 21.961(b)(1). This
definition of a small entity in the context of MDS auctions has been
approved by the SBA. See Amendment of Parts 21 and 74 of the
Commission's Rules With Regard to Filing Procedures in the Multipoint
Distribution Service and in the Instructional Television Fixed Service
and Implementation of Section 309(j) of the Communications Act--
Competitive Bidding, MM Docket No. 94-31 and PP Docket No. 93-253,
Report and Order, 10 FCC Rcd 9589 (1995), 60 FR 36524, Jul. 17, 1995.
The Commission completed its MDS auction in March 1996 for
authorizations in 493 basic trading areas (BTAs). Of 67 winning
bidders, 61 qualified as small entities.3
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ One of these small entities, O'ahu Wireless Cable, Inc., was
subsequently acquired by GTE Media Ventures, Inc., which did not
qualify as a small entity for purposes of the MDS auction.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
59. MDS is also heavily encumbered with licensees of stations
authorized prior to the auction. The SBA has developed a definition of
small entities for pay television services, which includes all such
companies generating $11 million or less in annual receipts. 13 CFR
121.201. This definition includes multipoint distribution systems, and
thus applies to MDS licensees and wireless cable operators which did
not participate in the MDS auction. Information available to us
indicates that there are 832 of these licensees and operators that do
not generate revenue in excess of $11 million annually. Therefore, for
purposes of this FRFA, we find that there are approximately 892 small
MDS providers as defined by the SBA and the Commission's auction rules,
and some of these providers may take advantage of our amended rules to
provide two-way MDS.
60. ITFS: There are presently 2032 ITFS licensees. All but 100 of
these licenses are held by educational institutions (these 100 fall in
the MDS category, above). Educational institutions may be included in
the definition of a small entity. See 5 U.S.C. Secs. 601 (3)-(5). ITFS
is a non-pay, non-commercial broadcast service that, depending on SBA
categorization, has, as small entities, entities generating either
$10.5 million or less, or $11.0 million or less, in annual receipts.
See 13 CFR 121.210 (SIC 4833, 4841, and 4899). However, we do not
collect, nor are we aware of other collections of, annual revenue data
for ITFS licensees. Thus, we find that up to 1932 of these educational
institutions are small entities that may take advantage of our amended
rules to provide two-way ITFS.
D. Summary of Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping and Other Compliance
Requirements
61. The Order adopts the following proposals that include
reporting, recordkeeping, and compliance requirements:
62. We required MDS and ITFS licensees employing two-way technology
to attach labels to every subscriber transceiver in a conspicuous
fashion. In addition, MDS and ITFS licensees employing two-way
technology will be required to include a full explanation of the labels
that appear on their transceivers, as well as reference to the
applicable Commission guidelines, in the instruction manuals and other
information accompanying their subscriber transceivers.
63. We required a hub station licensee to formally notify an ITFS
licensee when a response station is being located in the vicinity of
any of the ITFS licensee's receive sites. Specifically, we created a
notification zone with a radius of 1960 feet around each registered
ITFS receive site and we required that, at least 20 days prior to the
activation of any response station within such a zone, the hub station
licensee notify, by certified mail, the appropriate ITFS licensee.
64. In addition to required information contained on new FCC Form
331, we required applicants to submit additional data in specified
formats and on diskettes accompanying the application forms.
65. While we do not ordinarily require applicants for minor changes
to ITFS facilities to prepare interference showings or serve them on
potentially affected parties, we required the preparation and service
of interference analyses by ITFS licensees who seek to use their
associated I channels for downstream transmissions.
66. We will accept applications for MDS and ITFS response stations
hubs or boosters via a rolling, one-day filing window. Each applicant
will have to provide interference protection to all facilities existing
or proposed prior to the filing of its application, but its application
will take precedence over all subsequently filed applications.
Applicants will be required to file their applications with all of
their interference analyses, in both hard copy and on disk.
67. Applicants for two-way facilities will be required to certify
that they have met all requirements regarding interference protection
to existing and prior proposed facilities. The applicant will also be
required to certify that it has served all potentially affected parties
with copies of its application, and with its engineering analysis
supporting its interference compliance claim.
E. Steps Taken to Minimize Significant Economic Impact on Small
Entities, and Significant Alternatives Considered
68. The following steps were taken in the Order to minimize the
significant economic impact on small entities:
69. The rule changes adopted in the Order to allow two-way
operations for MDS and ITFS will simplify our licensing system and
provide greater flexibility in the use of the allotted spectrum to
licensees. It is expected that such changes will further eliminate
market entry barriers for small entities.
70. By allowing for subchannelization, small entity licensees will
be able to respond to the demands of the market and create an unlimited
number of channels to carry their current and future communications
needs. Allowing superchannelization will permit small entity licensees
to combine their spectrum with other small entity licensees and create
larger systems to meet their particular operations and to operate at
greater speeds.
71. To permit small entity ITFS licensees with limited resources
adequate time to evaluate a two-way applicant's proposed service plan,
we adopted a certification procedure whereby applicants are required to
certify that they have met all requirements regarding interference
protection to existing and prior proposed facilities. The applicant
will also be required to certify that it has served all potentially
affected parties
[[Page 65098]]
with copies of its application and with its engineering analysis
supporting its interference compliance claim.
72. In an effort to minimize the impact of our new rules on
educational ITFS licensees, many of whom are small entities, we
determined that restricting ITFS eligible use to the downstream video/
audio paradigm would preclude flexibility in service offerings for an
ITFS licensee which leases excess channel capacity. We provided
educational entities with additional flexibility to define what ITFS
usage they regard as educational, in an effort to permit such entities
to further their educational mission. We did not expand our minimum
educational usage requirement for digital ITFS transmissions, and we
added a requirement that 5 percent of an ITFS station's capacity be set
aside for instructional purposes only.
73. The following significant alternatives were considered in the
Order:
74. We declined to adopt CTN's suggestion that greater suppression
of spurious emissions is needed on the order of -60 dB for response
stations operating at +48 dBm, up to -75 dB for response stations
operating at +63 dBm. We found that modifications made to the spectral
mask for response stations would completely eliminate the requirements
that were proposed for such emissions.
75. We did not adopt NextLevel's suggestion that a maximum
suppression limit be placed on digital emitters, which would
effectively remove the out-of-band attenuation requirements for power
levels below a certain minimum. We found that such a relaxation of out-
of-band limits, in the context of a cellularized CDMA system, could
result in an adverse impact on the interference environment because,
unlike other services, hundreds or thousands of low power emitters may
be transmitting simultaneously and the combined effects of their out-
of-band emissions could be significant.
76. In the Order, we adopted a Methodology for calculating the
interference potential of response stations. We rejected CTN's request
to protect hub receivers only to a distance of 35 miles and make them
secondary beyond that distance. We concluded that such a step would
render hubs extremely susceptible to interference and seriously degrade
the communications capabilities and reliabilities within the hub's RSA.
We did not adopt EDX Engineering's alternative to Petitioners' response
station interference Methodology because, for many two-way system
configurations, EDX's interference calculations will inevitably give
erroneous results, a shortcoming that was conceded by EDX itself. We
also did not permit applicants to choose any methodology they wish for
making interference calculations, as we found that this would
drastically slow the evaluation of applications and almost certainly
result in many Petitions to Deny, as licensees and applicants struggled
to understand the differing and potentially incompatible assumptions
and calculations incorporated into the various methodologies.
77. We also declined to adopt Spike's recommendation that hub
stations be redefined to include transmitting capability. We found that
this was not necessary because booster and primary stations may be co-
located with hub stations to provide transmission capability, and
permitting hubs to also transmit would simply add redundancy and
unnecessary complexity to the interference protection requirements of
the rules.
78. We denied CTN's request that guardbands be established
separating upstream (response station) transmissions from downstream
ITFS transmissions. We determined that CTN's first proposal, involving
the creation of 24 MHz-wide guardbands, could result in partially or
completely eliminating many MHz of potentially useful upstream spectrum
on the speculative assumption that such action was necessary to protect
ITFS receive sites from interference. We also declined to adopt CTN's
subsequent proposals, involving 6 MHz guardbands, believing that it was
not the case that the proposed response station interference
Methodology is ``unduly complex'' and will be ineffective in
determining interference when the potential victim ITFS receive site is
within a hub station's RSA.
79. We did not adopt CTN's request for mandatory response station
testing, as we found that it would impose an unnecessary burden on two-
way licensees.
80. We denied CTN's request to reallocate all of the 125 kHz
channels to ITFS and to use them solely for response transmissions. We
found that reallocation and the complications associated with that is
not necessary, and that allowing the I channels to be used for point-
to-multipoint transmissions promotes greater options for two-way system
design and more efficient use of the spectrum. For the same reasons, we
declined to adopt CTN's suggestion that we render low power boosters
secondary, and we also declined to adopt Maryland's request that we
mandate that any non-ITFS use of I channels licensed to an ITFS entity
be secondary to ITFS use.
81. We rejected the automatic grant proposal made by the
Petitioners for granting without review any unopposed two-way license
application after a 60-day comment period. We also did not adopt the
proposal specified in the NPRM to set up a system whereby the staff
would fully review the filed applications and issue a grant or denial.
Instead, we adopted a certification procedure whereby applicants
certify that they have met the requirements regarding interference
protection to existing and prior proposed facilities and have served
copies of their applications on all affected parties. We determined
that this approach was needed to facilitate two-way service to the
public, and that without it, two-way service by MDS operators and/or
ITFS licensees may not become a reality. The certification requirement
would also protect the interests of ITFS licensees, many of whom do not
have the time or resources to evaluate a two-way applicant's proposed
service plan.
82. In the Order, we determined that parties will have 60 days from
the date of the public notice to file petitions to deny against two-way
applications. We decided that, due to the complex nature of the
engineering to be filed, a 60 day petition to deny period is more
reasonable that the usual 30 day period.
83. We did not adopt HITN's suggestion that we eliminate our rule
that limits eligible ITFS educational service providers to accredited
institutions. We found that the primary purpose of ITFS is, and always
has been, to meet the needs of students enrolled in courses of formal
instruction. Furthermore, we found that accredited schools have been
the intended users of ITFS since the origin of the service.
84. We decided to subject ITFS high power booster stations to
educational usage requirements, separate from those to which main ITFS
stations are subject. We determined, however, not to subject ITFS
response stations or response station hubs to educational usage
requirements, because the ITFS licensee has no control over which
upstream transmissions would qualify to satisfy the requirements.
85. We declined to adopt time-of-day requirements for measuring
educational usage, in order to provide ITFS licensees with the maximum
flexibility to determine which uses of their spectrum enhance their
formal educational mission.
[[Page 65099]]
86. In the Order, we retained two different but complementary
requirements of ITFS spectral usage: a minimum of 20 hours per channel
per week for educational usage, and a minimum reservation of 5% of a
licensee's capacity that it may not lease. We determined that both
would be difficult to measure in light of the varied forms that such
usage can take. We decided that the best course would be to rely on the
good faith efforts of ITFS licensees to meet these requirements, and we
did not institute any new, formal proof of compliance reporting
submissions in this area.
F. Report to Congress
87. The Commission will send a copy of the Order, including this
FRFA, in a report to be sent to Congress pursuant to the Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. See 5 USC
Sec. 801(a)(1)(A). In addition, the Commission will send a copy of the
Order, including the FRFA, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the
Small Business Administration. A copy of the Order and FRFA (or
summaries thereof) will also be published in the Federal Register. See
5 USC Sec. 604(b).
VI. Procedural Matters
88. Accordingly, it is ordered that, pursuant to the authority
contained in Sections 4(i) and (j), 301, 303(f), 303(g), 303(h),
303(j), 303(r), and 308(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as
amended, 47 USC Secs. 154(i), 154(j), 301, 303(f), 303(g), 303(h),
303(j), 303(r), and 308(b), this Order is adopted, and parts 1, 21, and
74 of the Commission's Rules, 47 CFR 1, 21, and 74, are amended as set
forth below.
89. It is further ordered that the Petition of Wireless Cable Ass'n
Int'l for Reconsideration and Clarification, MM Docket No. 93-106
(filed August 12, 1994), and Petition of Alliance for Higher Education,
et al., MM Docket No. 93-106 (filed August 5, 1994), are granted to the
extent described in the Order at note 230.
90. The action contained in the Order has been analyzed with
respect to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and found to impose new
or modified reporting and recordkeeping requirements or burdens on the
public. Implementation of these new or modified reporting and
recordkeeping requirements will be subject to approval by the Office of
Management and Budget as prescribed by the Act. The new or modified
paperwork requirements contained in this Order (which are subject to
approval by the Office of Management and Budget) will go into effect
upon OMB approval.
List of Subjects
47 CFR Part 1
Environmental impact statements.
47 CFR Part 21
Communications common carriers, Communications equipment, Reporting
and recordkeeping requirements, Television.
47 CFR Part 74
Communications equipment, Education, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Television.
Federal Communications Commission.
Magalie Roman Salas,
Secretary.
Rule Changes
Parts 1, 21 and 74 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations
are amended as follows:
PART 1--PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE
1. The authority for part 1 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 79 et seq.; 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 154(j),
155, 225, and 303(r).
2. In Sec. 1.1307, paragraph (b)(1), Table 1, right column is
amended by adding the entry regarding MDS licensees directly following
the existing reference to Multipoint Distribution Service building-
mounted antennas, and by adding the entry regarding ITFS licensees
directly following the existing reference to part 74, subpart I
stations, to read as follows:
Sec. 1.1307 Actions that may have a significant environmental effect,
for which Environmental Assessments (EAs) must be prepared.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(1) * * *
Table 1.--Transmitters, Facilities and Operations Subject To Routine
Environmental Evaluation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Service (title 47 CFR rule
part) Evaluation required if--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * * * *
Multipoint Distribution * * *
Service (subpart K of part
21).
MDS licensees are required to attach a
label to subscriber transceiver or
transverter antennas that:
(1) provides adequate notice regarding
potential radiofrequency safety
hazards, e.g., information regarding
the safe minimum separation distance
required between users and
transceiver antennas; and
(2) references the applicable FCC-
adopted limits for radiofrequency
exposure specified in Sec. 1.1310.
* * * * * * *
Experimental, auxiliary, and * * *
special broadcast and other
program distributional
services (part 74).
ITFS licensees are required to attach a
label to subscriber transceiver or
transverter antennas that:
(1) provides adequate notice regarding
potential radiofrequency safety
hazards, e.g., information regarding
the safe minimum separation distance
required between users and
transceiver antennas; and
(2) references the applicable FCC-
adopted limits for radiofrequency
exposure specified in Sec. 1.1310.
* * * * * * *
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 65100]]
PART 21--DOMESTIC PUBLIC FIXED RADIO SERVICES
3. The authority for part 21 continues to read as follows:
Authority: Secs. 1, 2, 4, 201-205, 208, 215, 218, 303, 307, 313,
403, 404, 410, 602, 48 Stat. as amended, 1064, 1066, 1070-1073,
1076, 1077, 1080, 1082, 1083, 1087, 1094, 1098, 1102; 47 U.S.C. 151,
154, 201-205, 208, 215, 218, 303, 307, 313, 314, 403, 404, 602; 47
U.S.C. 552, 554.
4. In Sec. 21.2, the following definitions are added in
alphabetical order, to read as follows:
Sec. 21.2 Definitions.
* * * * *
Booster service area. A geographic area to be designated by an
applicant for a booster station, within which the booster station shall
be entitled to protection against interference as set forth in this
part. The booster service area must be specified by the applicant so as
to not overlap the booster service area of any other booster authorized
to or proposed by the applicant. However, a booster station may provide
service to receive sites outside of its booster service area, at the
licensee's risk of interference.
* * * * *
Channel. Unless otherwise specified, a channel under this part
shall refer to a 6 MHz frequency block assigned pursuant to
Secs. 21.901(b) or 74.902(a) of this chapter.
* * * * *
Response station hub. A fixed facility licensed to an MDS licensee,
and operated by an MDS licensee or the lessee of an MDS facility, for
the reception of information transmitted by one or more MDS response
stations that utilize digital modulation with uniform power spectral
density. A response station hub licensed under this part may share
facilities with other MDS response station hubs, ITFS response station
hubs authorized pursuant to Sec. 74.939 of this chapter, MDS signal
booster stations, ITFS signal booster stations, MDS stations, and/or
ITFS stations.
Response station hub license. A blanket license authorizing the
operation of a single response station hub at a specific location and
the operation of a specified number of associated digital response
stations of one or more classes at unspecified locations within one or
more regions of the response service area.
Sectorization. The use of an antenna system at an MDS station,
booster station and/or response station hub that is capable of
simultaneously transmitting multiple signals over the same frequencies
to different portions of the service area and/or simultaneously
receiving multiple signals over the same frequencies from different
portions of the service area.
* * * * *
4a. In Sec. 21.2, the following definitions, in alphabetical order,
are revised to read as follows:
Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS). Those
Multipoint Distribution Service Channels that use the frequency band
2596 MHz to 2644 MHz and associated 125 kHz channels.
Multipoint Distribution Service (MDS). A domestic public radio
service rendered on microwave frequencies from one or more fixed
stations transmitting to multiple receiving facilities located at fixed
points. MDS also may encompass transmissions from response stations to
response station hubs or associated fixed stations.
Multipoint Distribution Service response station. A fixed station
operated by an MDS licensee, the lessee of MDS channel capacity or a
subscriber of either to communicate with a response station hub or
associated MDS station. A response station under this part may share
facilities with other MDS response stations and/or one or more
Instructional Television Fixed Service (ITFS) response stations
authorized pursuant to Sec. 74.939 of this chapter or Sec. 74.940 of
this chapter.
* * * * *
Signal Booster Station. An MDS station licensed for use in
accordance with Sec. 21.913 that operates on one or more MDS channels.
Signal booster stations are intended to augment service as part of a
distributed transmission system where signal booster stations
retransmit the signals of one or more MDS stations and/or originate
transmissions on MDS channels. A signal booster station licensed under
this part may share facilities with other MDS signal booster stations,
ITFS signal booster stations authorized pursuant to Sec. 74.985 of this
chapter, MDS response station hubs and/or ITFS response station hubs.
* * * * *
5. In Sec. 21.11, paragraphs (f) and (g) are redesignated as
paragraphs (e) and (f), respectively, and the section heading,
paragraphs (a) and (d), and newly redesignated paragraph (e) are
revised, to read as follows:
Sec. 21.11 Miscellaneous forms.
(a) Licensee qualifications. FCC Form 430 (``Licensee Qualification
Report'') must be filed annually, no later than March 31 for the end of
the preceding calendar year, unless the licensee operates solely on a
common carrier basis and service was not offered at any time during the
preceding year. Each annual filing must include all changes of
information required by FCC Form 430 that occurred during the preceding
year. In those cases in which there has been no change in any of the
required information, the applicant or licensee, in lieu of submitting
a new form, may so notify the Commission by letter.
* * * * *
(d) Assignment of license. FCC Form 702 (``Application for Consent
to Assignment of Radio Station Construction Authorization or License
(for Stations in Services Other than Broadcast)'') must be submitted to
assign voluntarily (as by, for example, contract or other agreement) or
involuntarily (as by, for example, death, bankruptcy, or legal
disability) the station license or conditional license. In the case of
involuntary assignment, the application must be filed within 30 days of
the event causing the assignment. FCC Form 702 also must be used for
nonsubstantial (pro forma) assignments. In addition, FCC Form 430 must
be submitted by the proposed assignee unless such assignee has a
current and substantially accurate report on file with the Commission.
Whenever a group of station licenses or conditional licenses in the
same radio service is to be assigned to a single assignee, a single
``blanket'' application may be filed to cover the entire group, if the
application identifies each station by call sign and station location
and if two copies are provided for each station affected. The
assignment must be completed within 45 days from the date of
authorization. Upon consummation of an approved assignment, the
Commission must be notified by letter of the date of consummation
within 10 days of its occurrence.
(e) Transfer of control of corporation holding a conditional
license or license. FCC Form 704 (``Application for Consent to Transfer
of Control'') must be submitted in order to voluntarily or
involuntarily transfer control (de jure or de facto) of a corporation
holding any conditional licenses or licenses. In the case of
involuntary transfer of control, the application must be filed within
30 days of the event causing the transfer of control. FCC Form 704 also
must be used for nonsubstantial (pro forma) transfers of control. In
addition, FCC Form 430 must be submitted by the proposed transferee
unless such transferee has a current and substantially accurate report
on file with the Commission. Whenever control of a corporation holding
a group of station licenses or conditional licenses in the
[[Page 65101]]
same radio service is to be transferred to a single transferee, a
single ``blanket'' application may be filed to cover the entire
transfer, if the application identifies each station by call sign and
station location and if two copies are provided for each station
affected. The transfer must be completed within 45 days from the date
of authorization. Upon consummation of an approved transfer, the
Commission must be notified by letter of the date of consummation
within 10 days of its occurrence.
* * * * *
6. In Sec. 21.27, paragraph (d) is added, to read as follows:
Sec. 21.27 Public notice period.
* * * * *
(d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this part, effective as
of September 17, 1998, there shall be one one-week window, at such time
as the Commission shall announce by public notice, for the filing of
applications for high-power signal booster station, response station
hub and I channels point-to-multipoint transmissions licenses, during
which all applications shall be deemed to have been filed as of the
same day for purposes of Secs. 21.909, 21.913 and 74.939(l) of this
chapter. Following the publication of a public notice announcing the
tendering for filing of applications submitted during that window,
applicants shall have a period of sixty (60) days to amend their
applications, provided such amendments do not result in any increase in
interference to any previously proposed or authorized station, or to
facilities proposed during the window, absent consent of the applicant
for or conditional licensee or licensee of the station that would
receive such interference. At the conclusion of that sixty (60) day
period, the Commission shall publish a public notice announcing the
acceptance for filing of all applications submitted during the initial
window, as amended during the sixty (60) day period. All petitions to
deny such applications must be filed within sixty (60) days of such
second public notice. On the sixty-first (61st) day after the
publication of such second public notice, applications for new or
modified response station hub, booster station and I channels point-to-
multipoint transmissions licenses may be filed and will be processed in
accordance with the provisions of Secs. 21.909, 21.913 and 74.939(l) of
this chapter. Notwithstanding Sec. 21.31, each application submitted
during the initial window shall be granted on the sixty-first (61st)
day after the Commission shall have given such public notice of its
acceptance for filing, unless prior to such date either a party in
interest timely files a formal petition to deny or for other relief
pursuant to Sec. 21.30(a), or the Commission notifies the applicant
that its application will not be granted. Where an application is
granted pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph, the conditional
licensee or licensee shall maintain a copy of the application at the
transmitter site or response station hub until such time as the
Commission issues a license.
