[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 159 (Friday, August 16, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 53551-53552]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-20818]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 25

[IB Docket 01-96; FCC 02-123]


Policies and Service Rules for the Non-Geostationary Satellite 
Orbit, Fixed Satellite Service in the KU-Band

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Communications Commission has adopted licensing 
and service rules for entities to provide Non-Geostationary Satellite 
Orbit, Fixed Satellite Service (NGSO FSS) in the Ku-Band frequencies, 
specifically the 10.7-11.7 GHz, 11.7-12.2 GHz, 12.2-12.7 GHz, 12.75-
13.25 GHz, 13.75-14.0 GHz, and 14.0-14.5 GHz frequency bands. The 
Commission proposes adopting a methodology by which NGSO FSS applicants 
will demonstrate that they meet limits on their interference into 
geostationary-satellite orbit systems operating in shared frequencies. 
The Commission seeks comment on the means and timing for implementing 
that methodology. The Commission also request comment on a refinement 
of the definition of an in-line interference event adopted in the 
Report and Order for the NGSO FSS.

DATES: Comments are due on or before September 30, 2002 and reply 
comments are due on or before October 15, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20554. For filing instructions, see SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For more information regarding the 
proposed rule, contact J. Mark Young, Attorney Advisor, Satellite 
Division, International Bureau, telephone (202) 418-0762 or via the 
Internet at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's 
Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in IB Docket No. 01-96, FCC 02-
123, adopted April 18, 2002 and released April 26, 2002. The complete 
text of this Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is available for 
inspection and copying during normal business hours in the FCC 
Reference Information Center, Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW., Room 
CY-A257, Washington, DC. This document may also be purchased from the 
Commission's duplicating contractor, Qualex International, Portals II, 
445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554, telephone 
(202) 863-2893, facsimile (202) 863-2898 or via e-mail 
[email protected]. It is also available on the Commission's Web site at 
http://www.fcc.gov.

Summary of the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

    1. The rules proposed in the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
will not slow system development or deployment. The Commission's 
consideration of these additional issues will not excuse licensees' 
noncompliance with Commission milestones or otherwise justify any 
extension of time to meet those milestones.
    2. The Commission's review of the record in this docket suggests 
that the Commission could optimize spectrum efficiency in this service 
by refining the angular separation definition of an in-line 
interference event. The Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking requests 
comment on whether the definition should be changed for this reason. 
The record developed in the docket also informs the Commission of a 
significant amount of progress in International Telecommunications 
Union Radiocommunication (ITU-R) studies on the power flux density 
criteria that sets the bounds of NGSO and geostationary satellite orbit 
sharing in these Ku-Band frequencies. The Commission has consistently 
stated that all NGSO FSS licensees will be required to demonstrate that 
they collectively meet a limit on aggregate power flux density, 
although the means for making that demonstration had not yet been 
developed. In the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Commission 
proposes to adopt the newly developed ITU-R methodology for NGSO FSS 
licensees, and seek comment on issues related to this new methodology.

Comment Filing Instructions

    3. Pursuant to Secs. 1.415 and 1.419 of the Commission's rules, 47 
CFR 1.415 and 1.419, interested parties may file comments on or before 
September 30, 2002 and reply comments on or before October 15, 2002. 
Comments may be filed using the Commission's Electronic Comment Filing 
System (ECFS), http://www.fcc.gov/e-file/ecfs.html, or by filing paper 
copies.See Electronic Filing of Documents in Rule Making Proceedings, 
63 FR 24,121 (1998).
    4. Comments filed through the ECFS can be sent as an electronic 
file via the Internet to http://www.fcc.gov/e-file/ecfs.html. 
Generally, only one copy of an electronic submission must be filed. If 
multiple docket or rule making numbers appear in the caption of this 
proceeding, however, commenters must transmit one electronic copy of 
the comments to each docket or rule making number referenced in the 
caption. In completing the transmittal screen, commenters should 
include their full name, U.S. Postal Service mailing address, and the 
applicable docket or rulemaking number. Parties may also submit an 
electronic comment by Internet e-mail. To get filing instructions for 
e-mail comments, commenters should send an E-mail to [email protected], and 
should including the following words in the body of the message, ``get 
form .'' A sample form and directions 
will be sent in reply.
    5. Parties who choose to file by paper must file an original and 
four copies of each filing. If more than one docket or rule making 
number appear in the caption of this proceeding, commenters must submit 
two additional copies for each additional docket or rule making number. 
Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by commercial 
overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service 
mail (although we continue to experience delays in receiving U.S. 
Postal Service mail). The Commission's contractor, Vistronix, Inc., 
will receive hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings for 
the Commission's Secretary at 236 Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Suite 110, 
Washington, DC 20002. The filing hours at this location are 8 a.m. to 7 
p.m. All hand deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or 
fasteners.

[[Page 53552]]

Any envelopes must be disposed of before entering the building. 
Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service Express Mail 
and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol 
Heights, MD 20743. U.S. Postal Service first-class mail, Express Mail, 
and Priority Mail should be addressed to: 445 12th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20554. All filings must be addressed to the Commission's 
Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission. 
Comments and reply comments will be available for public inspection 
during regular business hours in the FCC Reference Center of the 
Federal Communications Commission, Room TW-A306, 445 12th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20554.
    6. Parties who choose to file by paper should also submit their 
comments on diskette. These diskettes should be submitted to: 
Commission's Secretary, Marlene Dortch, Office of the Secretary, 
Federal Communications Commission, The Portals, 445 Twelfth Street, 
SW., Room TW-A325, Washington, DC 20554. Such a submission should be on 
a 3.5-inch diskette formatted in an IBM compatible format using Word 
for Windows or compatible software. The diskette should be accompanied 
by a cover letter and should be submitted in ``read only'' mode. The 
diskette should be clearly labeled with the commenter's name, the 
docket number of this proceeding, type of pleading (comment or reply 
comment), date of submission, and the name of the electronic file on 
the diskette. The label should also include the following phrase ``Disk 
Copy--Not an Original.'' Each diskette should contain only one party's 
pleading, preferably in a single electronic file. In addition, 
commenters must send diskette copies to the Commission's copy 
contractor, Qualex International, Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW., 
Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554.

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Certification

    7. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended (RFA), 
requires that an initial regulatory flexibility analysis be prepared 
for notice and comment rulemaking proceedings, unless the agency 
certifies that ``the rule will not, if promulgated, have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.'' The RFA 
generally defines ``small entity'' as having the same meaning as the 
terms ``small business,'' ``small organization,'' and ``small 
governmental jurisdiction.'' In addition, the term ``small business'' 
has the same meaning as the term ``small business concern'' under the 
Small Business Act. Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 601(3), the statutory 
definition of a small business applies ``unless an agency, after 
consultation with the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration and after opportunity for public comment, establishes 
one or more definitions of such term which are appropriate to the 
activities of the agency and publishes such definition(s) in the 
Federal Register. A small business concern is one which: (a) Is 
independently owned and operated; (b) is not dominant in its field of 
operation; and (c) satisfies any additional criteria established by the 
Small Business Administration (SBA).
    8. This Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (``Further NPRM'') 
seeks comment on two proposals. One proposal is to adopt a methodology 
by which non-geostationary satellite orbit, fixed satellite service 
(``NGSO FSS'') applicants will demonstrate that they meet a limit on 
their interference into geostationary-satellite orbit systems operating 
in shared frequencies. The second proposal is to refine the definition 
of an in-line interference event to accommodate high-powered NGSO FSS 
systems. If commenters believe that the proposed rules discussed in the 
Further NPRM require additional RFA analysis, they should include a 
discussion of this in their comments.
    9. Neither the Commission nor the U.S. Small Business 
Administration has developed a small business size standard 
specifically for NGSO FSS licensees. The appropriate size standard is 
therefore the SBA standard for Satellite Telecommunications, which 
provides that such entities are small if they have $12.5 million or 
less in annual revenues.
    10. Therefore, we certify that the proposals in this Further NPRM, 
if adopted, will not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities.

Ordering Clauses

    11. Pursuant to sections 4(i), 7(a), 303(c), 303(f), 303(g), and 
303(r) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(i), 
157(a), 303(c), 303(f), 303(g), and 303(r), this Further Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking is adopted.
    12. The Commission's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, 
Reference Information Center, shall send a copy of this Further Notice 
of Proposed Rulemaking, including the Initial Regulatory Flexibility 
Certification, in a report to Congress pursuant to the Congressional 
Review Act, see 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); and shall also send a copy of 
this Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, including the Initial 
Regulatory Flexibility Certification, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy 
of the Small Business Administration. See 5 U.S.C. 605(b). This initial 
certification will also be published in the Federal Register.

Federal Communications Commission.
William F. Caton,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 02-20818 Filed 8-15-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P