7. In Sec. 21.30, paragraph (a)(4) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 21.30 Opposition to applications.
(a) * * *
(4) Except as provided in Sec. 21.902(i)(6) regarding Instructional
Television Fixed Service licensees and conditional licensees, in
Sec. 21.909 regarding MDS response station hubs and in Sec. 21.913
regarding MDS booster stations, be filed within thirty (30) days after
the date of public notice announcing the acceptance for filing of any
such application or major amendment thereto, or identifying the
tentative selectee of a random selection proceeding in the Multichannel
Multipoint Distribution Service or for Multipoint Distribution Service
H-channel stations (unless the Commission otherwise extends the filing
deadline); and
* * * * *
8. In Sec. 21.31, paragraph (e)(6)(iv) is revised to read as
follows:
Sec. 21.31 Mutually exclusive applications.
* * * * *
(e) * * *
(6) * * *
(iv) The change of status by an MDS applicant from common carrier
to non-common carrier, from non-common carrier to common carrier, or
from common carrier or non-common carrier to flexibility to alternate
between common carrier and non-common carrier service.
9. In Sec. 21.42, paragraph (b)(3) is revised, and paragraph (c)(8)
is added, to read as follows:
Sec. 21.42 Certain modifications not requiring prior authorization.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(3) The Commission is notified of changes made to facilities by the
submission of a completed FCC Form 304 within thirty (30) days after
the changes are made.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(8) A change to a sectorized antenna system comprising an array of
directional antennas, provided that such system does not change
polarization or result in an increase in radiated power by more than
one dB in any direction; provided, however, that notice of such change
is provided to the Commission on FCC Form 331 within ten (10) days of
installation.
* * * * *
10. In Sec. 21.101, paragraph (a), footnote 2 is revised to read as
follows:
Sec. 21.101 Frequency tolerance.
(a) * * *
________________
\2\ Beginning November 1, 1991, equipment authorized to be
operated in the frequency bands 2150-2162 MHz, 2596-2644 MHz, 2650-
2656 MHz, 2662-2668 MHz, and 2674-2680 MHz for use in the Multipoint
Distribution Service shall maintain a frequency tolerance within
1 kHz of the assigned frequency. MDS booster stations
authorized pursuant to Sec. 21.913(b) shall maintain a frequency
tolerance within 1 kHz of the assigned frequencies. MDS
booster stations authorized pursuant to Sec. 21.913(e) and MDS
response stations authorized pursuant to Sec. 21.909 shall employ
transmitters with sufficient frequency stability to ensure that the
emission stays within the authorized bandwidth.
* * * * *
11. In Sec. 21.118, paragraph (c) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 21.118 Transmitter construction and installation.
* * * * *
(c) Each transmitter employed in these services shall be equipped
with an appropriately labeled pilot lamp or meter which will provide
continuous visual indication at the transmitter when its control
circuits have been placed in a condition to activate the transmitter.
Such requirement will not be applicable to MDS response stations or MDS
booster stations authorized pursuant to Sec. 21.913(e). In addition,
facilities shall be provided at each transmitter to permit the
transmitter to be turned on and off independently of any remote control
circuits associated therewith.
* * * * *
12. Section 21.201 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 21.201 Posting of station license.
Each licensee shall post at the station, the booster station
authorized pursuant to Sec. 21.913(b) or the MDS response station hub
the name, address and telephone number of the custodian of the station
license or other instrument of authorization if such license or
instrument of authorization, or a clearly legible photocopy thereof, is
not maintained at the station, booster
[[Page 65102]]
station or response station hub. Each operator of an MDS booster
station authorized pursuant to Sec. 21.913(e) shall post at the booster
station the name, address and telephone number of the custodian of the
notification filed pursuant to Sec. 21.913(e) if such notification is
not maintained at the station.
13. Section 21.304 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 21.304 Tariffs, reports, and other material required to be
submitted to the Commission.
Sections 1.771 through 1.815 of this chapter contain summaries of
certain materials and reports, including schedule of charges and
accounting and financial reports, which, when applicable, must be filed
with the Commission. These requirements likewise shall apply to
licensees which alternate between rendering service on a common carrier
and non-common carrier basis.
14. Section 21.900 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 21.900 Eligibility.
(a) Authorizations for stations in this service will be granted to
existing and proposed communications common carriers and non-common
carriers. An application will be granted only in cases where it can be
shown that:
(1) The applicant is legally, financially, technically, and
otherwise qualified to render the proposed service; and
(2) There are frequencies available to enable the applicant to
render a satisfactory service; and
(3) The public interest, convenience and necessity would be served
by a grant thereof.
(b) The applicant shall state whether service will be provided on a
common carrier basis, a non-common carrier basis, or alternating
between a common carrier and non-common carrier basis. In addition, an
applicant proposing to provide any common carrier service whatsoever
shall state whether there is any affiliation or relationship to any
intended or likely subscriber or program originator.
15. In Sec. 21.901, paragraphs (a), (b), and (d) and note 1 are
revised, and new paragraph (g) is added, to read as follows:
Sec. 21.901 Frequencies.
(a) Frequencies in the bands 2150-2162 MHz, 2596-2644 MHz, 2650-
2656 MHz, 2662-2668 MHz, 2674-2680 MHz and 2686-2690 MHz are available
for assignment to fixed stations in this service. Frequencies in the
band 2150-2160 MHz are shared with nonbroadcast omnidirectional radio
systems licensed under other parts of the Commission's Rules, and
frequencies in the band 2160-2162 MHz are shared with directional radio
systems authorized in other common carrier services. Frequencies in the
2596-2644 MHz band are shared with Instructional Television Fixed
Service stations licensed under part 74 of the Commission's Rules.
Channels I5, I13, I6 and I14, listed in Sec. 74.939(j) of this chapter,
are assigned to fixed stations in the 2596-2620 band, and are shared
with Instructional Television Fixed Service Stations licensed under
part 74 of the Commission's Rules to operate in this band;
grandfathered channels I21, I29, I22 and I30, listed in Sec. 74.939(j)
of this chapter, are licensed under part 21 or part 74 of the
Commission's Rules, as applicable.
(b) Applicants may be assigned a channel(s) according to one of the
following frequency plans:
(1) At 2150-2156 MHz (designated as Channel 1), or
(2) At 2156-2162 MHz (designated as Channel 2), or
(3) At 2156-2160 MHz (designated as Channel 2A), or
(4) At 2596-2602 MHz, 2608-2614 MHz, 2620-2626 MHz, and 2632-2638
MHz (designated as Channels E1, E2, E3 and E4, respectively, with the
four channels to be designated the E-group channels), and Channels I5
and I13 listed in Sec. 74.939(j) of this chapter,\1\ or
(5) At 2602-2608 MHz, 2614-2620 MHz, 2626-2632 MHz and 2638-2644
MHz (designated as Channels F1, F2, F3 and F4, respectively, with the
four channels to be designated the F-group channels), and Channels I6
and I14, listed in Sec. 74.939(j) of this chapter,\1\ or
(6) At 2650-2656 MHz, 2662-2668 MHz and 2674-2680 MHz (designated
as Channels H1, H2 and H3, respectively, with the three channels to be
designated the H-group channels).\1\
* * * * *
(d) An MDS licensee or conditional licensee may apply to exchange
evenly one or more of its assigned channels with another MDS licensee
or conditional licensee in the same system, or with an ITFS licensee or
conditional licensee in the same system where one or both parties
utilizes digital transmissions or leases capacity to an operator which
utilizes digital transmissions. The licensees or conditional licensees
seeking to exchange channels shall file in tandem with the Commission
separate pro forma assignment of license applications, each attaching
an exhibit which clearly specifies that the application is filed
pursuant to a channel exchange agreement. The exchanged channel(s)
shall be regulated according to the requirements applicable to the
assignee.
* * * * *
(g) Frequencies in the bands 2150-2162 MHz, 2596-2644 MHz, 2650-
2656 MHz, 2662-2668 MHz and 2674-2680 MHz are available for point-to-
multipoint use and/or for communications between MDS response stations
and response station hubs when authorized in accordance with the
provisions of Sec. 21.909, provided that such frequencies may be
employed for MDS response stations only when transmitting using digital
modulation.
________________
\1\ No 125 kHz channels are provided for Channels E3, E4, F3,
F4, H1, H2 and H3, except for those grandfathered for Channels E3,
E4, F3 and F4. The 125 kHz channels associated with Channels E3, E4,
F3, F4, H1, H2 and H3 are allocated to the Private Operational Fixed
Point-to-Point Microwave Service, pursuant to Sec. 101.147(g) of
this chapter.
16. In Sec. 21.902, the section heading, paragraphs (b)(3), (b)(4)
(b)(5)(i), (f)(1) and (f)(2) are revised, and new paragraphs (b)(7) and
(l) are added, to read as follows:
Sec. 21.902 Interference.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(3) Engineer the system to provide at least 45 dB of cochannel
interference protection within the 56.33 km (35 mile) protected service
area of any authorized or previously-proposed ITFS or incumbent MDS
station, and at each previously-registered ITFS receive site (both
stations utilizing 6 MHz bandwidths).
(4) Engineer the station to provide at least 0 dB of adjacent
channel interference protection within the 56.33 km (35 mile) protected
service area of any authorized or previously-proposed ITFS or incumbent
MDS station, and at each previously-registered ITFS receive site (both
stations utilizing 6 MHz bandwidths).
(5) (i) Engineer the station to limit the calculated free space
power flux density to -73 dBW/m \2\ (or the appropriate value for
bandwidth other than 6 MHz) at the boundary of a 56.33 km (35 mile)
protected service area, where there is an unobstructed signal path from
the transmitting antenna to the boundary; or alternatively, obtain the
written consent of the entity authorized for the adjoining area to
exceed the -73 dBW/m \2\ limiting signal strength at the common
boundary.
* * * * *
[[Page 65103]]
(7) Notwithstanding the above, main, booster and response stations
shall use the following formulas, as applicable, for determining
compliance with: (1) Radiated field contour limits where bandwidths
other than 6 MHz are employed at stations utilizing digital modulation
with uniform power spectral density; and (2) Cochannel and adjacent
channel D/U ratios where the bandwidths in use at the interfering and
protected stations are unequal and both stations are utilizing digital
modulation with uniform power spectral density or one station is
utilizing such modulation and the other station is utilizing either 6
MHz NTSC analog modulation or 125 kHz analog modulation (I channels
only).
(i) Contour limit: -73 dBW + 10 log (X/6), where X is the bandwidth
in MHz of the digital channel.
(ii) Cochannel D/U: 45 dB + 10 log (X1/X2), where X1 is the
bandwidth in MHz of the protected channel and X2 is the bandwidth in
MHz of the interfering channel.
(iii) Adjacent channel D/U: 0 dB + 10 log (X1/X2), where X1 is the
bandwidth in MHz of the protected channel and X2 is the bandwidth in
MHz of the interfering channel.
* * * * *
(f) * * *
(1) Cochannel interference is defined as the ratio of the desired
signal to the undesired signal present in the desired channel, at the
output of a reference receiving antenna oriented to receive the maximum
desired signal. Harmful interference will be considered present when a
free space calculation for an unobstructed signal path determines that
this ratio is less than 45 dB (both stations utilizing 6 MHz
bandwidths).
(2) Adjacent channel interference is defined as the ratio of the
desired signal to undesired signal present in an adjacent channel, at
the output of a reference receiving antenna oriented to receive the
maximum desired signal level.
(i) Harmful interference will be considered present when a free
space calculation for an unobstructed signal path determines that this
ratio is less than 0 dB (both stations utilizing 6 MHz bandwidths).
(ii) In the alternative, harmful interference will be considered
present for an ITFS station constructed before May 26, 1983, when a
free space calculation determines that this ratio is less than 10 dB
(both stations utilizing 6 MHz bandwidths), unless:
(A) The individual receive site under consideration has been
subsequently upgraded with up-to-date reception equipment, in which
case the ratio shall be less than 0 dB. Absent information presented to
the contrary, however, the Commission will assume that reception
equipment installation occurred simultaneously with original station
equipment; or
(B) The license for an MDS station is conditioned on the proffer to
the affected ITFS station licensee of equipment capable of providing a
ratio of 0 dB or more at no expense to the ITFS station licensee, and
also conditioned, if necessary, on the proffer of installation of such
equipment; and there has been no showing by the affected ITFS station
licensee demonstrating good cause and that the proposed equipment will
not provide a ratio of 0 dB or more, or that installation of such
equipment, at no expense to the ITFS station licensee, is not possible
or has not been proffered.
* * * * *
(l) Specific rules relating to response station hubs, booster
stations, and 125 kHz channels are set forth in Secs. 21.909, 21.913,
21.940, 74.939 of this chapter, 74.940 of this chapter and 74.985 of
this chapter. To the extent those specific rules are inconsistent with
any rules set forth above, those specific rules shall control.
17. In Sec. 21.903, paragraphs (a) and (b)(1) are revised, and new
paragraph (d) is added, to read as follows:
Sec. 21.903 Purpose and permissible service.
(a) Multipoint Distribution Service channels are available for
transmissions from MDS stations and associated MDS signal booster
stations to receive locations, and from MDS response stations to
response station hubs. When service is provided on a common carrier
basis, subscriber supplied information is transmitted to points
designated by the subscriber. When service is provided on a non-common
carrier basis, transmissions may include information originated by
persons other than the licensee, licensee-manipulated information
supplied by other persons, or information originated by the licensee.
Point-to-point radio return links from a subscriber's location to a MDS
operator's facilities may also be authorized in the 18,580 through
18,820 MHz and 18,920 through 19,160 MHz bands. Rules governing such
operation are contained in subpart I of part 101 of this chapter, the
Point-to-Point Microwave Radio Service.
(b) * * *
(1) Unless service is rendered on a non-common carrier basis, the
common carrier controls the operation of all receiving facilities
(e.g., including any equipment necessary to convert the signal to a
standard television channel, but excluding the television receiver);
and
* * * * *
(d) An MDS licensee also may apply for authorization by the
Commission to alternate, without further authorization required,
between rendering service on a common carrier and non-common carrier
basis, provided that the licensee notify the Commission of any service
status changes at least 30 days in advance of such changes.
18. Section 21.904 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 21.904 Transmitter power.
(a) The maximum EIRP of an MDS main or booster station shall not
exceed 33 dBW (or, when digital modulation with uniform power spectral
density and subchannels or superchannels, or 125 kHz channels, are
used, the appropriately adjusted value based upon the ratio of 6 MHz to
the subchannel or superchannel, or 125 kHz, bandwidth), except as
provided in paragraph (b) of this section.
(b) If a main or booster station sectorizes or otherwise uses one
or more transmitting antennas with a non-omnidirectional horizontal
plane radiation pattern, the maximum EIRP over a 6 MHz channel in dBW
in a given direction shall be determined by the following formula:
EIRP = 33 dBW + 10 log (360/beamwidth) [where 10 log (360/beamwidth)
6 dB]. Beamwidth is the total horizontal plane beamwidth of
the individual transmitting antenna for the station or any sector
measured at the half-power points. The first term of the equation
above, 33 dBW, must be adjusted appropriately based upon the ratio of 6
MHz to the subchannel or superchannel, or 125 kHz, bandwidth.
(c) An increase in station transmitter power, above currently
authorized or previously-proposed values, to the maximum values
provided in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, may be authorized,
if the requested power increase would not cause harmful interference to
any authorized or previously-proposed, cochannel or adjacent channel
station entitled to interference protection under the Commission's
rules, or if an applicant demonstrates that:
(1) A station that must be protected from interference could
eliminate that interference by increasing its power; and
(2) The interfered-with station may increase its own power
consistent with
[[Page 65104]]
the rules and without causing interference to any MDS booster station
or response station hub which operates as part of the same coordinated
system as the interfered-with station; and
(3) The applicant requesting authorization of a power increase
agrees to pay all expenses associated with the increase in power by the
interfered-with station.
19. In Sec. 21.905, paragraph (b) is revised, and new paragraph (d)
is added, to read as follows:
Sec. 21.905 Emissions and bandwidth.
* * * * *
(b) Quadrature amplitude modulation, digital vestigial sideband
modulation, quadrature phase shift key modulation and code division
multiple access emissions may be employed, subject to compliance with
the policies set forth in the Declaratory Ruling and Order, 11 FCC Rcd
18839 (1996). Different types of emissions may be authorized if the
applicant describes fully the modulation and bandwidth desired and
demonstrates that operation of the station will not cause impermissible
interference. The licensee may subchannelize its authorized bandwidth,
provided that digital modulation is employed and the aggregate power
does not exceed the authorized power for the channel, and may utilize
all or a portion of its authorized bandwidth for MDS response stations
authorized pursuant to Sec. 21.909. The licensee may also, jointly with
affected adjacent channel licensees, transmit utilizing bandwidth in
excess of its authorized frequencies, provided that digital modulation
is employed, all power spectral density requirements set forth in this
part are met and the out-of-band emissions restrictions set forth in
Sec. 21.908 are met at and beyond the edges of the channels employed.
The wider channels thus created may be redivided to create narrower
channels.
* * * * *
(d) Notwithstanding the above, any digital emission which meets the
uniform power spectral density requirements of the Declaratory Ruling
and Order may be used in the following circumstances:
(1) At any MDS main or booster station transmitter which is located
more than 160.94 km (100 miles) from the nearest boundary of all
cochannel and adjacent channel ITFS and MDS protected service areas,
including Basic Trading Areas and Partitioned Service Areas; and
(2) At all MDS response station transmitters within a response
service area if all points along the response service area boundary
line are more than 160.94 km (100 miles) from the nearest boundary of
all cochannel and adjacent channel ITFS and MDS protected service
areas, including Basic Trading Areas and Partitioned Service Areas; and
(3) At any MDS transmitter where all parties entitled by this part
to interference protection from that transmitter have mutually
consented to the use at that transmitter of such emissions.
20. In Sec. 21.906, paragraphs (a) and (d) are revised to read as
follows:
Sec. 21.906 Antennas.
(a) Transmitting antennas shall be omnidirectional, except that a
directional antenna with a main beam sufficiently broad to provide
adequate service may be used either to avoid possible interference with
other users in the frequency band, or to provide coverage more
consistent with distribution of potential receiving points. In lieu of
an omnidirectional antenna, a station may employ an array of
directional antennas in order to reuse spectrum efficiently. When an
applicant proposes to employ a directional antenna, or a licensee
notifies the Commission pursuant to Sec. 21.42 of the installation of a
sectorized antenna system, the applicant shall provide the Commission
with information regarding the orientation of the directional
antenna(s), expressed in degree of azimuth, with respect to true north,
and the make and model of such antenna(s).
* * * * *
(d) Directive receiving antennas shall be used at all points other
than response station hubs and shall be elevated no higher than
necessary to assure adequate service. Receiving antenna height shall
not exceed the height criteria of part 17 of this chapter, unless
authorization for use of a specific maximum antenna height (above
ground and above mean sea level) for each location has been obtained
from the Commission prior to the erection of the antenna. Requests for
such authorization shall show the inclusive dates of the proposed
operation. (See part 17 of this chapter concerning the construction,
marking and lighting of antenna structures.)
Sec. 21.907 [Removed]
21. Section 21.907 is removed.
22. In Sec. 21.908, paragraph (b) is redesignated as paragraph (a),
the section heading and newly redesignated paragraph (a) are revised,
paragraphs (c) through (e) are removed, and new paragraphs (b) through
(e) are added, to read as follows:
Sec. 21.908 Transmitting equipment.
(a) The maximum out-of-band power of an MDS station transmitter or
booster transmitting on a single 6 MHz channel with an EIRP in excess
of -9 dBW employing analog modulation shall be attenuated at the
channel edges by at least 38 dB relative to the peak visual carrier,
then linearly sloping from that level to at least 60 dB of attenuation
at 1 MHz below the lower band edge and 0.5 MHz above the upper band
edge, and attenuated at least 60 dB at all other frequencies. The
maximum out-of-band power of an MDS station transmitter or booster
transmitting on a single 6 MHz channel or a portion thereof with an
EIRP in excess of -9 dBW (or, when subchannels are used, the
appropriately adjusted value based upon the ratio of the channel-to-
subchannel bandwidths) employing digital modulation shall be attenuated
at the 6 MHz channel edges at least 25 dB relative to the licensed
average 6 MHz channel power level, then attenuated along a linear slope
to at least 40 dB at 250 kHz beyond the nearest channel edge, then
attenuated along a linear slope from that level to at least 60 dB at 3
MHz above the upper and below the lower licensed channel edges, and
attenuated at least 60 dB at all other frequencies. Notwithstanding the
foregoing, in situations where an MDS station or booster station
transmits, or where adjacent channel licensees jointly transmit, a
single signal over more than one contiguous 6 MHz channel utilizing
digital modulation with an EIRP in excess of -9 dBW (or, when
subchannels or superchannels are used, the appropriately adjusted value
based upon the ratio of 6 MHz to the subchannel or superchannel
bandwidth), the maximum out-of-band power shall be attenuated at the
channel edges of those combined channels at least 25 dB relative to the
power level of each channel, then attenuated along a linear slope from
that level to at least 40 dB at 250 kHz above or below the channel
edges of those combined channels, then attenuated along a linear slope
from that level to at least 60 dB at 3 MHz above the upper and below
the lower edges of those combined channels, and attenuated at least 60
dB at all other frequencies. However, should harmful interference occur
as a result of emissions outside the assigned channel, additional
attenuation may be required. A transmitter licensed prior to November
1, 1991, that remains at the station site initially licensed, and does
not comply with this paragraph, may continue to be used for its life if
it does not cause harmful interference to the operation of any other
licensee. Any
[[Page 65105]]
non-conforming transmitter replaced after November 1, 1991, must be
replaced by a transmitter meeting the requirements of this paragraph.
(b) A booster transmitting on multiple contiguous or non-contiguous
channels carrying separate signals (a ``broadband'' booster) with an
EIRP in excess of -9 dBW per 6 MHz channel and employing analog,
digital or a combination of these modulations shall have the following
characteristics:
(1) For broadband boosters operating in the frequency range of
2.150-2.160/2 GHz, the maximum out-of-band power shall be attenuated at
the upper and lower channel edges forming the band edges by at least 25
dB relative to the licensed analog peak visual carrier or digital
average power level (or, when subchannels are used, the appropriately
adjusted value based on upon the ratio of the channel-to-subchannel
bandwidths), then linearly sloping from that level to at least 40 dB of
attenuation at 0.25 MHz above and below the band edges, then linearly
sloping from that level to at least 60 dB of attenuation at 3.0 MHz
above and below the band edges, and attenuated at least 60 dB at all
other frequencies.
(2) For broadband boosters operating in the frequency range of
2.500-2.690 GHz, the maximum out-of-band power shall be attenuated at
the upper and lower channel edges forming the band edges by at least 25
dB relative to the licensed analog peak visual carrier or digital
average power level (or, when subchannels are used, the appropriately
adjusted value based on upon the ratio of the channel-to-subchannel
bandwidths), then linearly sloping from that level to at least 40 dB of
attenuation at 0.25 MHz above and below the band edges, then linearly
sloping from that level to at least 50 dB of attenuation at 3.0 MHz
above and below the band edges, then linearly sloping from that level
to at least 60 dB of attenuation at 20 MHz above and below the band
edges, and attenuated at least 60 dB at all other frequencies.
(3) Within unoccupied channels in the frequency range of 2.500-
2.690 GHz, the maximum out-of-band power shall be attenuated at the
upper and lower channel edges of an unoccupied channel by at least 25
dB relative to the licensed analog peak visual carrier power level or
digital average power level of the occupied channels (or, when
subchannels or 125 kHz channels are used, the appropriately adjusted
value based upon the ratio of the channel-to-subchannel bandwidths),
then linearly sloping from that level to at least 40 dB of attenuation
at 0.25 MHz above and below the occupied channel edges, then linearly
sloping from that level to at least 50 dB of attenuation at 3.0 MHz
above and below the occupied channel edges, and attenuated at least 50
dB at all other unoccupied frequencies.
(c) Boosters operating with an EIRP less than -9 dBW per 6 MHz
channel shall have no particular out-of-band power attenuation
requirement, except that if they cause harmful interference, their
operation shall be terminated within 2 hours of notification by the
Commission until the interference can be cured.
(d) The maximum out-of-band power of an MDS response station using
all or part of a 6 MHz channel and employing digital modulation shall
be attenuated at the 6 MHz channel edges at least 25 dB relative to the
licensed average 6 MHz channel power level, then attenuated along a
linear slope to at least 40 dB at 250 kHz beyond the nearest channel
edge, then attenuated along a linear slope from that level to at least
60 dB at 3 MHz above the upper and below the lower licensed channel
edges, and attenuated at least 60 dB at all other frequencies. Where
MDS response stations with digital modulation utilize all or part of
more than one contiguous 6 MHz channel to form a larger channel (e.g.,
a channel of width 12 MHz), the above-specified attenuations shall be
applied only at the upper and lower edges of the overall combined
channel. Notwithstanding these provisions, should harmful interference
occur as a result of emissions outside the assigned channel(s),
additional attenuation may be required by the Commission.
(e) In measuring compliance with the out-of-band emissions
limitations, the licensee shall employ one of two methods in each
instance: (1) absolute power measurement of the average signal power
with one instrument, with measurement of the spectral attenuation on a
separate instrument; or (2) relative measurement of both the average
power and the spectral attenuation on a single instrument. The formula
for absolute power measurements is to be used when the average signal
power is found using a separate instrument, such as a power meter; the
formula gives the amount by which the measured power value is to be
attenuated to find the absolute power value to be used on the spectrum
analyzer or equivalent instrument at the spectral point of concern. The
formula for relative power measurements is to be used when the average
signal power is found using the same instrument as used to measure the
attenuation at the specified spectral points, and allows different
resolution bandwidths to be applied to the two parts of the
measurement; the formula gives the required amplitude separation (in
dB) between the flat top of the (digital) signal and the point of
concern.
For absolute power measurements:
Attenuation in dB (below channel power) = A + 10log
(CBW / RBw)
For relative power measurements:
Attenuation in dB (below flat top) = A + 10log
(RBW1 / RBW2)
Where:
A= Attenuation specified for spectral point (e.g., 25, 35, 40, 60 dB)
CBW = Channel bandwidth (for absolute power measurements)
RBW = Resolution bandwidth (for absolute power measurements)
RBW1 = Resolution bandwidth for flat top measurement
(relative)
RBW2 = Resolution bandwidth for spectral point measurement
(relative)
23. Section 21.909 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 21.909 MDS response stations.
(a) An MDS response station is authorized to provide communication
by voice, video and/or data signals with its associated MDS response
station hub or MDS station. An MDS response station may be operated
only by the licensee of an MDS station, by any lessee of the MDS
station or response station hub, or by a subscriber of either. The
authorized channel may be divided to provide distinct subchannels for
each of more than one response station, provided that digital
modulation is employed and the aggregate power does not exceed the
authorized power for the channel. An MDS response station may also,
jointly with other licensees, transmit utilizing bandwidth in excess of
that authorized to the station, provided that digital modulation is
employed, all power spectral density requirements set forth in this
part are met, and the out-of-band emissions restrictions set forth in
Sec. 21.908(b) or paragraph (j) of this section are complied with. When
a 125 kHz channel is employed for response communications, the specific
channel which may be used by the response station is determined in
accordance with Secs. 21.901 and 74.939(j) of this chapter.
(b) MDS response stations that utilize the 2150-2162 MHz band, the
2500-2686 MHz band, and/or the 125 kHz channels may be installed and
operated without an individual license, to communicate with a response
station hub authorized under a response station hub license, provided
that the conditions set forth in paragraph (g) of this section are
complied with and that MDS response stations operating in the
[[Page 65106]]
2150-2162 MHz and/or 2500-2686 MHz band(s) employ only digital
modulation with uniform power spectral density in accordance with the
Commission's Declaratory Ruling and Order, 11 FCC Rcd 18839 (1996).
(c) An applicant for a response station hub license shall:
(1) File FCC Form 331 with Mellon Bank, and certify on that form
that it has complied with the requirements of paragraphs (c)(2) and (d)
of this section. Failure to certify compliance and to comply completely
with the requirements of paragraphs (c)(2) and (d) of this section
shall result in dismissal of the application or revocation of the
response station hub license, and may result in imposition of a
monetary forfeiture; and
(2) Submit to International Transcription Services, Inc. (``ITS''),
1231 20th Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20036, both in hard copy, and on
a 3.5'' computer diskette in ASCII, the following:
(i) Duplicates of the Form 331 filed with Mellon Bank; and
(ii) The data required by Appendix D to the Report and Order in MM
Docket No. 97-217, FCC 98-231, ``Methods for Predicting Interference
from Response Station Transmitters and to Response Station Hubs and for
Supplying Data on Response Station Systems''; and
(iii) The information, showings and certifications required by
paragraph (d) of this section; and
(3) Submit to the Commission, only upon Commission staff request,
duplicates of the submissions required by paragraph (c)(2) of this
section.
(d) An applicant for a response station hub license shall, pursuant
to paragraph (c)(2)(iii) of this section, submit to ITS the following:
(1) The geographic coordinates, street address, and the height of
the center line of the reception antenna(s) above mean sea level for
the proposed response station hub; and
(2) A specification of:
(i) the response service area in which the applicant or its lessee
proposes to install MDS response stations to communicate with the
response station hub, any regions into which the response service area
will be subdivided for purposes of interference analysis, and any
regional classes of response station characteristics which will be used
to define the operating parameters of groups of response stations
within each region for purposes of interference analysis, including:
(A) the maximum height above ground level of the transmission
antenna that will be employed by any response station in the regional
class and that will be used in interference analyses; and
(B) the maximum equivalent isotropic radiated power (EIRP) that
will be employed by any response station in the regional class and that
will be used in interference analyses; and
(C) any sectorization that will be employed, including the
polarization to be employed by response stations in each sector and the
geographic orientation of the sector boundaries, and that will be used
in interference analyses; and
(D) the combined worst-case outer envelope plot of the patterns of
all models of response station transmission antennas that will be
employed by any response station in the regional class to be used in
interference analyses; and
(E) the maximum number of response stations that will be operated
simultaneously in each region using the characteristics of each
regional class applicable to each region.
(ii) the channel plan (including any guardbands at the edges of the
channel) to be used by MDS response stations in communicating with each
response station hub, including a statement as to whether the applicant
will employ the same frequencies on which response stations will
transmit to also transmit on a point-to-multipoint basis from an MDS
station or MDS booster station; and
(3) A demonstration that:
(i) The proposed response station hub is within a protected service
area, as defined in Sec. 21.902(d) or Sec. 21.933, to which the
applicant is entitled either
(A) by virtue of its being the licensee of an incumbent MDS station
whose channels are being converted for MDS response station use; or
(B) by virtue of its holding a Basic Trading Area or Partitioned
Service Area authorization. In the case of an application for response
stations to utilize one or more of the 125 kHz response channels, such
demonstration shall establish that the response station hub is within
the protected service area of the station authorized to utilize the
associated E-Group or F-Group channel(s); and
(ii) The entire proposed response service area is within a
protected service area to which the applicant is entitled either (A) by
virtue of its being the licensee of an incumbent MDS station whose
channels are being converted for MDS response station use; or (B) by
virtue of its holding a Basic Trading Area or Partitioned Service Area
authorization. In the alternative, the applicant may demonstrate that
the licensee entitled to any cochannel protected service area which is
overlapped by the proposed response service area has consented to such
overlap. In the case of an application for response stations to utilize
one or more of the 125 kHz response channels, such demonstration shall
establish that the response service area is entirely within the
protected service area of the station authorized to utilize the
associated E-Group or F-Group channel(s), or, in the alternative, that
the licensee entitled to any cochannel protected service area which is
overlapped by the proposed response service area has consented to such
overlap; and
(iii) The combined signals of all simultaneously operating MDS
response stations within all response service areas and oriented to
transmit towards their respective response station hubs, and all
cochannel MDS stations and booster stations licensed to or applied for
by the applicant will not generate a power flux density in excess of -
73 dBW/m\2\ (or the pro rata power spectral density equivalent based on
the bandwidth actually employed in those cases where less than a 6 MHz
channel is to be employed) outside the boundaries of the applicant's
protected service area, as measured at locations for which there is an
unobstructed signal path, except to the extent that consent of affected
licensees has been obtained or consents have been granted pursuant to
paragraph (d)(3)(ii) of this section to an extension of the response
service area beyond the boundaries of the protected service area; and
(iv) The combined signals of all simultaneously operating MDS
response stations within all response service areas and oriented to
transmit towards their respective response station hubs, and all
cochannel MDS stations and booster stations licensed to or applied for
by the applicant, will result in a desired to undesired signal ratio of
at least 45 dB (or the appropriately adjusted value based upon the
ratio of the channel-to-subchannel bandwidths):
(A) within the protected service area of any authorized or
previously-proposed cochannel incumbent MDS or ITFS station with a
56.33 km (35 miles) protected service area with center coordinates
located within 160.94 km (100 miles) of the proposed response station
hub; and
(B) within the booster service area of any cochannel booster
station entitled to such protection pursuant to Secs. 21.913(f) or
74.985(f) of this chapter and located within 160.94 km (100 miles) of
the proposed response station hub; and
(C) at any registered receive site of any authorized or previously-
proposed cochannel ITFS station or booster station located within
160.94 km (100 miles) of the proposed response station
[[Page 65107]]
hub, or, in the alternative, that the licensee of or applicant for such
cochannel station or hub consents to the application; and
(v) The combined signals of all simultaneously operating MDS
response stations within all response service areas and oriented to
transmit towards their respective response station hubs, and all
cochannel MDS stations and booster stations licensed to or applied for
by the applicant, will result in a desired to undesired signal ratio of
at least 0 dB (or the appropriately adjusted value based upon the ratio
of the channel to subchannel bandwidths):
(A) within the protected service area of any authorized or
previously-proposed adjacent channel incumbent MDS or ITFS station with
a 56.33 km (35 miles) protected service area with center coordinates
located within 160.94 km (100 miles) of the proposed response station
hub; and
(B) within the booster service area of any adjacent channel booster
station entitled to such protection pursuant to Secs. 21.913(f) or
74.985(f) of this chapter and located within 160.94 km (100 miles) of
the proposed response station hub; and
(C) at any registered receive site of any authorized or previously-
proposed adjacent channel ITFS station or booster station located
within 160.94 km (100 miles) of the proposed response station hub, or,
in the alternative, that the licensee of or applicant for such adjacent
channel station or hub consents to the application; and
(vi) The combined signals of all simultaneously operating MDS
response stations within all response service areas and oriented to
transmit towards their respective response station hubs and all
cochannel MDS stations and booster stations licensed to or applied for
by the applicant will comply with the requirements of paragraph (i) of
this section and Sec. 74.939(i) of this chapter.
(4) A certification that the application has been served upon.
(i) The holder of any cochannel or adjacent channel authorization
with a protected service area which is overlapped by the proposed
response service area;
(ii) The holder of any cochannel or adjacent channel authorization
with a protected service area that adjoins the applicant's protected
service area;
(iii) The holder of a cochannel or adjacent channel authorization
for any BTA or PSA inside whose boundaries are locations for which
there is an unobstructed signal path for combined signals from within
the response station hub applicant's protected service area; and
(iv) Every licensee of, or applicant for, any cochannel or adjacent
channel, authorized or previously-proposed, incumbent MDS station with
a 56.33 km (35 mile) protected service area with center coordinates
located within 160.94 km (100 miles) of the proposed response station
hub; and
(v) Every licensee of, or applicant for, any cochannel or adjacent
channel, authorized or previously-proposed ITFS station (including any
booster station or response station hub) located within 160.94 km (100
miles) of the proposed response station hub.
(e) Except as set forth in Sec. 21.27(d), applications for response
station hub licenses may be filed at any time. Notwithstanding any
other provision of part 21 (including Sec. 21.31), applications for
response station hub licenses meeting the requirements of paragraph (c)
of this section shall cut-off applications that are filed on a
subsequent day for facilities that would cause harmful electromagnetic
interference to the proposed response station hubs. A response station
hub shall not be entitled to protection from interference caused by
facilities proposed on or prior to the day the application for the
response station hub license is filed. Response stations shall not be
required to protect from interference facilities proposed on or after
the day the application for the response station hub license is filed.
(f) Notwithstanding the provisions of Sec. 21.30(b)(4) and except
as set forth in Sec. 21.27(d), any petition to deny an application for
a response station hub license shall be filed no later than the
sixtieth (60th) day after the date of public notice announcing the
filing of such application or major amendment thereto. Notwithstanding
Sec. 21.31 and except as provided in Sec. 21.27(d), an application for
a response station hub license that meets the requirements of this
section shall be granted on the sixty-first (61st) day after the
Commission shall have given public notice of the acceptance for filing
of it, or of a major amendment to it if such major amendment has been
filed, unless prior to such date either a party in interest timely
files a formal petition to deny or for other relief pursuant to
Sec. 21.30(a), or the Commission notifies the applicant that its
application will not be granted. Where an application is granted
pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph, the conditional licensee
or licensee shall maintain a copy of the application at the response
station hub until such time as the Commission issues a response station
hub license.
(g) An MDS response station hub license shall be conditioned upon
compliance with the following:
(1) No MDS response station shall be located beyond the response
service area of the response station hub with which it communicates;
and
(2) No MDS response station shall operate with a transmitter output
power in excess of 2 watts; and
(3) No MDS response station shall operate with an EIRP in excess of
that specified in the application for the response station hub pursuant
to paragraph (d)(2)(i)(B) of this section for the particular regional
class of characteristics with which the response station is associated,
and such response station shall not operate at an excess of 33 dBW EIRP
(or, when subchannels or superchannels, or 125 kHz channels, are used,
the appropriately adjusted value based upon the ratio of 6 MHz to the
subchannel or superchannel, or 125 kHz, bandwidth); and
(4) Each MDS response station shall employ a transmission antenna
oriented towards the response station hub with which the MDS response
station communicates, and such antenna shall be no less directional
than the worst case outer envelope pattern specified in the application
for the response station hub pursuant to paragraph (d)(2)(i)(D) of this
section for the regional class of characteristics with which the
response station is associated; and
(5) The combined out-of-band emissions of all response stations
using all or part of one or multiple contiguous 6 MHz channels and
employing digital modulation shall comply with Sec. 21.908(d). The
combined out-of-band emissions of all response stations using all or
part of one or multiple contiguous 125 kHz channels shall comply with
paragraph (j) of this section. However, should harmful interference
occur as a result of emissions outside the assigned channel, additional
attenuation may be required; and
(6) The response stations transmitting simultaneously at any time
within any given region of the response service area utilized for
purposes of analyzing the potential for interference by response
stations shall conform to the numerical limits for each class of
response station proposed in the application for the response station
hub license. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the licensee of a response
station hub license may alter the number of response stations of any
class operated simultaneously in a given region, without prior
Commission authorization, provided that the licensee:
[[Page 65108]]
(i) First notifies the Commission of the altered number of response
stations of such class(es) to be operated simultaneously in such
region, and certifies in that notification that it has complied with
the requirements of paragraphs (g)(6)(ii) and (iii) of this section;
and
(ii) Provides ITS with a copy of such notification and with an
analysis establishing that such alteration will not result in any
increase in interference to the protected service area or protected
receive sites of any existing or previously-proposed, cochannel or
adjacent channel MDS or ITFS station or booster station, to the
protected service area of any MDS Basic Trading Area or Partitioned
Service Area licensee entitled to protection pursuant to paragraph
(d)(3) of this section, or to any existing or previously-proposed,
cochannel or adjacent channel response station hub, or response station
under Sec. 21.940 or Sec. 74.940 of this chapter; or that the applicant
for or licensee of such facility has consented to such interference;
and
(iii) Serves a copy of such notification and analysis upon each
party entitled to be served pursuant to paragraph (d)(4) of this
section; and
(iv) Submits to the Commission, only upon Commission staff request,
duplicates of the submissions required by paragraph (g)(6)(ii) of this
section; and
(7) Where an application is granted under this section, if a
facility operated pursuant to that grant causes harmful, unauthorized
interference to any cochannel or adjacent channel facility, it must
promptly remedy the interference or immediately cease operations of the
interfering facility, regardless of whether any petitions to deny or
for other relief were filed against the application during the
application process. The burden of proving that a facility operated
under this section is not causing harmful, unauthorized interference
lies on the licensee of the alleged interfering facility, following the
filing of a documented complaint of interference by an affected party;
and
(8) In the event any MDS or ITFS receive site suffers interference
due to block downconverter overload, the licensee of each response
station hub with a response service area within five miles of such
receive site shall cooperate in good faith to expeditiously identify
the source of the interference. Each licensee of a response station hub
with an associated response station contributing to such interference
shall bear the joint and several obligation to promptly remedy all
interference resulting from block downconverter overload at any ITFS
receive site registered prior to the submission of the application for
the response station hub license or at any receive site within an MDS
or ITFS protected service area applied for prior to the submission of
the application for the response station hub license, regardless of
whether the receive site suffering the interference was constructed
prior to or after the construction of the response station(s) causing
the downconverter overload; provided, however, that the licensee of the
registered ITFS receive site or the MDS or ITFS protected service area
must cooperate fully and in good faith with efforts by the response
station hub licensee to prevent interference before constructing
response stations and/or to remedy interference that may occur. In the
event that more than one response station hub licensee contributes to
block downconverter interference at a MDS or ITFS receive site, the
licensees of the contributing response station hubs shall cooperate in
good faith to remedy promptly the interference.
(h) Applicants must comply with part 17 of this chapter concerning
notification to the Federal Aviation Administration of proposed antenna
construction or alteration.
(i) Response station hubs shall be protected from cochannel and
adjacent channel interference in accordance with the following
criteria:
(1) An applicant for any new or modified MDS or ITFS station
(including any high-power booster station or response station hub)
shall be required to demonstrate interference protection to a response
station hub within 160.94 km (100 miles) of the proposed facilities. In
lieu of the interference protection requirements set forth in
Secs. 21.902(b)(3) through (b)(5), 21.938(b)(1) and (2) and (c), and
74.903 of this chapter, such demonstration shall establish that the
proposed facility will not increase the effective power flux density of
the undesired signals generated by the proposed facility and any
associated main stations, booster stations or response stations at the
response station hub antenna for any sector. In lieu of the foregoing,
an applicant for a new MDS or ITFS main station license or for a new or
modified response station hub or booster license may demonstrate that
the facility will not increase the noise floor at a reception antenna
of the response station hub by more than 1 dB for cochannel signals and
45 dB for adjacent channel signals, provided that:
(i) The entity submitting the application may only invoke this
alternative once per response station hub reception sector; or
(ii) The licensee of the affected response station hub may consent
to receive a certain amount of interference at its hub.
(2) Commencing upon the filing of an application for an MDS
response station hub license and until such time as the application is
dismissed or denied or, if the application is granted, a certification
of completion of construction is filed, the MDS station whose channels
are being utilized shall be entitled both to interference protection
pursuant to Secs. 21.902(b)(3) through (b)(5), 21.938(b)(1) and (2) and
(c), and 74.903 of this chapter, and to protection of the response
station hub pursuant to the preceding paragraph. Unless the application
for the response station hub license specifies that the same
frequencies also will be employed for digital and/or analog point-to-
multipoint transmissions by MDS stations and/or MDS booster stations,
upon the filing of a certification of completion of construction of an
MDS response station hub where the channels of an MDS station are being
utilized as response station transmit frequencies, the MDS station
whose channels are being utilized for response station transmissions
shall no longer be entitled to interference protection pursuant to
Secs. 21.902(b)(3) through (b)(5), 21.938(b)(1) and (2) and (c), and
74.903 of this chapter within the response service area with regard to
any portion of any 6 MHz channel employed solely for response station
communications. Upon the certification of completion of construction of
an MDS response station hub where the channels of an MDS station are
being utilized for response station transmissions and the application
for the response station hub license specifies that the same
frequencies will be employed for point-to-multipoint transmissions, the
MDS station whose channels are being utilized shall be entitled both to
interference protection pursuant to Secs. 21.902(b)(3) through (b)(5),
21.938(b)(1) and (2) and (c), and 74.903 of this chapter, and to
protection of the response station hub pursuant to the preceding
provisions of this paragraph.
(j) 125 kHz wide response channels shall be subject to the
following requirements: The 125 kHz wide channel shall be centered at
the assigned frequency. If amplitude modulation is used, the carrier
shall not be modulated in excess of 100%. If frequency modulation is
used, the deviation shall not exceed 25 kHz. Any emissions
outside the channel shall be
[[Page 65109]]
attenuated at the channel edges at least 35 dB below peak output power
when analog modulation is employed or 35 dB below licensed average
output power when digital modulation is employed (or, when subchannels
are used, the appropriately adjusted value based upon the ratio of the
channel-to-subchannel bandwidths). Any emissions more than 125 kHz from
either channel edge, including harmonics, shall be attenuated at least
60 dB below peak output power when analog modulation is employed, or at
least 60 dB below licensed average output power when digital modulation
is employed (or, when subchannels are used, the appropriately adjusted
value based upon the ratio of the channel-to-subchannel bandwidths).
Notwithstanding the foregoing, in situations where adjacent channel
licensees jointly transmit over more than one contiguous channel
utilizing digital modulation, the maximum out-of-band power shall be
attenuated at the edges of those combined channels at least 35 dB
relative to the licensed average power level of each channel. Emissions
more than 125 kHz from either edge of the combined channels, including
harmonics, shall be attenuated at least 60 dB below peak analog power
or average digital power of each channel, as appropriate.
(k) A response station may be operated unattended. The overall
performance of the response station transmitter shall be checked by the
hub licensee as often as necessary to ensure that it is functioning in
accordance with the requirements of the Commission's rules. The
licensee of a response station hub is responsible for the proper
operation of all associated response stations and must have reasonable
and timely access to all associated response station transmitters.
Response stations shall be installed and maintained by the licensee of
the associated hub station, or the licensee's employees or agents, and
protected in such manner as to prevent tampering or operation by
unauthorized persons. No response hub may lawfully communicate with any
response station which has not been installed by an authorized person,
and each response station hub licensee is responsible for maintaining,
and making available to the Commission upon request, a list containing
the customer name and site location (street address and latitude/
longitude to the nearest second) of each associated response station,
plus the technical parameters (e.g., EIRP, emission, bandwidth, and
antenna pattern, height, orientation and polarization) pertinent to
each specific response station.
(l) The transmitting apparatus employed at MDS response stations
shall have received type certification.
(m) An MDS response station shall be operated only when engaged in
communication with its associated MDS response station hub or MDS
station, or for necessary equipment or system tests and adjustments.
Radiation of an unmodulated carrier and other unnecessary transmissions
are forbidden.
(n) At least 20 days prior to the activation of a response station
transmitter located within a radius of 1960 feet of a registered or
previously-applied-for ITFS receive site, the response station hub
licensee must notify, by certified mail, the licensee of the ITFS site
of the intention to activate the response station. The notification
must contain the street address and geographic coordinates (to the
nearest second) of the response station, a specification of the
station's EIRP, antenna pattern/orientation/height AMSL, channel(s) to
be used, as well as the name and telephone number of a contact person
who will be responsible for coordinating the resolution of any
interference problems.
(o) Interference calculations shall be performed in accordance with
Appendix D to the Report and Order in MM Docket No. 97-217, FCC 98-231,
``Methods for Predicting Interference From Response Station
Transmitters and To Response Station Hubs and for Supplying Data on
Response Station Systems.'' Compliance with the out-of-band emissions
limitations shall be established in accordance with Sec. 21.908(e).
24. In Sec. 21.910, the section heading and introductory text,
paragraph (a), and the introductory text of paragraph (b) are revised,
and new paragraph (d) is added, to read as follows:
Sec. 21.910 Special procedures for discontinuance, reduction or
impairment of service by common carrier licensees.
Any licensee who has elected common carrier status and who seeks to
discontinue service on a common carrier basis and instead provide
service on a non-common carrier basis, or who otherwise intends to
reduce or impair service, shall be subject to the following procedures:
(a) The carrier shall notify all affected customers of the planned
discontinuance, reduction or impairment. Notice shall be in writing to
each affected customer unless the Commission authorizes in advance, for
good cause shown, another form of notice. Notice shall include the
following:
(1) Name and address of carrier; and
(2) Date of planned service discontinuance, reduction or
impairment; and
(3) Points or geographic areas of service affected; and
(4) How many and which channels are affected; and
(5) The following statement:
The FCC normally will authorize this proposed discontinuance of
service (or reduction or impairment) unless it is shown that end-
users will be affected adversely thereby. Affected customers wishing
to object should file objections within 45 days after receipt of
this notification, and address them to the Video Services Division,
Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC 20554, referencing
the Sec. 21.910 Application of (carrier's name). Comments should
include specific information about the impact of this proposed
discontinuance (or reduction or impairment) upon end-users,
including any inability by the customer to acquire reasonable
substitute service from another provider. The affected customer must
state that it has provided a copy of the objection to the carrier
seeking discontinuance.
(b) The carrier shall file with this Commission, on or after the
date on which notice has been given to all affected customers, an
application which shall contain the following:
* * * * *
(d) The provisions of this section shall not apply to licensees
authorized by the Commission to alternate, without further
authorization required, between rendering service on a common carrier
and non-common carrier basis.
25. Section 21.913 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 21.913 Signal booster stations.
(a) An MDS booster station may reuse channels to repeat the signals
of MDS stations or to originate signals on MDS channels. The aggregate
power flux density generated by an MDS station and all associated
signal booster stations and all simultaneously operating cochannel
response stations may not exceed -73 dBW/m2 (or, when
subchannels or 125 kHz channels are used, the appropriately adjusted
value based upon the ratio of the channel-to-subchannel or 125 kHz
bandwidths) at or beyond the boundary of the protected service area, as
defined in Secs. 21.902(d) and 21.933, of the main MDS station whose
channels are being reused, as measured at locations for which there is
an unobstructed signal path, unless the consent of the affected
cochannel licensee is obtained.
(b) An MDS licensee or conditional licensee who is a response
station hub
[[Page 65110]]
licensee, conditional licensee or applicant may secure a license for an
MDS signal booster station that has a maximum power level in excess of
-9 dBW EIRP (or, when subchannels or superchannels, or 125 kHz
channels, are used, the appropriately adjusted value based upon the
ratio of 6 MHz to the subchannel or superchannel, or 125 kHz,
bandwidth) and that employs only digital modulation with uniform power
spectral density in accordance with the Commission's Declaratory Ruling
and Order, 11 FCC Rcd 18839 (1996) (a ``high-power MDS signal booster
station''). The applicant for a high-power MDS signal booster station
shall file FCC Form 331 with Mellon Bank, and certify on that form that
the applicant has complied with the additional requirements of
paragraph (b) of this section. Failure to certify compliance and to
comply completely with the following requirements of paragraph (b) of
this section shall result in dismissal of the application or revocation
of the high-power MDS signal booster station license, and may result in
imposition of a monetary forfeiture. The applicant for a high-power MDS
signal booster station additionally is required to submit to
International Transcription Services, Inc., 1231 20th Street, N.W.,
Washington, DC 20036, both in hard copy, and on a 3.5'' computer
diskette in ASCII, and likewise to submit to the Commission, only upon
Commission staff request, duplicates of the Form 331 filed with Mellon
Bank, and the following information:
(1) A demonstration that the proposed signal booster station site
is within the protected service area, as defined in Secs. 21.902(d) and
21.933, of the MDS station whose channels are to be reused; and
(2) A study which demonstrates that the aggregate power flux
density of the MDS station and all associated booster stations and
simultaneously operating cochannel response stations licensed to or
applied for by the applicant, measured at or beyond the boundary of the
protected service area of the MDS station whose channels are to be
reused, does not exceed -73 dBW/m2 (or, when subchannels or
125 kHz channels are used, the appropriately adjusted value based upon
the ratio of the channel-to-subchannel or 125 kHz bandwidths) at
locations for which there is an unobstructed signal path, unless the
consent of the affected licensees has been obtained; and
(3) In lieu of the requirements of Sec. 21.902(c) and (i), a study
which demonstrates that the proposed booster station will cause no
harmful interference (as defined in Sec. 21.902(f)) to cochannel and
adjacent channel, authorized or previously-proposed ITFS and MDS
stations with protected service area center coordinates as specified in
Sec. 21.902(d), to any authorized or previously-proposed response
station hubs, booster stations or I channel stations associated with
such ITFS and MDS stations, or to any previously-registered ITFS
receive sites, within 160.94 kilometers (100 miles) of the proposed
booster station's transmitter site. Such study shall consider the
undesired signal levels generated by the proposed signal booster
station, the main station, all other licensed or previously-proposed
associated booster stations, and all simultaneously operating cochannel
response stations licensed to or applied for by the applicant. In the
alternative, a statement from the affected MDS or ITFS licensee or
conditional licensee stating that it does not object to operation of
the high-power MDS signal booster station may be submitted; and
(4) A description of the booster service area; and
(5) A demonstration either
(i) That the booster service area is entirely within the protected
service area to which the licensee of a station whose channels are
being reused is entitled by virtue of its being the licensee of an
incumbent MDS station, or by virtue of its holding a Basic Trading Area
or Partitioned Service Area authorization; or
(ii) That the licensee entitled to any cochannel protected service
area which is overlapped by the proposed booster service area has
consented to such overlap; and
(6) A demonstration that the proposed booster service area can be
served by the proposed booster without interference; and
(7) A certification that copies of the materials set forth in
paragraph (b) of this section have been served upon the licensee or
conditional licensee of each station (including each response station
hub and booster station) required to be studied pursuant to paragraph
(b)(3) of this section, and upon any affected holder of a Basic Trading
Area or Partitioned Service Area authorization pursuant to paragraph
(b)(2) of this section.
(c) Except as provided in Sec. 21.27(d), applications for high-
power MDS signal booster station licenses may be filed at any time.
Notwithstanding any other provision of part 21 (including Sec. 21.31),
applications for high-power MDS signal booster station licenses meeting
the requirements of paragraph (b) of this section shall cut-off
applications that are filed on a subsequent day for facilities that
would cause harmful electromagnetic interference to the proposed
booster stations.
(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of Sec. 21.30(a)(4) and except
as provided in Sec. 21.27(d), any petition to deny an application for a
high-power MDS signal booster station license shall be filed no later
than the sixtieth (60th) day after the date of public notice announcing
the filing of such application or major amendment thereto.
Notwithstanding Sec. 21.31 and except as provided in Sec. 21.27(d), an
application for a high-power MDS signal booster station license that
meets the requirements of paragraph (b) of this section shall be
granted on the sixty-first (61st) day after the Commission shall have
given public notice of the acceptance for filing of it, or of a major
amendment to it if such major amendment has been filed, unless prior to
such date either a party in interest timely files a formal petition to
deny or for other relief pursuant to Sec. 21.30(a), or the Commission
notifies the applicant that its application will not be granted. Where
an application is granted pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph,
the conditional licensee or licensee shall maintain a copy of the
application at the MDS booster station until such time as the
Commission issues a high-power MDS signal booster station license.
(e) Eligibility for a license for an MDS signal booster station
that has a maximum power level of -9 dBW EIRP (or, when subchannels or
superchannels, or 125 kHz channels, are used, the appropriately
adjusted value based upon the ratio of 6 MHz to the subchannel or
superchannel, or 125 kHz, bandwidth) (a ``low-power MDS signal booster
station'') shall be restricted to an MDS licensee or conditional
licensee. A low-power MDS signal booster station may operate only on
one or more MDS channels that are licensed to the licensee of the MDS
booster station, but may be operated by a third party with a fully-
executed lease or consent agreement with the MDS conditional licensee
or licensee. An MDS licensee or conditional licensee may install and
commence operation of a low-power MDS signal booster station for the
purpose of retransmitting the signals of the MDS station or for
originating signals. Such installation and operation shall be subject
to the condition that for sixty (60) days after installation and
commencement of operation, no objection or petition to deny is filed by
an authorized cochannel or adjacent channel ITFS or MDS station with a
transmitter within 8.0 kilometers (5 miles) of the
[[Page 65111]]
coordinates of the low-power MDS signal booster station. An MDS
licensee or conditional licensee seeking to install a low-power MDS
signal booster station under this rule must, within 48 hours after
installation, submit FCC Form 331 to the Commission in Washington, DC,
and submit to International Transcription Services, Inc., 1231 20th
Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20036, both in hard copy, and on a 3.5''
computer diskette in ASCII, duplicates of the Form 331 filed with the
Commission, and the following (which also shall be submitted to the
Commission only upon Commission staff request at any time):
(1) A description of the signal booster technical specifications
(including an antenna envelope plot or, if the envelope plot is on file
with the Commission, the make and model of the antenna, antenna gain
and azimuth), the coordinates of the booster, the height of the center
of radiation above mean sea level, the street address of the signal
booster and a description of the booster service area; and
(2) A demonstration either
(i) That the booster service area is entirely within the protected
service area to which each licensee of a station whose channels are
being reused is entitled by virtue of its being the licensee of an
incumbent MDS station, or by virtue of its holding a Basic Trading Area
or Partitioned Service Area authorization; or
(ii) That the licensee entitled to any cochannel protected service
area which is overlapped by the proposed booster service area has
consented to such overlap; and
(3) A demonstration that the proposed booster service area can be
served by the proposed booster without interference; and
(4) A certification that no Federal Aviation Administration
determination of No Hazard to Air Navigation is required under part 17
of this chapter or, if such determination is required, either:
(i) A statement of the FCC Antenna Structure Registration Number;
or
(ii) If an FCC Antenna Structure Registration Number has not been
assigned for the antenna structure, the filer must indicate the date
the application by the antenna structure owner to register the antenna
structure was filed with the FCC in accordance with part 17 of this
chapter; and
(5) A certification that:
(i) The maximum power level of the signal booster transmitter does
not exceed -9 dBW EIRP (or, when subchannels or superchannels, or 125
kHz channels, are used, the appropriately adjusted value based upon the
ratio of 6 MHz to the subchannel or superchannel, or 125 kHz,
bandwidth); and
(ii) Where the booster is operating on channel D4, E1, F1, E2, F2,
E3, F3, E4, F4 and/or G1, no registered receiver of an ITFS E or F
channel station, constructed prior to May 26, 1983, is located within a
1.61 km (1 mile) radius of the coordinates of the booster, or in the
alternative, that a consent statement has been obtained from the
affected ITFS licensee; and
(iii) The applicant has complied with Sec. 1.1307 of this chapter;
and
(iv) Each MDS and/or ITFS station licensee (including the licensees
of booster stations and response station hubs) with protected service
areas and/or registered receivers within a 8 km (5 mile) radius of the
coordinates of the booster has been given notice of its installation;
and
(v) The signal booster site is within the protected service area of
the MDS station whose channels are to be reused; and
(vi) The aggregate power flux density of the MDS station and all
associated booster stations and simultaneously operating cochannel
response stations licensed to or applied for by the applicant, measured
at or beyond the boundary of the protected service areas of the MDS
stations whose channels are to be reused, does not exceed -73 dBW/m\2\
(or, when subchannels or 125 kHz channels are used, the appropriately
adjusted value based upon the ratio of the channel-to-subchannel or 125
kHz bandwidths) at locations for which there is an unobstructed signal
path, unless the consent of the affected licensees has been obtained;
and
(vii) The antenna structure will extend less than 6.10 meters (20
feet) above the ground or natural formation or less than 6.10 meters
(20 feet) above an existing manmade structure (other than an antenna
structure); and
(viii) The MDS conditional licensee or licensee understands and
agrees that, in the event harmful interference is claimed by the filing
of an objection or petition to deny, the conditional licensee or
licensee must terminate operation within two (2) hours of notification
by the Commission, and must not recommence operation until receipt of
written authorization to do so by the Commission.
(f) Commencing upon the filing of an application for a high-power
MDS signal booster station license and until such time as the
application is dismissed or denied or, if the application is granted, a
certification of completion of construction is filed, an applicant for
any new or modified MDS or ITFS station (including a response station
hub, high-power booster station, or I Channels station) shall
demonstrate compliance with the interference protection requirements
set forth in Secs. 21.902 (b)(3) through (b)(5), 21.938 (b) (1) and (2)
and (c), or 74.903 of this chapter with respect to any previously-
proposed or authorized booster service area both using the transmission
parameters of the high-power MDS signal booster station (e.g., EIRP,
polarization(s) and antenna height) and the transmission parameters of
the MDS station whose channels are to be reused by the high-power MDS
signal booster station. Upon the filing of a certification of
completion of construction of an MDS booster station applied for
pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section, or upon the submission of an
MDS booster station notification pursuant to paragraph (e) of this
section, the MDS station whose channels are being reused by the MDS
signal booster shall no longer be entitled to interference protection
pursuant to Secs. 21.902 (b)(3) through (b)(5), 21.938 (b) (1) and (2)
and (c), and 74.903 of this chapter within the booster service area
based on the transmission parameters of the MDS station whose channels
are being reused. A booster station shall not be entitled to protection
from interference caused by facilities proposed on or prior to the day
the application or notification for the booster station is filed. A
booster station shall not be required to protect from interference
facilities proposed on or after the day the application or notification
for the booster station is filed.
(g) Where an application is granted under paragraph (d) of this
section, if a facility operated pursuant to that grant causes harmful,
unauthorized interference to any cochannel or adjacent channel
facility, it must promptly remedy the interference or immediately cease
operations of the interfering facility, regardless of whether any
petitions to deny or for other relief were filed against the
application during the application process. The burden of proving that
a high-power MDS signal booster station is not causing harmful,
unauthorized interference lies on the licensee of the alleged
interfering facility, following the filing of a documented complaint of
interference by an affected party.
(h) In the event any MDS or ITFS receive site suffers interference
due to block downconverter overload, the licensee of each signal
booster station within five miles of such receive site shall cooperate
in good faith to
[[Page 65112]]
expeditiously identify the source of the interference. Each licensee of
a signal booster station contributing to such interference shall bear
the joint and several obligation to promptly remedy all interference
resulting from block downconverter overload at any ITFS receive site
registered prior to the submission of the application or notification
for the signal booster station or at any receive site within an MDS or
ITFS protected service area applied for prior to the submission of the
application or notification for the signal booster station, regardless
of whether the receive site suffering the interference was constructed
prior to or after the construction of the signal booster station(s)
causing the downconverter overload; provided, however, that the
licensee of the registered ITFS receive site or the MDS or ITFS
protected service area must cooperate fully and in good faith with
efforts by the signal booster station licensee to prevent interference
before constructing the signal booster station and/or to remedy
interference that may occur. In the event that more than one signal
booster station licensee contributes to block downconverter
interference at a MDS or ITFS receive site, the licensees of the
contributing signal booster stations shall cooperate in good faith to
remedy promptly the interference.
26. In Sec. 21.925, paragraph (b) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 21.925 Applications for BTA authorizations and MDS station
licenses.
* * * * *
(b) Separate long-form applications must be filed for each
individual MDS station license sought within the protected service area
of a BTA or PSA, including:
(1) An application for each E-channel group, F-channel group, and
single H, 1, and 2A channel station license sought;
(2) An application for each site where one or more MDS response
station hub license(s) is/are sought, provided that the technical
parameters of each MDS response station hub are the same;
(3) An application for each site where one or more MDS booster
station(s) will operate with an EIRP in excess of -9 dBW (or, when
subchannels or superchannels, or 125 kHz channels, are used, the
appropriately adjusted value based upon the ratio of 6 MHz to the
subchannel or superchannel, or 125 kHz, bandwidth);
(4) An application for authority to operate at an MDS station in
the area vacated by an MDS station incumbent that has forfeited its
station license; and
(5) An application for each ITFS-channel group station license
sought in accordance with Secs. 74.990 and 74.991 of this chapter.
* * * * *
27. In Sec. 21.938, paragraph (b) introductory text, and paragraphs
(c)(4), (e) and (f), are revised to read as follows:
Sec. 21.938 BTA and PSA technical and interference provisions.
* * * * *
(b) Unless the affected parties have executed a written
interference agreement in accordance with Sec. 21.937, and subject to
the provisions of Secs. 21.909, 21.913, 21.940, 74.939 of this chapter,
74.940 of this chapter and 74.985 of this chapter regarding the
protection of response station hubs, booster service areas and 125 kHz
channels from harmful electromagnetic interference, stations licensed
to a BTA or PSA authorization holder must not cause harmful
electromagnetic interference to the following:
* * *
(c) * * *
(4) An ITFS station authorized before September 15, 1995 may be
modified, provided the power flux density of that station does not
exceed -73 dBW/m\2\ (or the appropriate value for bandwidth other than
6 MHz) at locations along the 56.33 km (35 mile) circle centered on the
then-existing transmitting antenna site or service area of a collocated
incumbent MDS station, as applicable.
* * * * *
(e) Unless specifically excepted, BTA or PSA authorization holders
are governed by the interference protection and other technical
provisions applicable to MDS.
(f) The calculated free space power flux density from an MDS
station, other than an incumbent MDS station, may not exceed -73 dBW/
m\2\ (or the appropriate value for bandwidth other than 6 MHz) at
locations on BTA or PSA boundaries for which there is an unobstructed
signal path from the transmitting antenna to the boundary, unless the
applicant has obtained the written consent of the authorization holder
for the affected BTA or PSA.
* * * * *
28. New Sec. 21.940 is added, to read as follows:
Sec. 21.940 Individually licensed 125 kHz channel MDS response
stations.
(a) The provisions of Sec. 21.909(a), (e), (h), (j), (l) and (m),
and Sec. 74.939(j) of this chapter, also shall apply with respect to
authorization of a 125 kHz channel(s) MDS response station not under a
response station hub license. The applicant shall comply with the
requirements of Sec. 21.902, and Sec. 21.938 where appropriate,
including the provisions of Secs. 21.909, 21.913, 74.939 of this
chapter and 74.985 of this chapter regarding the protection of response
station hubs and booster service areas from harmful electromagnetic
interference, using the appropriately adjusted interference protection
values based upon the ratio of the bandwidths in use, where the
authorized or previously-proposed cochannel or adjacent channel station
is operated or to be operated in a system with one or more response
station hub(s).
(b) An application for a license to operate a new or modified 125
kHz channel(s) MDS response station not under a response station hub
license shall be filed with Mellon Bank on FCC Form 304. The applicant
shall supply the following information on that form for each response
station:
(1) The geographic coordinates and street address of the MDS
response station transmitting antenna; and
(2) The manufacturer's name, type number, operating frequency, and
power output of the proposed MDS response station transmitter; and
(3) The type of transmitting antenna, power gain, azimuthal
orientation and polarization of the major lobe of radiation in degrees
measured clockwise from True North; and
(4) A sketch giving pertinent details of the MDS response station
transmitting antenna installation including ground elevation of the
transmitter site above mean sea level; overall height above ground,
including appurtenances, of any ground-mounted tower or mast on which
the transmitting antenna will be mounted or, if the tower or mast is or
will be located on an existing building or other manmade structure, the
separate heights above ground of the building and the tower or mast
including appurtenances; the location of the tower or mast on the
building; the location of the transmitting antenna on the tower or
mast; and the overall height of the transmitting antenna above ground.
(c) Each MDS response station licensed under this section shall
comply with the following:
(1) No MDS response station shall be located beyond the protected
service area of the MDS station with which it communicates; and
(2) No MDS response station shall operate with a transmitter output
power in excess of 2 watts; and
(3) No MDS response station shall operate at an excess of 16 dBW
EIRP.
(d) During breaks in communications, the unmodulated carrier
frequency shall
[[Page 65113]]
be maintained within 35 kHz of the assigned frequency at all times.
Adequate means shall be provided to insure compliance with this rule.
(e) Each MDS response station shall employ a directive transmitting
antenna oriented towards the transmitter site of the associated MDS
station or towards the response station hub with which the MDS response
station communicates. The beamwidth between half power points shall not
exceed 15 deg. and radiation in any minor lobe of the antenna radiation
pattern shall be at least 20 dB below the power in the main lobe of
radiation.
(f) A response station may be operated unattended. The overall
performance of the response station transmitter shall be checked by the
licensee of the station or hub receiving the response signal, or by the
licensee's employees or agents, as often as necessary to ensure that
the transmitter is functioning in accordance with the requirements of
the Commission's rules. The licensee of the station or hub receiving
the response signal is responsible for the proper operation of the
response station and must have reasonable and timely access to the
response station transmitter. The response station shall be installed
and maintained by the licensee of the associated station or hub, or the
licensee's employees or agents, and protected in such manner as to
prevent tampering or operation by unauthorized persons. No response
station which has not been installed by an authorized person may
lawfully communicate with any station or hub.
PART 74--EXPERIMENTAL RADIO, AUXILIARY, SPECIAL BROADCAST AND OTHER
PROGRAM DISTRIBUTIONAL SERVICES
29. The authority for part 74 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 303, 307, and 554.
30. In Sec. 74.901, the following definitions are added in
alphabetical order, to read as follows:
Sec. 74.901 Definitions.
* * * * *
Booster service area. A geographic area to be designated by an
applicant for a booster station, within which the booster station shall
be entitled to protection against interference as set forth in this
part. The booster service area must be specified by the applicant so as
to not overlap the booster service area of any other booster authorized
to or proposed by the applicant. However, a booster station may provide
service to receive sites outside of its booster service area, at the
licensee's risk of interference. The booster station must be capable of
providing substantial service within the designated booster service
area.
Channel. Unless otherwise specified, a channel under this part
shall refer to a 6 MHz frequency block assigned pursuant to
Secs. 21.901(b) of this chapter or 74.902(a).
* * * * *
Response station hub. A fixed facility licensed to an ITFS
licensee, and operated by an ITFS licensee or the lessee of an ITFS
channel, for the reception of information transmitted by one or more
ITFS response stations that utilize digital modulation with uniform
power spectral density. A response station hub licensed under this part
may share facilities with other ITFS response station hubs, MDS
response station hubs authorized pursuant to Sec. 21.909 of this
chapter, MDS signal booster stations, ITFS signal booster stations, MDS
stations, and/or ITFS stations.
Response station hub license. A blanket license authorizing the
operation of a single response station hub at a specific location and
the operation of a specified number of associated digital response
stations of one or more classes at unspecified locations within one or
more regions of the response service area.
Sectorization. The use of an antenna system at an ITFS station,
booster station and/or response station hub that is capable of
simultaneously transmitting multiple signals over the same frequencies
to different portions of the service area and/or simultaneously
receiving multiple signals over the same frequencies from different
portions of the service area.
Signal booster station. An ITFS station licensed for use in
accordance with Sec. 74.985 that operates on one or more ITFS channels.
Signal booster stations are intended to augment service as part of a
distributed transmission system where signal booster stations
retransmit the signal of an ITFS station and/or originate information.
A signal booster station licensed under this part may share facilities
with other ITFS signal booster stations, MDS signal booster stations
authorized pursuant to Sec. 21.913 of this chapter, MDS response
stations and/or ITFS response stations.
* * * * *
30a. In Sec. 74.901, the following definitions, in alphabetical
order, are revised to read as follows:
Instructional television fixed station. A fixed station licensed to
an educational organization and intended primarily for video, data, or
voice transmissions of instructional, cultural, and other types of
educational material to one or more fixed receiving locations.
ITFS response station. A fixed station operated by an ITFS
licensee, the lessee of ITFS channel capacity or a subscriber of either
to communicate with a response station hub or associated ITFS station.
A response station under this part may share facilities with other ITFS
response stations and/or one or more Multipoint Distribution Service
(MDS) response stations authorized pursuant to Sec. 21.909 of this
chapter or Sec. 21.940 of this chapter.
* * * * *
31. In Sec. 74.902, paragraphs (f) through (j) are redesignated as
paragraphs (g) through (k), respectively, paragraphs (c) through (e)
are revised, and new paragraph (f) and a new note to paragraph (c) are
added, to read as follows:
Sec. 74.902 Frequency assignments.
* * * * *
(c) Channels 2596-2602, 2602-2608, 2608-2614, 2614-2620, 2620-2626,
2626-2632, 2632-2638, and 2638-2644 MHz and the corresponding 125 kHz
channels listed in Sec. 74.939(j) are shared with the Multipoint
Distribution Service. No new Instructional Television Fixed Service
applications for these channels filed after May 25, 1983 will be
accepted, except in accordance with paragraph (f) of this section. In
those areas where Multipoint Distribution Service use of these channels
is allowed, Instructional Television Fixed Service users of these
channels will continue to be afforded protection from harmful cochannel
and adjacent channel interference from Multipoint Distribution Service
stations, pursuant to Sec. 21.902 of this chapter.
Note to Paragraph (C):
No 125 kHz channels are provided for Channels E3, E4, F3 and F4,
except for those grandfathered. The 125 kHz channels associated with
Channels E3, E4, F3 and F4 are allocated to the Private Operational
Fixed Point-to-Point Microwave Service, pursuant to Sec. 101.147(g)
of this chapter.
(d) Frequencies will be assigned as follows:
(1) A licensee is limited to the assignment of no more than four 6
MHz and four 125 kHz channels for use in a single area of operation,
all of which 6 MHz channels initially should be selected from the same
Group listed in paragraph (a) of this section, but which later may come
from different Groups as a result of authorized channel swaps pursuant
to paragraph (f) of this section. An area of operation is defined as
the area 35 miles or less from the ITFS main
[[Page 65114]]
station transmitter. Applicants shall not apply for more channels than
they intend to construct within a reasonable time, simply for the
purpose of reserving additional channels. The number of channels
authorized to an applicant will be based on the demonstration of need
for the number of channels requested. The Commission will take into
consideration such factors as the amount of use of any currently
assigned channels and the amount of proposed use of each channel
requested, the amount of, and justification for, any repetition in the
schedules, and the overall demand and availability of ITFS channels in
the community. For those applicant organizations formed for the purpose
of serving accredited institutional or governmental organizations,
evaluation of the need will only consider service to those specified
receive sites which submitted supporting documentation pursuant to
Sec. 74.932(a)(4).
(2) An applicant leasing excess capacity and proposing a schedule
which complies in all respects with the requirements of Sec. 74.931 (c)
or (d) will have presumptively demonstrated need, in accordance with
paragraph (d)(1) of this section, for no more than four channels. This
presumption is rebuttable by demonstrating that the application does
not propose to comport with our educational usage requirements, that
is, to transmit some formal educational usage, as defined in
Sec. 74.931(a), and to transmit the requisite minimum educational usage
of Sec. 74.931 (c) or (d) for genuinely educational purposes.
(e) Frequencies in the bands 2500-2650 MHz, 2656-2662 MHz, 2668-
2674 MHz, and 2680-2686 MHz are available for point-to-multipoint use
and/or for communications between ITFS response stations and response
station hubs when authorized in accordance with the provisions of
Sec. 74.939, provided that such frequencies may be employed for ITFS
response stations only when transmitting using digital modulation.
(f) An ITFS licensee or conditional licensee may apply to exchange
evenly one or more of its assigned channels with another ITFS licensee
or conditional licensee in the same system, or with an MDS licensee or
conditional licensee in the same system where one or both parties
utilizes digital transmissions or leases capacity to an operator which
utilizes digital transmissions, except that an ITFS licensee or
conditional licensee may not exchange one of its assigned channels for
MDS channel 2A. The licensees or conditional licensees seeking to
exchange channels shall file in tandem with the Commission separate pro
forma assignment of license applications, each attaching an exhibit
which clearly specifies that the application is filed pursuant to a
channel exchange agreement. The exchanged channel(s) shall be regulated
according to the requirements applicable to the assignee; provided,
however, that an ITFS licensee or conditional licensee which receives
one or more E or F Group channels through a channel exchange with an
MDS licensee or conditional licensee shall not be subject to the
restrictions on ITFS licensees who were authorized to operate on the E
or F Group channels prior to May 26, 1983.
* * * * *
32. In Sec. 74.903, paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(3), paragraph (b)
introductory text, paragraphs (b) (1), (2), (4) and (5), paragraph (c)
and paragraph (d) are revised, paragraphs (e) and (f) are removed, and
new paragraph (a)(6) is added, to read as follows:
Sec. 74.903 Interference.
(a) * * *
(1) Cochannel interference is defined as the ratio of the desired
signal to the undesired signal, at the output of a reference receiving
antenna oriented to receive the maximum desired signal level. Harmful
interference will be considered present when a free space calculation
determines that this ratio is less than 45 dB (both stations utilizing
6 MHz bandwidths).
(2) Adjacent channel interference is defined as the ratio of the
desired signal to undesired signal present in an adjacent channel, at
the output of a reference receiving antenna oriented to receive the
maximum desired signal level.
(i) Harmful interference will be considered present when a free
space calculation determines that this ratio is less than 0 dB (both
stations utilizing 6 MHz bandwidths).
(ii) In the alternative, harmful interference will be considered
present for an ITFS station constructed before May 26, 1983, when a
free space calculation determines that this ratio is less than 10 dB
(both stations utilizing 6 MHz bandwidths), unless:
(A) The individual receive site under consideration has been
subsequently upgraded with up-to-date reception equipment, in which
case the ratio shall be less than 0 dB. Absent information presented to
the contrary, however, the Commission will assume that reception
equipment installation occurred simultaneously with original station
equipment; or
(B) The license for an ITFS station is conditioned on the proffer
to the affected ITFS station licensee of equipment capable of providing
a ratio of 0 dB or more at no expense to the ITFS station licensee, and
also conditioned, if necessary, on the proffer of installation of such
equipment; and there has been no showing by the affected ITFS station
licensee demonstrating good cause and that the proposed equipment will
not provide a ratio of 0 dB or more, or that installation of such
equipment, at no expense to the ITFS station licensee, is not possible
or has not been proffered.
(3) For purposes of this section and except as set forth in
Sec. 74.939 regarding the protection of response station hubs, all
interference calculations involving receive antenna performance shall
use the reference antenna characteristics shown in Figure I,
Sec. 74.937(a) or, in the alternative, utilize the actual pattern
characteristics of the antenna in use at the receive site under study.
If the actual receive antenna pattern is utilized, the applicant must
submit complete details including manufacturer, model number(s), co-
polar and cross-polar gain patterns, and other pertinent data.
* * * * *
(6) Notwithstanding the above, main, booster and response stations
shall use the following formulas, as applicable, for determining
compliance with: (1) Radiated field contour limits where bandwidths
other than 6 MHz are employed at stations utilizing digital modulation
with uniform power spectral density; and (2) Cochannel and adjacent
channel D/U ratios where the bandwidths in use at the interfering and
protected stations are unequal and both stations are utilizing digital
modulation with uniform power spectral density or one station is
utilizing such modulation and the other station is utilizing either 6
MHz NTSC analog modulation or 125 kHz analog modulation (I channels
only).
(i) Contour limit: -73 dBW + 10 log (X/6), where X is the bandwidth
in MHz of the digital channel.
(ii) Cochannel D/U: 45 dB + 10 log (X1/X2), where X1 is the
bandwidth in MHz of the protected channel and X2 is the bandwidth in
MHz of the interfering channel.
(iii) Adjacent channel D/U: 0 dB + 10 log (X1/X2), where X1 is the
bandwidth in MHz of the protected channel and X2 is the bandwidth in
MHz of the interfering channel.
(b) All applicants for instructional television fixed stations are
expected to take full advantage of such directive antenna techniques to
prevent interference to the reception of any
[[Page 65115]]
existing or previously-proposed operational fixed, multipoint
distribution, international control or instructional television fixed
station at authorized receiving locations. Therefore, all applications
for new or major changes must include an analysis of potential
interference to all existing and previously-proposed stations in
accordance with paragraph (a) of this section. An applicant for a new
instructional television fixed station or for changes in an existing
ITFS facility or conditional license must include the following
technical information with the application:
(1) An analysis of the potential for harmful interference with the
receive sites registered as of September 17, 1998, and with the
protected service area, of any authorized or previously-proposed
cochannel station if:
(i) The proposed transmitting antenna has an unobstructed
electrical path to receive site(s) and/or the protected service area of
any other station that utilizes, or would utilize, the same frequency;
or
(ii) The proposed transmitter is within 80.5 km (50 miles) of the
coordinates of any such station.
(2) An analysis of the potential for harmful adjacent channel
interference with the receive sites registered as of September 17,
1998, and with the protected service area, of any authorized or
previously-proposed station if the proposed transmitter is within 80.5
km (50 miles) of the coordinates of any station that utilizes, or would
utilize, an adjacent channel frequency.
* * * * *
(4) In lieu of the interference analyses required by paragraphs
(b)(1) and (2) of this section, an applicant may submit (a)
statement(s) from the affected cochannel or adjacent channel
licensee(s) or conditional licensee(s) that any resulting interference
is acceptable.
(5) Specific rules relating to response station hubs, booster
stations, and 125 kHz channels are set forth in Secs. 21.909 of this
chapter, 21.913 of this chapter, 21.940 of this chapter, 74.939, 74.940
and 74.985. To the extent those specific rules are inconsistent with
any rules set forth above, those specific rules shall control.
(c) Existing licensees, conditional licensees and prospective
applicants, including those who lease or propose to lease excess
capacity pursuant to Sec. 74.931(c) or (d), are expected to cooperate
fully and in good faith in attempting to resolve problems of potential
interference before bringing the matter to the attention of the
Commission.
(d) Each authorized or previously-proposed applicant, conditional
licensee, or licensee must be protected from harmful electrical
interference at each of its receive sites registered previously as of
September 17, 1998, and within a protected service area as defined at
Sec. 21.902(d)(1) of this chapter and in accordance with the reference
receive antenna characteristics specified at Sec. 21.902(f) of this
chapter. An ITFS entity which did not receive protected service area
protection prior to September 17, 1998 shall be accorded such
protection by a cochannel or adjacent channel applicant for a new
station or station modification, including a booster station, response
station or response station hub, where the applicant is required to
prepare an analysis, study or demonstration of the potential for
harmful interference.
33. In Sec. 74.911, paragraph (a)(1) is revised, and new paragraph
(d) is added, to read as follows:
Sec. 74.911 Processing of ITFS station applications.
(a) * * *
(1) In the first group are applications for new stations or major
changes in the facilities of authorized stations. These applications
are subject to the provisions of paragraph (c) of this section. A major
change for an ITFS station will be any proposal to add new channels,
change from one channel (or channel group) to another except as
provided for in Sec. 74.902(f), change polarization, increase the EIRP
in any direction by more than 1.5 dB, increase the transmitting antenna
height by 25 feet or more, or relocate a facility's transmitter site by
10 miles or more. Applications submitted pursuant to Secs. 74.939 and
74.985 shall not be considered major change applications. However, the
Commission may, within 15 days after the acceptance of an application,
or 15 days after the acceptance of any other application for
modification of facilities, advise the applicant that such application
is considered to be one for a major change, and subject to the
provisions of paragraph (c) of this section.
* * * * *
(d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this part, effective as
of September 17, 1998, there shall be one one-week window, at such time
as the Commission shall announce by public notice, for the filing of
applications for high-power signal booster station, response station
hub, and I channels point-to-multipoint transmissions licenses, during
which all applications shall be deemed to have been filed as of the
same day for purposes of Secs. 74.939 and 74.985. Following the
publication of a public notice announcing the tendering for filing of
applications submitted during that window, applicants shall have a
period of sixty (60) days to amend their applications, provided such
amendments do not result in any increase in interference to any
previously-proposed or authorized station, or to facilities proposed
during the window, absent consent of the applicant for or conditional
licensee or licensee of the station that would receive such additional
interference. At the conclusion of that sixty (60) day period, the
Commission shall publish a public notice announcing the acceptance for
filing of all applications submitted during the initial window, as
amended during the sixty (60) day period. All petitions to deny such
applications must be filed within sixty (60) days of such second public
notice. On the sixty-first (61st) day after the publication of such
second public notice, applications for new or modified response station
hub and booster station licenses may be filed and will be processed in
accordance with the provisions of Secs. 74.939 and 74.985.
Notwithstanding paragraph (d) of this section, each application
submitted during the initial window shall be granted on the sixty-first
(61st) day after the Commission shall have given such public notice of
its acceptance for filing, unless prior to such date either a party in
interest timely files a formal petition to deny or for other relief
pursuant to Sec. 74.912, or the Commission notifies the applicant that
its application will not be granted. Where an application is granted
pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph, the conditional licensee
or licensee shall maintain a copy of the application at the transmitter
site or response station hub until such time as the Commission issues a
license.
34. New Sec. 74.912 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 74.912 Petitions to deny.
(a) Any party in interest may file with the Commission a petition
to deny any application for new facilities or major changes in the
facilities of authorized stations, provided such petitions are filed by
the date established pursuant to the cut-off provisions of
Sec. 74.911(c). In the case of all other applications, except those
excluded under Section 309(c) of the Communications Act of 1934, as
amended, and except as provided in Secs. 74.939 and 74.985, petitions
to deny must be filed not later than 30 days after issuance of a public
notice of the acceptance for filing of the applications. In the case of
applications for renewal of license, petitions to deny may be filed
[[Page 65116]]
after the issuance of a public notice of acceptance for filing of the
applications and up until the first day of the last full calendar month
of the expiring license term. Any party in interest may file with the
Commission a petition to deny any notification regarding ITFS booster
stations within the 60 day period provided for in Sec. 74.985(e).
(b) The applicant may file an opposition to any petition to deny,
and the petitioner a reply to such opposition in which allegations of
fact or denials thereof shall be supported by affidavit of a person or
persons with personal knowledge thereof. The times for filing such
oppositions and replies shall be those provided in Sec. 1.45 of this
chapter.
35. In Sec. 74.931, paragraphs (d) and (e) are redesignated as
paragraphs (b) and (c), respectively, and paragraphs (f) through (k)
are redesignated as paragraphs (e) through (j), respectively, paragraph
(a) and newly redesignated paragraphs (b) and (c) are revised, and new
paragraph (d) is added, to read as follows:
Sec. 74.931 Purpose and permissible service.
(a) (1) Instructional television fixed stations are intended
primarily through video, data, or voice transmissions to further the
educational mission of accredited public and private schools, colleges
and universities providing a formal educational and cultural
development to enrolled students. Authorized instructional television
fixed station channels must be used to further the educational mission
of accredited schools offering formal educational courses to enrolled
students, with limited exceptions as set forth in paragraphs (c)(3) and
(d)(2) of this section and Secs. 74.990 through 74.992.
(2) In furtherance of the educational mission of accredited
schools, instructional television fixed station channels may be used
for:
(i) In-service training and instruction in special skills and
safety programs, extension of professional training, informing persons
and groups engaged in professional and technical activities of current
developments in their particular fields, and other similar endeavors.
(ii) Transmission of material directly related to the
administrative activities of the licensee, such as the holding of
conferences with personnel, distribution of reports and assignments,
exchange of data and statistics, and other similar uses.
(iii) Response channels transmitting information associated with
formal educational courses offered to enrolled students, including uses
described in paragraphs (a)(2) (i) and (ii) of this section, from ITFS
response stations to response station hubs.
(b) Stations, including high-power ITFS signal booster stations,
may be licensed in this service as originating or relay stations to
interconnect instructional television fixed stations in adjacent areas,
to deliver instructional and cultural material to, and obtain such
material from, commercial and noncommercial educational television
broadcast stations for use on the instructional television fixed
system, and to deliver instructional and cultural material to, and
obtain such material from, nearby terminals or connection points of
closed circuit educational television systems employing wired
distribution systems or radio facilities authorized under other parts
of this Chapter, or to deliver instructional and cultural material to
any CATV system serving a receiving site or sites which would be
eligible for direct reception of ITFS signals under the provisions of
paragraph (a) of this section.
(c) A licensee solely utilizing analog transmissions may use excess
capacity on each channel to transmit material other than the ITFS
subject matter specified in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section,
subject to the following conditions:
(1) Before leasing excess capacity on any one channel, the licensee
must provide at least 20 hours per week of ITFS educational usage on
that channel, except as provided in paragraph (c)(2) of this section.
An additional 20 hours per week per channel must be strictly reserved
for ITFS use and not used for non-ITFS purposes, or reserved for
recapture by the ITFS licensee for its ITFS educational usage, subject
to one year's advance, written notification by the ITFS licensee to its
lessee and accounting for all recapture already exercised, with no
economic or operational detriment to the licensee. These hours of
recapture are not restricted as to time of day or day of the week, but
may be established by negotiations between the ITFS licensee and the
lessee. This 20 hours per channel per week ITFS educational usage
requirement and this recapture and/or reservation requirement of an
additional 20 hours per channel per week shall apply spectrally over
the licensee's whole protected service area.
(2) For the first two years of operation, an ITFS entity may lease
excess capacity if it provides ITFS educational usage for at least 12
hours per channel per week, provided that the entity does not employ
channel loading technology.
(3) The licensee may shift its requisite ITFS educational usage
onto fewer than its authorized number of channels, via channel mapping
or channel loading technology, so that it can lease full-time channel
capacity on its ITFS station, associated ITFS booster stations, and/or
ITFS response stations and associated response station hubs, subject to
the condition that it provide a total average of at least 20 hours per
channel per week of ITFS educational usage on its authorized channels.
The use of channel mapping or channel loading consistent with the Rules
shall not be considered adversely to the ITFS licensee in seeking a
license renewal. The licensee also retains the unabridgeable right to
recapture, subject to six months' advance written notification by the
ITFS licensee to its lessee, an average of an additional 20 hours per
channel per week, accounting for all recapture already exercised. The
licensee may agree to the transmission of this recapture time on
channels not authorized to it, but which are included in the wireless
system of which it is a part.
(4) An ITFS applicant, conditional licensee, or licensee may
specify an omnidirectional antenna for point-to-multipoint
transmissions to facilitate the leasing of excess capacity.
(5) Leasing activity may not cause unacceptable interference to
cochannel or adjacent channel operations.
(6) When an ITFS licensee makes capacity available on a common
carrier basis, it will be subject to common carrier regulation.
(i) A licensee operating as a common carrier is required to apply
for the appropriate authorization and to comply with all policies and
rules applicable to that service. Responsibility for making the initial
determination of whether a particular activity is common carriage rests
with the ITFS licensee. Initial determinations by the licensees are
subject to Commission examination and may be reviewed at the
Commission's discretion.
(ii) An ITFS licensee also may apply for authorization by the
Commission to alternate, without further authorization required,
between rendering service on a common carrier and non-common carrier
basis, provided that the licensee notify the Commission of any service
status changes at least 30 days in advance of such changes.
(iii) Licensees under paragraph (c)(6) of this section additionally
shall comply with the provisions of Secs. 21.304, 21.900(b),
21.903(b)(1) and (2), and 21.910 of this chapter.
(d) A licensee utilizing digital transmissions on any of its
licensed channels may use excess capacity on each channel to transmit
material other
[[Page 65117]]
than the ITFS subject matter specified in paragraphs (a) and (b) of
this section, subject to the following conditions:
(1) The licensee must reserve a minimum of 5% of the capacity of
its channels for instructional purposes only, and may not lease this
reserved capacity. In addition, before leasing excess capacity, the
licensee must provide at least 20 hours per licensed channel per week
of ITFS educational usage. This 5% reservation and this 20 hours per
licensed channel per week ITFS educational usage requirement shall
apply spectrally over the licensee's whole protected service area.
(2) The licensee may shift its requisite ITFS educational usage
onto fewer than its authorized number of channels, via channel mapping
or channel loading technology, and may shift its requisite ITFS
educational usage onto channels not authorized to it, but which are
included in the wireless system of which it is a part (``channel
shifting''), so that it can lease full-time channel capacity on its
ITFS station, associated ITFS booster stations, and/or ITFS response
stations and associated response station hubs, subject to the condition
that it provide a total average of at least 20 hours per licensed
channel per week of ITFS educational usage. The use of channel mapping,
channel loading, and/or channel shifting consistent with the Rules
shall not be considered adversely to the ITFS licensee in seeking a
license renewal.
(3) An ITFS applicant, conditional licensee, or licensee may
specify an omnidirectional antenna for point-to-multipoint
transmissions to facilitate the leasing of excess capacity.
(4) Leasing activity may not cause unacceptable interference to
cochannel or adjacent channel operations.
(5) A licensee leasing any of its licensed channels to be used as
response channels shall be required to maintain at least 25% of the
capacity of its channels for point-to-multipoint transmissions during
the term of the lease and following termination of the leasing
arrangement. This 25% preservation may be over the licensee's own
authorized channels or over channels not authorized to it, but which
are included in the wireless system of which it is a part.
(6) When an ITFS licensee makes capacity available on a common
carrier basis, it will be subject to common carrier regulation.
(i) A licensee operating as a common carrier is required to apply
for the appropriate authorization and to comply with all policies and
rules applicable to that service. Responsibility for making the initial
determination of whether a particular activity is common carriage rests
with the ITFS licensee. Initial determinations by the licensees are
subject to Commission examination and may be reviewed at the
Commission's discretion.
(ii) An ITFS licensee also may apply for authorization by the
Commission to alternate, without further authorization required,
between rendering service on a common carrier and non-common carrier
basis, provided that the licensee notify the Commission of any service
status changes at least 30 days in advance of such changes.
(iii) Licensees under paragraph (d)(6) of this section additionally
shall comply with the provisions of Secs. 21.304, 21.900(b),
21.903(b)(1) and (2), and 21.910 of this chapter.
* * * * *
36. In Section 74.935, paragraphs (a) and (b) are revised to read
as follows:
Sec. 74.935 Power limitations.
(a) The maximum EIRP of an ITFS main or booster station shall not
exceed 33 dBW (or, when digital modulation with uniform power spectral
density and subchannels or superchannels, or 125 kHz channels, are
used, the appropriately adjusted value based upon the ratio of 6 MHz to
the subchannel or superchannel, or 125 kHz, bandwidth), except as
provided in paragraph (b) of this section.
(b) If a main or booster station sectorizes or otherwise uses one
or more transmitting antennas with a non-omnidirectional horizontal
plane radiation pattern, the maximum EIRP over a 6 MHz channel in dBW
in a given direction shall be determined by the following formula:
EIRP = 33 dBW + 10 log (360/beamwidth) [where 10 log (360/beamwidth)
6 dB]
Beamwidth is the total horizontal plane beamwidth of the individual
transmitting antenna for the station or any sector measured at the
half-power points. The first term of the equation above, 33 dBW, must
be adjusted appropriately based upon the ratio of 6 MHz to the
subchannel or superchannel, or 125 kHz, bandwidth.
* * * * *
37. Section 74.936 is revised in its entirety, to read as follows:
Sec. 74.936 Emissions and bandwidth.
(a) An ITFS station may employ amplitude modulation (C3F) for the
transmission of the visual signal and frequency modulation (F3E) or
(G3E) for the transmission of the aural signal when transmitting a
standard analog television signal. Quadrature amplitude modulation,
digital vestigial modulation, quadrature phase shift key modulation and
code division multiple access emissions may be employed, subject to
compliance with the policies set forth in the Declaratory Ruling and
Order, 11 FCC Rcd 18839 (1996). The licensee may subchannelize its
authorized bandwidth, provided that digital modulation is employed and
the aggregate power does not exceed the authorized power for the
channel, and may utilize all or a portion of its authorized bandwidth
for ITFS response stations authorized pursuant to Sec. 74.939. The
licensee may also, jointly with affected adjacent channel licensees,
transmit utilizing bandwidth in excess of its authorized frequencies,
provided that digital modulation is employed, all power spectral
density requirements set forth in this part are met and the out-of-band
emissions restrictions set forth in 74.936 are met at the edges of the
channels employed. The wider channels thus created may be redivided to
create narrower channels.
(b) Notwithstanding the above, any digital emission which meets the
uniform power spectral density requirements of the Declaratory Ruling
and Order may be used in the following circumstances:
(1) At any ITFS main or booster station transmitter which is
located more than 160.94 km (100 miles) from the nearest boundary of
all cochannel and adjacent channel ITFS and MDS protected service
areas, including Basic Trading Areas and Partitioned Service Areas; and
(2) At all ITFS response station transmitters within a response
service area if all points along the response service area boundary
line are more than 160.94 km (100 miles) from the nearest boundary of
all cochannel and adjacent channel ITFS and MDS protected service
areas, including Basic Trading Areas and Partitioned Service Areas; and
(3) At any ITFS transmitter where all parties entitled by this part
to interference protection from that transmitter have mutually
consented to the use at that transmitter of such emissions.
(c) The maximum out-of-band power of an ITFS station transmitter or
booster transmitting on a single 6 MHz channel with an EIRP in excess
of -9 dBW employing analog modulation shall be attenuated at the
channel edges by at least 38 dB relative to the peak visual carrier,
then linearly sloping from that level to at least 60 dB of attenuation
at 1 MHz below the lower band edge and 0.5 MHz above the upper band
edge, and attenuated at least 60 dB at all other
[[Page 65118]]
frequencies. The maximum out-of-band power of an ITFS station
transmitter or booster transmitting on a single 6 MHz channel or a
portion thereof with an EIRP in excess of -9 dBW (or, when subchannels
are used, the appropriately adjusted value based upon the ratio of the
channel-to-subchannel bandwidths) employing digital modulation shall be
attenuated at the 6 MHz channel edges at least 25 dB relative to the
licensed average 6 MHz channel power level, then attenuated along a
linear slope to at least 40 dB at 250 kHz beyond the nearest channel
edge, then attenuated along a linear slope from that level to at least
60 dB at 3 MHz above the upper and below the lower licensed channel
edges, and attenuated at least 60 dB at all other frequencies.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, in situations where an ITFS station or
booster station transmits, or where adjacent channel licensees jointly
transmit, a single signal over more than one contiguous 6 MHz channel
utilizing digital modulation with an EIRP in excess of -9 dBW (or, when
subchannels or superchannels are used, the appropriately adjusted value
based upon the ratio of 6 MHz to the subchannel or superchannel
bandwidth), the maximum out-of-band power shall be attenuated at the
channel edges of those combined channels at least 25 dB relative to the
power level of each channel, then attenuated along a linear slope from
that level to at least 40 dB at 250 kHz above or below the channel
edges of those combined channels, then attenuated along a linear slope
from that level to at least 60 dB at 3 MHz above the upper and below
the lower edges of those combined channels, and attenuated at least 60
dB at all other frequencies. However, should harmful interference occur
as a result of emissions outside the assigned channel, additional
attenuation may be required. A transmitter licensed prior to November
1, 1991, that remains at the station site initially licensed, and does
not comply with this paragraph, may continue to be used for its life if
it does not cause harmful interference to the operation of any other
licensee. Any non-conforming transmitter replaced after November 1,
1991, must be replaced by a transmitter meeting the requirements of
this paragraph.
(d) A booster transmitting on multiple contiguous or non-contiguous
channels carrying separate signals (a ``broadband'' booster) with an
EIRP in excess of -9 dBW per 6 MHz channel and employing analog,
digital or a combination of these modulations shall have the following
characteristics:
(1) For broadband boosters operating in the frequency range of
2.150-2.160/2 GHz, the maximum out-of-band power shall be attenuated at
the upper and lower channel edges forming the band edges by at least 25
dB relative to the licensed analog peak visual carrier or digital
average power level (or, when subchannels are used, the appropriately
adjusted value based on upon the ratio of the channel-to-subchannel
bandwidths), then linearly sloping from that level to at least 40 dB of
attenuation at 0.25 MHz above and below the band edges, then linearly
sloping from that level to at least 60 dB of attenuation at 3.0 MHz
above and below the band edges, and attenuated at least 60 dB at all
other frequencies.
(2) For broadband boosters operating in the frequency range of
2.500-2.690 GHz, the maximum out-of-band power shall be attenuated at
the upper and lower channel edges forming the band edges by at least 25
dB relative to the licensed analog peak visual carrier or digital
average power level (or, when subchannels are used, the appropriately
adjusted value based on upon the ratio of the channel-to-subchannel
bandwidths), then linearly sloping from that level to at least 40 dB of
attenuation at 0.25 MHz above and below the band edges, then linearly
sloping from that level to at least 50 dB of attenuation at 3.0 MHz
above and below the band edges, then linearly sloping from that level
to at least 60 dB of attenuation at 20 MHz above and below the band
edges, and attenuated at least 60 dB at all other frequencies.
(3) Within unoccupied channels in the frequency range of 2.500-
2.690 GHz, the maximum out-of-band power shall be attenuated at the
upper and lower channel edges of an unoccupied channel by at least 25
dB relative to the licensed analog peak visual carrier power level or
digital average power level of the occupied channels (or, when
subchannels or 125 kHz channels are used, the appropriately adjusted
value based upon the ratio of the channel-to-subchannel bandwidths),
then linearly sloping from that level to at least 40 dB of attenuation
at 0.25 MHz above and below the occupied channel edges, then linearly
sloping from that level to at least 50 dB of attenuation at 3.0 MHz
above and below the occupied channel edges, and attenuated at least 50
dB at all other unoccupied frequencies.
(e) Boosters operating with an EIRP less than -9 dBW per 6 MHz
channel shall have no particular out-of-band power attenuation
requirement, except that if they cause harmful interference, their
operation shall be terminated within 2 hours of notification by the
Commission until the interference can be cured.
(f) The maximum out-of-band power of an ITFS response station using
all or part of a 6 MHz channel and employing digital modulation shall
be attenuated at the 6 MHz channel edges at least 25 dB relative to the
licensed average 6 MHz channel power level, then attenuated along a
linear slope to at least 40 dB at 250 kHz beyond the nearest channel
edge, then attenuated along a linear slope from that level to at least
60 dB at 3 MHz above the upper and below the lower licensed channel
edges, and attenuated at least 60 dB at all other frequencies. Where
ITFS response stations with digital modulation utilize all or part of
more than one contiguous 6 MHz channel to form a larger channel (e.g.,
a channel of width 12 MHz), the above-specified attenuations shall be
applied only at the upper and lower edges of the overall combined
channel. Notwithstanding these provisions, should harmful interference
occur as a result of emissions outside the assigned channel(s),
additional attenuation may be required by the Commission.
(g) The requirements of Sec. 73.687(c)(2) will be considered to be
satisfied insofar as measurements of operating power are concerned if
the transmitter is equipped with instruments for determining the
combined visual and aural operating power. However, licensees are
expected to maintain the operating powers within the limits specified
in Sec. 74.935. Measurements of the separate visual and aural operating
powers must be made at sufficiently frequent intervals to insure
compliance with the rules, and in no event less than once a month.
However, the provisions of Sec. 73.687(c)(2) and of this paragraph
shall not be applicable to ITFS response stations or to low power ITFS
booster stations authorized pursuant to Sec. 74.985(e).
(h) Compliance with the out-of-band emissions limitations shall be
established in accordance with Sec. 21.908(e) of this chapter.
38. In Sec. 74.937, paragraph (a) is revised by amending the text
preceding figure 1, and paragraph (b) is revised, to read as follows:
Sec. 74.937 Antennas.
(a) In order to minimize the hazard of harmful cochannel and
adjacent channel interference from other stations, directive receiving
antennas should be used at all receiving locations other than response
station hubs. The choice of receiving antennas is left to the
discretion of the licensee. However, for the purpose of interference
calculations, except as set forth in Sec. 74.939, the general
characteristics of the reference receiving antenna shown in Figure I of
this section (i.e., a 0.6 meter (2 foot)
[[Page 65119]]
parabolic reflector antenna) are assumed to be used in accordance with
the provisions of Sec. 74.903(a)(3) unless pertinent data is submitted
of the actual antenna in use at the receive site. Licensees may install
receiving antennas with general characteristics superior to those of
the reference receive antenna. Nevertheless, should interference occur
and it can be demonstrated by an applicant that the existing antenna at
the receive site is inappropriate, a more suitable yet practical
receiving antenna should be installed. In such cases, the modification
of the receive site will be in the discretion, and will be the
responsibility, of the licensee serving the site.
* * * * *
(b) Except as set forth in Sec. 74.931 (c)(4) and (d)(3), directive
transmitting antennas shall be used whenever feasible so as to minimize
interference to other licensees. The radiation pattern shall be
designed to minimize radiation in directions where no reception is
intended. When an ITFS station is used for point-to-point service, an
appropriate directional antenna must be used.
* * * * *
39. Section 74.938 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 74.938 Transmission standards.
The width of an ITFS channel is 6 MHz. However, the licensee may
subchannelize its authorized bandwidth, provided that digital
modulation is employed and the aggregate power does not exceed the
authorized power for the channel, and may utilize all or a portion of
its authorized bandwidth for ITFS response stations authorized pursuant
to Sec. 74.939. The licensee may also, jointly with other licensees,
transmit utilizing bandwidth in excess of its authorized bandwidth,
provided that digital modulation is employed, all power spectral
density requirements set forth in this part are met and the out-of-band
emissions restrictions set forth in Sec. 74.936 are met at the edges of
the channels employed.
40. Section 74.939 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 74.939 ITFS response stations.
(a) An ITFS response station is authorized to provide communication
by voice, video and/or data signals with its associated ITFS response
station hub or associated ITFS station. An ITFS response station may be
operated only by the licensee of the ITFS station, by any person or
entity authorized by the ITFS licensee to receive point-to-multipoint
transmissions over its channels, by any lessee of excess capacity, or
by a subscriber of any lessee of excess capacity. The authorized
channel may be divided to provide distinct subchannels for each of more
than one response station, provided that digital modulation is employed
and the aggregate power does not exceed the authorized power for the
channel. An ITFS response station may also, jointly with other
licensees, transmit utilizing bandwidth in excess of that authorized to
the station, provided that digital modulation is employed, all power
spectral density requirements set forth in this part are met, and the
out-of-band emission restrictions set forth in Sec. 74.936 or paragraph
(k) of this section are complied with.
(b) ITFS response stations that utilize the 2150-2162 MHz band
pursuant to Sec. 74.902(f), the 2500-2686 MHz band, and/or the 125 kHz
channels identified in paragraph (j) of this section may be installed
and operated without an individual license, to communicate with a
response station hub authorized under a response station hub license,
provided that the conditions set forth in paragraph (g) of this section
are complied with and that ITFS response stations operating in the
2150-2162 MHz and/or 2500-2686 MHz band(s) employ only digital
modulation with uniform power spectral density in accordance with the
Commission's Declaratory Ruling and Order, 11 FCC Rcd 18839 (1996).
(c) An applicant for a response station hub license shall:
(1) File FCC Form 331 with the Commission in Washington, DC, and
certify on that form that it has complied with the requirements of
paragraphs (c)(2) and (d) of this section. Failure to certify
compliance and to comply completely with the requirements of paragraphs
(c)(2) and (d) of this section shall result in dismissal of the
application or revocation of the response station hub license, and may
result in imposition of a monetary forfeiture; and
(2) Submit to International Transcription Services, Inc. (``ITS''),
1231 20th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036, both in hard copy, and on a
3.5'' computer diskette in ASCII, the following:
(i) Duplicates of the Form 331 filed with the Commission; and
(ii) The data required by Appendix D to the Report and Order in MM
Docket No. 97-217, FCC 98-231, ``Methods for Predicting Interference
from Response Station Transmitters and to Response Station Hubs and for
Supplying Data on Response Station Systems''; and
(iii) The information, showings and certifications required by
paragraph (d) of this section; and
(3) Submit to the Commission, only upon Commission staff request,
duplicates of the submissions required by paragraph (c)(2) of this
section.
(d) An applicant for a response station hub license shall, pursuant
to paragraph (c)(2)(iii) of this section, submit to ITS the following:
(1) The geographic coordinates, street address, and the height of
the center line of the reception antenna(s) above mean sea level for
the response station hub; and (2) A specification of:
(i) The response service area in which the applicant or its lessee
proposes to install ITFS response stations to communicate with the
response station hub, any regions into which the response service area
will be subdivided for purposes of interference analysis, and any
regional classes of response station characteristics which will be used
to define the operating parameters of groups of response stations
within each region for purposes of interference analysis, including:
(A) the maximum height above ground level of the transmission
antenna that will be employed by any response station in the regional
class and that will be used in interference analyses; and
(B) the maximum equivalent isotropic radiated power (EIRP) that
will be employed by any response station in the regional class and that
will be used in interference analyses; and
(C) any sectorization that will be employed, including the
polarization to be employed by response stations in each sector and the
geographic orientation of the sector boundaries, and that will be used
in interference analyses; and
(D) the combined worst-case outer envelope plot of the patterns of
all models of response station transmission antennas that will be
employed by any response station in the regional class to be used in
interference analyses; and
(E) the maximum number of response stations that will be operated
simultaneously in each region using the characteristics of each
regional class applicable to each region.
(ii) The channel plan (including any guardbands at the edges of the
channel) to be used by ITFS response stations in communicating with the
response station hub, including a statement as to whether the applicant
will employ the same frequencies on which response stations will
transmit to also transmit on a point-to-multipoint basis from an MDS
station or MDS booster station; and
(3) A demonstration that:
[[Page 65120]]
(i) The proposed response station hub is within the protected
service area, as defined in Sec. 21.902(d)(1) of this chapter, of the
ITFS station(s) whose channels will be used for communications to the
response station hub or, in the case of an application for response
stations to utilize one or more of the 125 kHz response channels, the
response station hub is within the protected service area of the
station authorized to utilize the associated channel(s); and
(ii) The entire proposed response service area is within the
protected service area of the ITFS station(s) whose channels will be
used for communications to the response station hub or, in the
alternative, the applicant may demonstrate that the licensee of any
cochannel protected service area which is overlapped by the proposed
response service area has consented to such overlap. In the case of an
application for response stations to utilize one or more of the 125 kHz
response channels, such demonstration shall establish that the response
service area is entirely within the protected service area of the
station authorized to utilize the associated channel(s), or, in the
alternative, that the licensee entitled to any cochannel protected
service area which is overlapped by the proposed response service area
has consented to such overlap; and
(iii) The combined signals of all simultaneously operating ITFS
response stations within all response service areas and oriented to
transmit toward their respective response station hubs and all
cochannel ITFS stations and booster stations licensed to or applied for
by the applicant will not generate a power flux density in excess of
-73 dBW/m\2\ (or the pro rata power spectral density equivalent based
on the bandwidth actually employed in those cases where less than a 6
MHz channel is to be employed) outside the boundaries of the
applicant's protected service area, as measured at locations for which
there is an unobstructed signal path, except to the extent that consent
of affected licensees has been obtained or consents have been granted
pursuant to paragraph (d)(3)(ii) of this section to an extension of the
response service area beyond the boundaries of the protected service
area; and
(iv) The combined signals of all simultaneously operating ITFS
response stations within all response service areas and oriented to
transmit toward their respective response station hubs, and all
cochannel ITFS stations and booster stations licensed to or applied for
by the applicant, will result in a desired to undesired signal ratio of
at least 45 dB (or the appropriately adjusted value based upon the
ratio of the channel-to-subchannel bandwidths):
(A) within the protected service area of any authorized or
previously-proposed cochannel MDS or ITFS station with center
coordinates located within 160.94 km (100 miles) of the proposed
response station hub; and
(B) within the booster service area of any cochannel booster
station entitled to such protection pursuant to Sec. 21.913(f) of this
chapter or 74.985(f) and located within 160.94 km (100 miles) of the
proposed response station hub; and
(C) at any registered receive site of any authorized or previously-
proposed cochannel ITFS station or booster station located within
160.94 km (100 miles) of the proposed response station hub, or, in the
alternative, that the licensee or applicant for such cochannel station
or hub consents to the application; and
(v) The combined signals of all simultaneously operating ITFS
response stations within all response service areas and oriented to
transmit toward their respective response station hubs, and all
cochannel ITFS stations and booster stations licensed to or applied for
by the applicant, will result in a desired to undesired signal ratio of
at least 0 dB (or the appropriately adjusted value based upon the ratio
of the channel-to-subchannel bandwidths):
(A) within the protected service area of any authorized or
previously-proposed adjacent channel MDS or ITFS station with center
coordinates located within 160.94 km (100 miles) of the proposed
response station hub; and
(B) within the booster service area of any adjacent channel booster
station entitled to such protection pursuant to Secs. 21.913(f) of this
chapter or 74.985(f) and located within 160.94 km (100 miles) of the
proposed response station hub; and
(C) at any registered receive site of any authorized or previously-
proposed adjacent channel ITFS station or booster station located
within 160.94 km (100 miles) of the proposed response station hub, or,
in the alternative, that the licensee of or applicant for such adjacent
channel station or hub consents to such application; and
(vi) The combined signals of all simultaneously operating ITFS
response stations within all response service areas and oriented to
transmit toward their respective response station hub and all cochannel
ITFS stations and booster stations licensed to or applied for by the
applicant will comply with the requirements of Secs. 21.909(i) of this
chapter and paragraph (i) of this section.
(4) A certification that the application has been served upon
(i) the holder of any cochannel or adjacent channel authorization
with a protected service area which is overlapped by the proposed
response service area;
(ii) the holder of any cochannel or adjacent channel authorization
with a protected service area that adjoins the applicant's protected
service area;
(iii) the holder of a cochannel or adjacent channel authorization
for any BTA or PSA inside whose boundaries are locations for which
there is an unobstructed signal path for combined signals from within
the response station hub applicant's protected service area; and
(iv) every licensee of, or applicant for, any cochannel or adjacent
channel, authorized or previously-proposed, incumbent MDS station with
a 56.33 km (35 mile) protected service area with center coordinates
located within 160.94 km (100 miles) of the proposed response station
hub; and
(v) every licensee of, or applicant for, any cochannel or adjacent
channel, authorized or previously-proposed ITFS station (including any
booster station or response station hub) located within 160.94 km (100
miles) of the proposed response station hub.
(e) Applications for response station hub licenses shall be deemed
minor change applications and, except as provided in Sec. 74.911(e),
may be filed at any time. Notwithstanding any other provision of part
74, applications for response station hub licenses meeting the
requirements of paragraph (c) of this section shall cut-off
applications that are filed on a subsequent day for facilities that
would cause harmful electromagnetic interference to the proposed
response station hubs. A response station hub shall not be entitled to
protection from interference caused by facilities proposed on or prior
to the day the application for the response station hub license is
filed. Response stations shall not be required to protect from
interference facilities proposed on or after the day the application
for the response station hub license is filed.
(f) Notwithstanding the provisions of Sec. 74.912 and except as
provided by Sec. 74.911(e), any petition to deny an application for a
response station hub license shall be filed no later than the sixtieth
(60th) day after the date of public notice announcing the filing of
such application or major amendment thereto. Notwithstanding
Sec. 74.911(d) and except as provided in Sec. 74.911(e), an application
for a response station hub license that meets the requirements of this
section shall be granted on the sixty-first (61st) day after the
[[Page 65121]]
Commission shall have given public notice of the acceptance for filing
of it, or of a major amendment to it if such major amendment has been
filed, unless prior to such date either a party in interest timely
files a formal petition to deny or for other relief pursuant to
Sec. 74.912, or the Commission notifies the applicant that its
application will not be granted. Where an application is granted
pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph, the conditional licensee
or licensee shall maintain a copy of the application at the response
station hub until such time as the Commission issues a response station
hub license.
(g) An ITFS response station hub license establishing a response
service area shall be conditioned upon compliance with the following:
(1) No ITFS response station shall be located beyond the response
service area of the response station hub with which it communicates;
and
(2) No ITFS response station shall operate with a transmitter
output power in excess of 2 watts; and
(3) No ITFS response station shall operate with an EIRP in excess
of that specified in the application for the response station hub
pursuant to paragraph (d)(2)(i)(B) of this section for the particular
regional class of characteristics with which the response station is
associated, and such response station shall not operate at an excess of
33 dBW EIRP (or, when subchannels or superchannels, or 125 kHz
channels, are used, the appropriately adjusted value based upon the
ratio of 6 MHz to the subchannel or superchannel, or 125 kHz,
bandwidth); and
(4) Each ITFS response station shall employ a transmission antenna
oriented toward the response station hub with which the ITFS response
station communicates, and such antenna shall be no less directional
than the worst case outer envelope pattern specified in the application
for the response station hub pursuant to paragraph (d)(2)(i)(D) of this
section for the regional class of characteristics with which the
response station is associated; and
(5) The combined out-of-band emissions of all response stations
using all or part of one or multiple contiguous 6 MHz channels and
employing digital modulation shall comply with Sec. 74.936(e). The
combined out-of-band emissions of all response stations using all or
part of one or multiple contiguous 125 kHz channels shall comply with
paragraph (k) of this section. However, should harmful interference
occur as a result of emissions outside the assigned channel, additional
attenuation may be required; and
(6) The response stations transmitting simultaneously at any time
within any given region of the response service area utilized for
purposes of analyzing the potential for interference by response
stations shall conform to the numerical limits for each class of
response station proposed in the application for the response station
hub license. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the licensee of a response
station hub license may alter the number of response stations of any
class operating simultaneously in a given region, without prior
Commission authorization, provided that the licensee:
(i) First notifies the Commission of the altered number of response
stations of such class(es) to be operated simultaneously in such
region, and certifies in that notification that it has complied with
the requirements of paragraphs (g)(6)(ii) and (iii) of this section;
and
(ii) Provides ITS with a copy of such notification and with an
analysis establishing that such alteration will not result in any
increase in interference to the protected service area or protected
receive sites of any existing or previously-proposed, cochannel or
adjacent channel MDS or ITFS station or booster station, to the
protected service area of any MDS Basic Trading Area or Partitioned
Service Area licensee entitled to protection pursuant to paragraph
(d)(3) of this section, or to any existing or previously-proposed,
cochannel or adjacent channel response station hub, or response station
under Sec. 21.940 of this chapter or Sec. 74.940; or that the applicant
for or licensee of such facility has consented to such interference;
and
(iii) Serves a copy of such notification and analysis upon each
party entitled to be served pursuant to paragraph (d)(4) of this
section; and
(iv) Submits to the Commission, only upon Commission staff request,
duplicates of the submissions required by paragraph (g)(6)(ii) of this
section; and
(7) Where an application is granted under this section, if a
facility operated pursuant to that grant causes harmful, unauthorized
interference to any cochannel or adjacent channel facility, it must
promptly remedy the interference or immediately cease operations of the
interfering facility, regardless of whether any petitions to deny or
for other relief were filed against the application during the
application process. The burden of proving that a facility operated
under this section is not causing harmful, unauthorized interference
lies on the licensee of the alleged interfering facility, following the
filing of a documented complaint of interference by an affected party;
and
(8) In the event any MDS or ITFS receive site suffers interference
due to block downconverter overload, the licensee of each response
station hub with a response service area within five miles of such
receive site shall cooperate in good faith to expeditiously identify
the source of the interference. Each licensee of a response station hub
with an associated response station contributing to such interference
shall bear the joint and several obligation to promptly remedy all
interference resulting from block downconverter overload at any ITFS
receive site registered prior to the submission of the application for
the response station hub license or at any receive site within an MDS
or ITFS protected service area applied for prior to the submission of
the application for the response station hub license, regardless of
whether the receive site suffering the interference was constructed
prior to or after the construction of the response station(s) causing
the downconverter overload; provided, however, that the licensee of the
registered ITFS receive site or the MDS or ITFS protected service area
must cooperate fully and in good faith with efforts by the response
station hub licensee to prevent interference before constructing
response stations and/or to remedy interference that may occur. In the
event that more than one response station hub licensee contributes to
block downconverter interference at a MDS or ITFS receive site, the
licensees of the contributing response station hubs shall cooperate in
good faith to remedy promptly the interference.
(h) Applicants must comply with part 17 of this chapter concerning
notification to the Federal Aviation Administration of proposed antenna
construction or alteration. The provisions of Secs. 74.967 and
74.981(a)(5), concerning antenna painting and lighting requirements,
apply to ITFS response stations and response station hubs, as well as
to main and booster stations.
(i) Response station hubs shall be protected from cochannel and
adjacent channel interference in accordance with the following
criteria:
(1) An applicant for any new or modified MDS or ITFS station
(including any high-power booster station or response station hub)
shall be required to demonstrate interference protection to a response
station hub within 160.94 km (100 miles) of the proposed facilities. In
lieu of the interference protection requirements set
[[Page 65122]]
forth in Secs. 21.902(i) of this chapter, 21.938(b)(3) of this chapter
and 74.903, such demonstration shall establish that the proposed
facility will not increase the effective power flux density of the
undesired signals generated by the proposed facility and any associated
main stations, booster stations or response stations at the response
station hub antenna for any sector. In lieu of the foregoing, an
applicant for a new MDS or ITFS main station license or for a new or
modified response station hub or booster license may demonstrate that
the facility will not increase the noise floor at a reception antenna
of the response station hub by more than 1 dB for cochannel signals and
45 dB for adjacent channel signals, provided that:
(i) The entity submitting the application may only invoke this
alternative once per response station hub reception sector; or
(ii) The licensee of the affected response station hub may consent
to receive a certain amount of interference at its hub.
(2) Commencing upon the filing of an application for an ITFS
response station hub license and until such time as the application is
dismissed or denied or, if the application is granted, a letter
informing the Commission of completion of construction is submitted,
the ITFS station whose channels are being utilized shall be entitled
both to interference protection pursuant to Secs. 21.902(i) of this
chapter, 21.938(b)(3) of this chapter and 74.903, and to protection of
the response station hub pursuant to the preceding paragraph. Unless
the application for the response station hub license specifies that the
same frequencies also will be employed for digital and/or analog point-
to-multipoint transmissions by ITFS stations and/or ITFS booster
stations, upon the submission of a letter informing the Commission of
completion of construction of an ITFS response station hub where the
channels of an ITFS station are being utilized as response station
transmit frequencies, the ITFS station whose channels are being
utilized for response station transmissions shall no longer be entitled
to interference protection pursuant to Secs. 21.902(i) of this chapter,
21.938(b)(3) of this chapter and 74.903 within the response service
area with regard to any portion of any 6 MHz channel employed solely
for response station communications. Upon the submission of a letter
informing the Commission of completion of construction of an ITFS
response station hub where the channels of an ITFS station are being
utilized for response station transmissions and the application for the
response station hub license specifies that the same frequencies will
be employed for point-to-multipoint transmissions, the ITFS station
whose channels are being utilized shall be entitled both to
interference protection pursuant to Secs. 21.902(i) of this chapter,
21.938(b)(3) of this chapter and 74.903, and to protection of the
response station hub pursuant to the preceding provisions of this
paragraph.
(j) ITFS response stations may operate on either all or part of a 6
MHz channel assigned a licensee, on any 125 kHz channel assigned a
licensee, or on adjacent frequencies authorized to multiple licensees
where such stations are operated jointly. The 125 kHz channels listed
in the following table shall be assigned to the licensees of MDS and
ITFS stations for use at response stations, or for licensing for point-
to-multipoint transmissions pursuant to paragraph (l) of this section,
in accordance with the table. The specified 125 kHz frequency channel
may be subdivided to provide a distinct operating frequency for each of
more than one station, or may be combined with adjacent channels,
provided that digital modulation is employed in accordance with
paragraph (a) of this section. The specified 125 kHz frequency channels
also may be exchanged with the licensee of another MDS or ITFS station
for use of another 125 kHz channel assigned to the other licensee.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Main 125 kHz
Frequency (MHz) channel channel
designation designation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2686.0625 A1 I1
2686.1875 B1 I2
2686.3125 C1 I3
2686.4375 D1 I4
2686.5625 E1 I5
2686.6875 F1 I6
2686.8125 G1 I7
2686.9375 H1 I8
2687.0625 A2 I9
2687.1875 B2 I10
2687.3125 C2 I11
2687.4375 D2 I12
2687.5625 E2 I13
2687.6875 F2 I14
2687.8125 G2 I15
2687.9375 H2 I16
2688.0625 A3 I17
2688.1875 B3 I18
2688.3125 C3 I19
2688.4375 D3 I20
2688.5625 E3 I21
2688.6875 F3 I22
2688.8125 G3 I23
2688.9375 H3 I24
2689.0625 A4 I25
2689.1875 B4 I26
2689.3125 C4 I27
2689.4375 D4 I28
2689.5625 E4 I29
2689.6875 F4 I30
2689.8125 G4 I31
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(k) 125 kHz wide response channels shall be subject to the
following requirements: The 125 kHz wide channel shall be centered at
the assigned frequency. If amplitude modulation is used, the carrier
shall not be modulated in excess of 100%. If frequency modulation is
used, the deviation shall not exceed # 25 kHz. Any emissions
outside the channel shall be attenuated at the channel edges at least
35 dB below peak output power when analog modulation is employed or 35
dB below licensed average output power when digital modulation is
employed (or, when subchannels are used, the appropriately adjusted
value based upon the ratio of the channel-to-subchannel bandwidths).
Any emissions more than 125 kHz from either channel edge, including
harmonics, shall be attenuated at least 60 dB below peak output power
when analog modulation is employed, or at least 60 dB below licensed
average output power when digital modulation is employed (or, when
subchannels are used, the appropriately adjusted value based upon the
ratio of the channel-to-subchannel bandwidths). Notwithstanding the
foregoing, in situations where adjacent channel licensees jointly
transmit over more than one channel utilizing digital
[[Page 65123]]
modulation, the maximum out-of-band power shall be attenuated at the
edges of those combined channels at least 35 dB relative to the
licensed average power level of each channel. Emissions more than 125
kHz from either edge of the combined channels, including harmonics,
shall be attenuated at least 60 dB below peak analog power or licensed
average digital power of each channel, as appropriate. Different types
of emissions may be authorized for use on 125 kHz wide channels if the
applicant describes fully the modulation and bandwidth desired, and
demonstrates that the modulation selected will cause no more
interference than is permitted under this paragraph. Greater
attenuation may be required if interference is caused by out-of-channel
emissions.
(l) Any MDS or ITFS conditional licensee or licensee who wishes to
use one or more of its associated I channels for point-to-multipoint
transmissions in a system with one or more authorized, or previously-
or simultaneously-proposed, response station hub(s) shall:
(1) File FCC Form 331 with the Commission, filing with Mellon Bank
for I channels associated with an MDS station, and filing with the
Commission in Washington, DC for I channels associated with an ITFS
station. The application shall specify which of the associated I
channels is/are intended for point-to-multipoint transmissions. The
applicant also shall certify on the appropriate form that it has
complied with the requirements of paragraph (l)(2) of this section.
Failure to certify compliance and to comply completely with the
requirements of paragraph (l)(2) of this section shall result in
dismissal of the application or revocation of the authorization for
point-to-multipoint transmissions on the relevant I channels, and may
result in imposition of a monetary forfeiture. Modification
applications to convert I channels associated with ITFS stations to
point-to-multipoint transmissions shall be considered minor changes for
purposes of Sec. 74.911. These applications shall be subject to the
procedures set forth in Sec. 21.27(d) of this chapter or
Sec. 74.911(e), as appropriate; and
(2) Submit to International Transcription Services, Inc., 1231 20th
Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20036, both in hard copy, and on a 3.5''
computer diskette in ASCII, and likewise submit to the Commission, only
upon Commission staff request:
(i) Duplicates of the Form 331 filed with Mellon Bank or with the
Commission, as appropriate; and
(ii) The interference analyses required to be performed under
Sec. 21.902 of this chapter, and Sec. 21.938 of this chapter where
appropriate, including the provisions of Secs. 21.909 of this chapter,
21.913 of this chapter, 74.939 and 74.985 regarding the protection of
response station hubs and booster service areas from harmful
electromagnetic interference, and including protection of stations
authorized pursuant to Secs. 21.940 of this chapter and 74.940 from
harmful electromagnetic interference, using the appropriately adjusted
interference protection values based upon the ratio of the bandwidths
in use; and
(3) Except as provided in Sec. 21.27(d) of this chapter or
Sec. 74.911(e), as appropriate, be permitted to file applications to
convert associated I channels to point-to-multipoint transmissions at
any time. I channels used for point-to-multipoint transmissions shall
be afforded interference protection in the same manner as other point-
to-multipoint MDS and ITFS facilities, with appropriate adjustment of
the interference protection values for bandwidth. Notwithstanding any
other provision of parts 21 and 74, applications to convert associated
I channels to point-to-multipoint transmissions, meeting the
requirements of paragraphs (l) (1) and (2) of this section, shall cut-
off applications that are filed on a subsequent day for facilities that
would cause harmful electromagnetic interference to the proposed point-
to-multipoint operations; and
(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of Secs. 21.30(a)(4) of this
chapter and 74.912, and except as provided in Sec. 21.27(d) of this
chapter or Sec. 74.911(e), as appropriate, be subject to a petition to
deny an application to convert associated I channels to point-to-
multipoint transmissions that is filed no later than the sixtieth
(60th) day after the date of public notice announcing the filing of
such application or major amendment thereto. Notwithstanding
Secs. 21.31 of this chapter and 74.911(d), and except as provided in
Sec. 21.27(d) of this chapter or Sec. 74.911(e), as appropriate, an
application to convert associated I channels to point-to-multipoint
transmissions that meets the requirements of this paragraph shall be
granted on the sixty-first (61st) day after the Commission shall have
given public notice of the acceptance for filing of it, or of a major
amendment to it if such major amendment has been filed, unless prior to
such date either a party in interest timely files a formal petition to
deny or for other relief pursuant to Sec. 21.30(a) of this chapter or
Sec. 74.912, or the Commission notifies the applicant that its
application will not be granted. Where an application is granted
pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph, the conditional licensee
or licensee shall maintain a copy of the application at the I channels
station until such time as the Commission issues an I channels station
license for point-to-multipoint transmissions; and
(5) Where an application is granted under this paragraph, and a
facility operated pursuant to that grant causes harmful, unauthorized
interference to any cochannel or adjacent channel facility, promptly
remedy the interference or immediately cease operations of the
interfering facility, regardless of whether any petitions to deny or
for other relief were filed against the application during the
application process. The burden of proving that a facility operated
under this paragraph is not causing harmful, unauthorized interference
lies on the licensee of the alleged interfering facility, following the
filing of a documented complaint of interference by an affected party.
(m) A response station may be operated unattended. The overall
performance of the response station transmitter shall be checked by the
hub licensee as often as necessary to ensure that it is functioning in
accordance with the requirements of the Commission's rules. The
licensee of a response station hub is responsible for the proper
operation of all associated response stations and must have reasonable
and timely access to all station transmitters. Response stations shall
be installed and maintained by the licensee of the associated hub
station, or the licensee's employees or agents, and protected in such
manner as to prevent tampering or operation by unauthorized persons. No
response hub may lawfully communicate with any response station which
has not been installed by an authorized person, and each response
station hub licensee is responsible for maintaining, and making
available to the Commission upon request, a list containing the
customer name and site location (street address and latitude/longitude
to the nearest second) of each associated response station, plus the
technical parameters (e.g., EIRP, emission, bandwidth, and antenna
pattern, height, orientation and polarization) pertinent to each
specific response station.
(n) The transmitting apparatus employed at ITFS response stations
shall have received type certification.
(o) An ITFS response station shall be operated only when engaged in
communication with its associated ITFS response station hub or ITFS
station, or
[[Page 65124]]
for necessary equipment or system tests and adjustments. Radiation of
an unmodulated carrier and other unnecessary transmissions are
forbidden.
(p) At least 20 days prior to the activation of a response station
transmitter located within a radius of 1960 feet of a registered or
previously-applied-for ITFS receive site, the response station hub
licensee must notify, by certified mail, the licensee of the ITFS site
of the intention to activate the response station. The notification
must contain the street address and geographic coordinates (to the
nearest second) of the response station, a specification of the
station's EIRP, antenna pattern/orientation/height AMSL, channel(s) to
be used, as well as the name and telephone number of a contact person
who will be responsible for coordinating the resolution of any
interference problems.
(q) Interference calculations shall be performed in accordance with
Appendix D to the Report and Order in MM Docket No. 97-217, FCC 98-231,
``Methods For Predicting Interference From Response Station
Transmitters and To Response Station Hubs and For Supplying Data on
Response Station Systems.'' Compliance with the out-of-band emission
limitations shall be established in accordance with Sec. 21.908(e) of
this chapter.
41. New Sec. 74.940 is added, to read as follows:
Sec. 74.940 Individually licensed 125 kHz channel ITFS response
stations.
(a) The provisions of Sec. 74.939 (a), (e), (h), (j), (k), (n) and
(o), also shall apply with respect to authorization of a 125 kHz
channel(s) ITFS response station not under a response station hub
license. The applicant shall comply with the requirements of
Sec. 21.902 of this chapter, and Sec. 21.938 of this chapter where
appropriate, including the provisions of Secs. 21.909 of this chapter,
21.913 of this chapter, 74.939 and 74.985 regarding the protection of
response station hubs and booster service areas from harmful
electromagnetic interference, using the appropriately adjusted
interference protection values based upon the ratio of the bandwidths
in use, where the authorized or previously-proposed cochannel or
adjacent channel station is operated or to be operated in a system with
one or more response station hub(s).
(b) An application for a license to operate a new or modified 125
kHz channel(s) ITFS response station not under a response station hub
license shall be filed with the Commission in Washington, DC, on FCC
Form 330. The applicant shall supply the following information on that
form for each response station:
(1) The geographic coordinates and street address of the ITFS
response station transmitting antenna; and
(2) The manufacturer's name, type number, operating frequency, and
power output of the proposed ITFS response station transmitter; and
(3) The type of transmitting antenna, power gain, azimuthal
orientation and polarization of the major lobe of radiation in degrees
measured clockwise from True North; and
(4) A sketch giving pertinent details of the ITFS response station
transmitting antenna installation including ground elevation of the
transmitter site above mean sea level; overall height above ground,
including appurtenances, of any ground-mounted tower or mast on which
the transmitting antenna will be mounted or, if the tower or mast is or
will be located on an existing building or other manmade structure, the
separate heights above ground of the building and the tower or mast
including appurtenances; the location of the tower or mast on the
building; the location of the transmitting antenna on the tower or
mast; and the overall height of the transmitting antenna above ground.
(c) Each ITFS response station licensed under this section shall
comply with the following:
(1) No ITFS response station shall be located beyond the protected
service area of the ITFS station with which it communicates; and
(2) No ITFS response station shall operate with a transmitter
output power in excess of 2 watts; and
(3) No ITFS response station shall operate at an excess of 16 dBW
EIRP.
(d) During breaks in communications, the unmodulated carrier
frequency shall be maintained within 35 kHz of the assigned frequency
at all times. Adequate means shall be provided to insure compliance
with this rule.
(e) Each ITFS response station shall employ a directive
transmitting antenna oriented towards the transmitter site of the
associated ITFS station or towards the response station hub with which
the ITFS response station communicates. The beamwidth between half
power points shall not exceed 15 deg. and radiation in any minor lobe
of the antenna radiation pattern shall be at least 20 dB below the
power in the main lobe of radiation.
(f) A response station may be operated unattended. The overall
performance of the response station transmitter shall be checked by the
licensee of the station or hub receiving the response signal, or by the
licensee's employees or agents, as often as necessary to ensure that
the transmitter is functioning in accordance with the requirements of
the Commission's rules. The licensee of the station or hub receiving
the response signal is responsible for the proper operation of the
response station and must have reasonable and timely access to the
response station transmitter. The response station shall be installed
and maintained by the licensee of the associated station or hub, or the
licensee's employees or agents, and protected in such manner as to
prevent tampering or operation by unauthorized persons. No response
station which has not been installed by an authorized person may
lawfully communicate with any station or hub.
Sec. 74.950 [Removed]
42. Section 74.950 is removed.
43. In Sec. 74.951, paragraph (b) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 74.951 Modification of transmission systems.
* * * * *
(b) Any change in the antenna system affecting the direction of
radiation, directive radiation pattern, antenna gain, or radiated
power; provided, however, that a licensee may install a sectorized
antenna system without prior consent if such system does not change
polarization or result in an increase in radiated power by more than
one dB in any direction, and notice of such installation is provided to
the Commission on FCC Form 331 within ten (10) days of installation.
* * * * *
44. Section 74.952 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 74.952 Acceptability of equipment for licensing.
ITFS transmitters must be type certified by the Commission for the
particular signals that will be employed in actual operation. Either
the manufacturer or the licensee must obtain transmitter certification
for the transmitter by filing an application for certification with
appropriate information concerning the signal waveforms and
measurements.
45. In Sec. 74.961, paragraph (a) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 74.961 Frequency tolerance.
(a) The frequency of any ITFS station, or of any ITFS booster
station authorized pursuant to Sec. 74.985(b), shall be maintained
within 1 kHz of the assigned frequency at all times when
the station is in operation. ITFS
[[Page 65125]]
booster stations authorized pursuant to Sec. 74.985(e) and ITFS
response stations authorized pursuant to Sec. 74.939 shall employ
transmitters with sufficient frequency stability to ensure that the
emission stays within the authorized bandwidth. A transmitter licensed
prior to November 1, 1991, that remains at the station site initially
licensed and does not comply with this paragraph may continue to be
used for its life if it does not cause harmful interference to the
operation of any other licensee. Any non-conforming transmitter
replaced after November 1, 1991, must be replaced by a transmitter
meeting the requirements of this paragraph.
* * * * *
46. Section 74.965 is revised to read as follows.
Sec. 74.965 Posting of station license.
(a) The instrument of authorization, a clearly legible photocopy
thereof, or the name, address and telephone number of the custodian of
the instrument of authorization shall be available at each station,
booster station authorized pursuant to Sec. 74.985(b) and ITFS response
station hub. Each operator of an ITFS booster station shall post at the
booster station the name, address and telephone number of the custodian
of the notification filed pursuant to Sec. 74.985(e) if such
notification is not maintained at the booster station.
(b) If an ITFS station, an ITFS booster station or an ITFS response
station hub is operated unattended, the call sign and name of the
licensee shall be displayed such that it may be read within the
vicinity of the transmitter enclosure or antenna structure.
47. In Sec. 74.982, paragraph (b) is revised, and new paragraph (g)
is added, to read as follows:
Sec. 74.982 Station identification.
* * * * *
(b) Except as otherwise provided in paragraphs (c) and (d) of this
section, each instructional television fixed station solely utilizing
analog transmissions shall transmit its call sign at the beginning and
end of each period of operation and, during operation, on the hour.
Visual or aural transmissions shall be employed.
* * * * *
(g) The provisions of paragraphs (b) through (e) of this section
shall not apply to any ITFS licensee's station or transmissions where
digital transmissions are utilized by the ITFS licensee on any of its
licensed or shifted channels.
48. Section 74.985 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 74.985 Signal booster stations.
(a) An ITFS booster station may reuse channels to repeat the
signals of ITFS stations or to originate signals on ITFS channels. The
aggregate power flux density generated by an ITFS station and all
associated signal booster stations and all simultaneously operating
cochannel response stations licensed to or applied for by the applicant
may not exceed -73 dBW/m2 (or, when subchannels or 125 kHz
channels are used, the appropriately adjusted value based upon the
ratio of the channel-to-subchannel or 125 kHz bandwidths) at or beyond
the boundary of the protected service area, as defined by
Sec. 21.902(d)(1) of this chapter, of the main ITFS station whose
channels are being reused, as measured at locations for which there is
an unobstructed signal path, unless the consent of the cochannel
licensee is obtained.
(b) An ITFS licensee or conditional licensee who is a response
station hub licensee, conditional licensee or applicant may secure a
license for an ITFS signal booster station that has a maximum power
level in excess of -9 dBW EIRP (or, when subchannels or superchannels,
or 125 kHz channels, are used, the appropriately adjusted value based
upon the ratio of 6 MHz to the subchannel or superchannel, or 125 kHz,
bandwidth) and that employs only digital modulation with uniform power
spectral density in accordance with the Commission's Declaratory Ruling
and Order, 11 FCC Rcd 18839 (1996) (a ``high-power ITFS signal booster
station''). The applicant for a high-power ITFS signal booster station
shall file FCC Form 331 with the Commission in Washington, DC, and
certify on that form that the applicant has complied with the
additional requirements of paragraph (b) of this section. Failure to
certify compliance and to comply completely with the following
requirements of paragraph (b) of this section shall result in dismissal
of the application or revocation of the high-power ITFS signal booster
station license, and may result in imposition of a monetary forfeiture.
The applicant for a high-power ITFS signal booster station additionally
is required to submit to International Transcription Services, Inc.,
1231 20th Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20036, both in hard copy, and on
a 3.5'' computer diskette in ASCII, and likewise to submit to the
Commission, only upon Commission staff request, duplicates of the Form
331 filed with the Commission, and the following information:
(1) A demonstration that the proposed signal booster station site
is within the protected service area, as defined in Sec. 21.902(d)(1)
of this chapter, of the main ITFS station whose channels are to be
reused; and
(2) A demonstration that the booster service area is entirely
within the protected service area of the ITFS station whose channels
are being reused, or in the alternative, that the licensee entitled to
any cochannel protected service area which is overlapped by the
proposed booster service area has consented to such overlap; and
(3) A demonstration that the proposed booster service area can be
served by the proposed booster without interference; and
(4) A study which demonstrates that the aggregate power flux
density of the ITFS station and all associated booster stations and
simultaneously operating cochannel response stations licensed to or
applied for by the applicant does not exceed -73 dBW/m\2\
(or, when subchannels or 125 kHz channels are used, the appropriately
adjusted value based upon the ratio of the channel-to-subchannel or 125
kHz bandwidths) at or beyond the boundary of the protected service area
of the main ITFS station whose channels are to be reused, as measured
at locations for which there is an unobstructed signal path, unless the
consent of affected licensees has been obtained; and
(5) In lieu of the requirements of Sec. 74.903, a study which
demonstrates that the proposed signal booster station will cause no
harmful interference (as defined in Sec. 74.903(a) (1) and (2)) to
cochannel and adjacent channel, authorized or previously-proposed ITFS
and MDS stations with protected service area center coordinates as
specified in Sec. 21.902(d) of this chapter, to any authorized or
previously-proposed response station hubs, booster service areas, or I
channel stations associated with such ITFS and MDS stations, or to any
previously-registered ITFS receive sites, within 160.94 kilometers (100
miles) of the proposed booster station's transmitter site. Such study
shall consider the undesired signal levels generated by the proposed
signal booster station, the main station, all other licensed or
previously-proposed associated booster stations, and all simultaneously
operating cochannel response stations licensed to or applied for by the
applicant. In the alternative, a statement from the affected MDS or
ITFS licensee or conditional licensee stating that it does not object
to operation of the high-power ITFS signal booster station may be
submitted; and
(6) A description of the booster service area; and
[[Page 65126]]
(7) A certification that copies of the materials set forth in
paragraph (b) of this section have been served upon the licensee or
conditional licensee of each station (including each response station
hub and booster station) required to be studied pursuant to paragraph
(b)(5) of this section, and upon any affected holder of a BTA or PSA
authorization pursuant to paragraph (b)(4) of this section.
(c) Applications for high-power ITFS signal booster station
licenses shall be deemed minor change applications and, except as
provided in Sec. 74.911(e), may be filed at any time. Notwithstanding
any other provision of part 74, applications for high-power ITFS signal
booster station licenses meeting the requirements of paragraph (b) of
this section shall cut-off applications that are filed on a subsequent
day for facilities that would cause harmful electromagnetic
interference to the proposed booster stations.
(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of Sec. 74.912 and except as
provided in Sec. 74.911(e), any petition to deny an application for a
high-power ITFS signal booster station license shall be filed no later
than the sixtieth (60th) day after the date of public notice announcing
the filing of such application or major amendment thereto.
Notwithstanding Sec. 74.911(d) and except as provided in
Sec. 74.911(e), an application for a high-power ITFS signal booster
station license that meets the requirements of paragraph (b) of this
section shall be granted on the sixty-first (61st) day after the
Commission shall have given public notice of the acceptance for filing
of it, or of a major amendment to it if such major amendment has been
filed, unless prior to such date either a party in interest timely
files a formal petition to deny or for other relief pursuant to
Sec. 74.912, or the Commission notifies the applicant that its
application will not be granted. Where an application is granted
pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph, the conditional licensee
or licensee shall maintain a copy of the application at the ITFS
booster station until such time as the Commission issues a high-power
ITFS signal booster station license.
(e) Eligibility for a license for an ITFS signal booster station
that has a maximum power level of -9 dBW EIRP (or, when subchannels or
superchannels, or 125 kHz channels, are used, the appropriately
adjusted value based upon the ratio of 6 MHz to the subchannel or
superchannel, or 125 kHz, bandwidth) (a ``low-power ITFS signal booster
station'') shall be restricted to an ITFS licensee or conditional
licensee. A low-power ITFS signal booster station may operate only on
one or more ITFS channels that are licensed to the licensee of the ITFS
booster station, but may be operated by a third party with a fully-
executed lease or consent agreement with the ITFS conditional licensee
or licensee. An ITFS licensee or conditional licensee may install and
commence operation of a low-power ITFS signal booster station for the
purpose of retransmitting the signals of the ITFS station or for
originating signals. Such installation and operation shall be subject
to the condition that for sixty (60) days after installation and
commencement of operation, no objection or petition to deny is filed by
an authorized cochannel or adjacent channel ITFS or MDS station with a
transmitter within 8.0 kilometers (5 miles) of the coordinates of the
low-power ITFS signal booster station. An ITFS licensee or conditional
licensee seeking to install a low-power ITFS signal booster station
under this rule must, within 48 hours after installation, submit FCC
Form 331 to the Commission in Washington, DC, and submit to
International Transcription Services, Inc., 1231 20th Street, NW.,
Washington, DC 20036, both in hard copy, and on a 3.5'' computer
diskette in ASCII, duplicates of the Form 331 filed with the
Commission, and the following (which also shall be submitted to the
Commission only upon Commission staff request at any time):
(1) A description of the signal booster technical specifications
(including an antenna envelope plot or, if the envelope plot is on file
with the Commission, the make and model of the antenna, antenna gain
and azimuth), the coordinates of the booster, the height of the center
of radiation above mean sea level, the street address of the signal
booster, and a description of the booster service area; and
(2) A demonstration that the booster service area is entirely
within the protected service area of the station whose channels are
being reused, or, in the alternative, that the licensee entitled to any
protected service area which is overlapped by the proposed booster
service area has consented to such overlap; and
(3) A demonstration that the proposed booster service area can be
served by the proposed booster without interference; and
(4) A certification that no Federal Aviation Administration
determination of No Hazard to Air Navigation is required under part 17
of this chapter or, if such determination is required, either
(i) A statement of the FCC Antenna Structure Registration Number;
or
(ii) If an FCC Antenna Structure Registration Number has not been
assigned for the antenna structure, the filer must indicate the date
the application by the antenna structure owner to register the antenna
structure was filed with the FCC in accordance with part 17 of this
chapter; and
(5) A certification that
(i) The maximum power level of the signal booster transmitter does
not exceed -9 dBW EIRP (or, when subchannels or superchannels, or 125
kHz channels, are used, the appropriately adjusted value based upon the
ratio of 6 MHz to the subchannel or superchannel, or 125 kHz,
bandwidth); and
(ii) Where the booster is operating on channel D4, E1, F1, E2, F2,
E3, F3, E4, F4 and/or G1, no registered receiver of an ITFS E or F
channel station, constructed prior to May 26, 1983, is located within a
1 mile (1.61 km) radius of the coordinates of the booster, or in the
alternative, that a consent statement has been obtained from the
affected ITFS licensee; and
(iii) The applicant has complied with Sec. 1.1307 of this chapter;
and
(iv) Each MDS and/or ITFS station licensee (including the licensees
of booster stations and response station hubs) with protected service
areas and/or registered receivers within a 8 km (5 mile) radius of the
coordinates of the booster has been given notice of its installation;
and
(v) The signal booster site is within the protected service area of
the ITFS station whose channels are to be reused; and
(vi) The aggregate power flux density of the ITFS station and all
associated booster stations and simultaneously operating cochannel
response stations licensed to or applied for by the applicant does not
exceed -73 dBW/m2 (or, when subchannels or 125 kHz channels are used,
the appropriately adjusted value based upon the ratio of the channel-
to-subchannel or 125 kHz bandwidths) at or beyond the boundary of the
protected service area of the main ITFS station whose channels are to
be reused, as measured at locations for which there is an unobstructed
signal path, unless the consent of affected licensees has been
obtained; and
(vii) The antenna structure will extend less than 6.10 meters (20
feet) above the ground or natural formation or less than 6.10 meters
(20 feet) above an existing manmade structure (other than an antenna
structure); and
(viii) The ITFS conditional licensee or licensee understands and
agrees that in
[[Page 65127]]
the event harmful interference is claimed by the filing of an objection
or petition to deny, the conditional licensee or licensee must
terminate operation within two (2) hours of notification by the
Commission, and must not recommence operation until receipt of written
authorization to do so by the Commission.
(f) Commencing upon the filing of an application for a high-power
ITFS signal booster station license and until such time as the
application is dismissed or denied or, if the application is granted, a
letter informing the Commission of completion of construction is
submitted, an applicant for any new or modified MDS or ITFS station
(including any response station hub, high-power booster station, or I
channels station) shall demonstrate compliance with the interference
protection requirements set forth in Secs. 21.902(i) of this chapter,
21.938(b)(3) of this chapter or 74.903 with respect to any previously-
proposed or authorized booster service area both using the transmission
parameters of the high-power ITFS signal booster station (e.g., EIRP,
polarization(s) and antenna height) and the transmission parameters of
the ITFS station whose channels are to be reused by the high-power ITFS
signal booster station. Upon the submission of a letter informing the
Commission of completion of construction of an ITFS booster station
applied for pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section, or upon the
submission of an ITFS booster station notification pursuant to
paragraph (e) of this section, the ITFS station whose channels are
being reused by the ITFS signal booster shall no longer be entitled to
interference protection pursuant to Secs. 21.902(i) of this chapter,
21.938(b)(3) of this chapter and 74.903 within the booster service area
based on the transmission parameters of the ITFS station whose channels
are being reused. A booster station shall not be entitled to protection
from interference caused by facilities proposed on or prior to the day
the application or notification for the booster station is filed. A
booster station shall not be required to protect from interference
facilities proposed on or after the day the application or notification
for the booster station is filed.
(g) Where an application is granted under paragraph (d) of this
section, if a facility operated pursuant to that grant causes harmful,
unauthorized interference to any cochannel or adjacent channel
facility, it must promptly remedy the interference or immediately cease
operations of the interfering facility, regardless of whether any
petitions to deny or for other relief were filed against the
application during the application process. The burden of proving that
a high-power ITFS signal booster station is not causing harmful,
unauthorized interference lies on the licensee of the alleged
interfering facility, following the filing of a documented complaint of
interference by an affected party.
(h) In the event any MDS or ITFS receive site suffers interference
due to block downconverter overload, the licensee of each signal
booster station within five miles of such receive site shall cooperate
in good faith to expeditiously identify the source of the interference.
Each licensee of a signal booster station contributing to such
interference shall bear the joint and several obligation to promptly
remedy all interference resulting from block downconverter overload at
any ITFS receive site registered prior to the submission of the
application or notification for the signal booster station or at any
receive site within an MDS or ITFS protected service area applied for
prior to the submission of the application or notification for the
signal booster station, regardless of whether the receive site
suffering the interference was constructed prior to or after the
construction of the signal booster station(s) causing the downconverter
overload; provided, however, that the licensee of the registered ITFS
receive site or the MDS or ITFS protected service area must cooperate
fully and in good faith with efforts by the signal booster station
licensee to prevent interference before constructing the signal booster
station and/or to remedy interference that may occur. In the event that
more than one signal booster station licensee contributes to block
downconverter interference at a MDS or ITFS receive site, the licensees
of the contributing signal booster stations shall cooperate in good
faith to remedy promptly the interference.
49. In Sec. 74.986, paragraph (a) is revised, and new paragraph
(a)(8) is added, to read as follows:
Sec. 74.986 Involuntary ITFS station modifications.
(a) Parties specified in paragraph (b) of this section may, subject
to Commission approval, involuntarily modify the facilities of an
existing ITFS licensee in the following situations:
* * * * *
(8) There are no response station hubs licensed to or previously-
proposed by any of the parties specified in paragraph (b) of this
section, in the same system as the existing ITFS licensee of whose
facilities involuntary modification is sought; however, in no event
shall the Commission approve an involuntary retuning of an existing
ITFS licensee's station to other frequencies, except as provided in
Sec. 74.902(i) through (k).
* * * * *
50. The alphabetical index to part 74 is amended by adding ``ITFS''
as the last entry under the ``Changes of Equipment'' heading; removing
the ``ITFS'' entry from under the ``Equipment and installation''
heading; removing the ``ITFS'' entry from under the ``Equipment
Performance'' heading; revising the entries under the ``ITFS'' heading;
removing the ``ITFS'' entry from under the ``Remote control operation''
heading; revising the ``Signal boosters, UHF translator (LPTV/TV
Translators)'' heading to read ``Signal boosters'', and adding entries
under the ``Signal boosters'' heading; removing the ``Mutually
exclusive applications, selection procedure (ITFS)'' heading; revising
the ``Response stations (ITFS)'' heading; and adding in alphabetical
order a ``Response station hubs (ITFS)'' heading and a ``Wireless cable
usage of ITFS'' heading, to read as follows:
Alphabetical Index--Part 74
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * *
* * *
Changes of Equipment--
* * * *
* * *
ITFS................................................... 74.951
* * * *
* * *
ITFS--
Application processing................................. 74.911
[[Page 65128]]
Application requirements from part 73.................. 74.910
Interference........................................... 74.903
Petition to deny....................................... 74.912
Purpose and permissible service........................ 74.931
Response station hubs.................................. 74.939
Response stations (individually licensed).............. 74.940
Signal booster stations................................ 74.985
Transmission standards................................. 74.938
Wireless cable use..................................... 74.990
* * * *
* * *
Response station hubs (ITFS)........................... 74.939
Response stations (ITFS; individually licensed)........ 74.940
* * * *
* * *
Signal boosters--
UHF translator (LPTV/TV Translators)................... 74.733
ITFS................................................... 74.985
* * * *
* * *
W
Wireless cable usage of ITFS........................... 74.990
* * * *
* * *
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[FR Doc. 98-31334 Filed 11-24-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P