[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 108 (Wednesday, June 6, 2007)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 31192-31194]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-10724]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Parts 20 and 80

[WT Docket No. 04-257; FCC 07-87]


Maritime Communications

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal Communications Commission 
(Commission or FCC) amends its rules to afford licensees of VHF Public 
Coast (VPC) stations and Automated Maritime Telecommunications System 
(AMTS) stations additional operational flexibility to provide service 
to units on land. Specifically, the Commission adopts rule changes to 
permit VPC and AMTS licensees to offer private correspondence service 
to units on land, i.e., private land mobile radio (PLMR) service, in 
addition to the public correspondence service they already are 
authorized to provide to units on land. These rule amendments will 
enable VPC and AMTS licensees to compete more effectively against other 
commercial mobile radio service providers; facilitate more efficient 
use of VPC and AMTS spectrum; and provide an additional means to meet 
growing demand for spectrum by PLMR licensees and end users, including 
public safety and critical infrastructure industry entities. The 
Commission also believes that the core purpose for which these 
frequencies have been allocated is to serve the communications needs of 
marine vessels, especially with respect to communications in support of 
the safety of life and property at sea and on inland waterways.

DATES: Effective July 6, 2007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey Tobias, [email protected], 
Mobility Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, (202) 418-1617, 
or TTY (202) 418-7233.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Federal 
Communications Commission's Report and Order in WT Docket No. 04-257 
(Report and Order), FCC 07-87, adopted on May 9, 2007, and released on 
May 10, 2007. The full text of this document is available for 
inspection and copying during normal business hours in the FCC 
Reference Center, 445 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554. The 
complete text may be purchased from the Commission's copy contractor, 
Best Copy and Printing, Inc., 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-B402, 
Washington, DC 20554. The full text may also be downloaded at: http://www.fcc.gov. Alternative formats are available to persons with 
disabilities by sending an e-mail to [email protected] or by calling the 
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-
418-0432 (tty).
    1. The Report and Order addresses issues raised in the Notice of 
Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) in this WT Docket No. 04-257 proceeding. 
The Commission takes the following significant actions in the Report 
and Order: (i) Authorizes VPC and AMTS licensees to provide private 
correspondence service to units on land; (ii) specifies that AMTS 
stations providing private land mobile radio service do not have to be 
interconnected to the public switched telephone network, but retains 
that interconnection requirement for AMTS stations providing commercial 
mobile radio service; (iii) clarifies that VPC and AMTS licensees 
providing service to units on land must continue to ensure that 
maritime communications have priority, while also clarifying that a 
licensee's practice of dedicating separate channels for land mobile 
communications, on the one hand, and maritime communications, on the 
other, does not necessarily satisfy the maritime priority requirement 
although it may satisfy the requirement in certain circumstances; (iv) 
declines to permit VPC and AMTS licensees to provide service to units 
on land pursuant to regulations other than those in part 80, except 
pursuant to a waiver, and (v) declines to amend the part 80 rules to 
specify that VPC channels may be used for port operations and ship 
movement

[[Page 31193]]

services, either in simplex or duplex mode.

I. Procedural Matters

A. Paperwork Reduction Act Analysis

    2. The Report and Order does not contain any new or modified 
information collection requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (PRA), Public Law 104-13. In addition, therefore, it does 
not contain any new or modified ``information collection burden for 
small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees,'' pursuant to the 
Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Public Law 107-198, see 44 
U.S.C. 3506(c)(4).

B. Report to Congress

    3. The Commission will send a copy of this Report and Order in a 
report to Congress and the Government Accountability Office pursuant to 
the Congressional Review Act, see 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).

C. Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

    4. As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as 
amended (RFA), 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 comment 
on the IRFA. This present Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) 
conforms to the RFA.
Need for, and Objectives of, the Report and Order
    5. The rules adopted in the Report and Order are intended to 
provide VHF public coast (VPC) station and Automated Maritime 
Telecommunications Service (AMTS) stations with the additional 
flexibility to offer non-interconnected private correspondence 
communications service to units on land.
Summary of Significant Issues Raised by Public Comments in Response to 
the IRFA
    6. No comments were submitted specifically in response to the IRFA. 
In addition, no commenter has opposed the rule amendments adopted 
herein based on their potential economic impact on small entities. 
These rule amendments do not impose any new requirements or compliance 
burdens on any affected entity, but rather benefit such entities by 
providing them with additional operational flexibility.
Description and Estimate of the Number of Small Entities to Which Rules 
Will Apply
    7. The RFA directs agencies to provide a description of and, where 
feasible, an estimate of the number of small entities that may be 
affected by the rules adopted herein. The RFA defines the term ``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. 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 Small Business Administration 
(SBA).
    8. The adopted rules would affect licensees using AMTS and VPC 
spectrum. In the Third Report and Order in PR Docket No. 92-257, the 
Commission defined the term ``small entity'' specifically applicable to 
public coast station licensees as any entity employing less than 1,500 
persons, based on the definition under the Small Business 
Administration rules applicable to radiotelephone service providers. 
See Amendment of the Commission's Rules Concerning Maritime 
Communications, Third Report and Order and Memorandum Opinion and 
Order, PR Docket No. 92-257, 13 FCC Rcd 19853, 19893 (1998) (citing 13 
CFR 121.201, Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Code 4812). 
Below, we provide the economic census category and data for wireless 
entities, which encompasses public coast stations.
    9. Wireless Service Providers. The SBA has developed a small 
business size standard for wireless firms within the two broad economic 
census categories of ``Paging'' and ``Cellular and Other Wireless 
Telecommunications.'' Under both categories, the SBA deems a wireless 
business to be small if it has 1,500 or fewer employees. For the census 
category of Paging, Census Bureau data for 2002 show that there were 
807 firms in this category that operated for the entire year. Of this 
total, 804 firms had employment of 999 or fewer employees, and three 
firms had employment of 1,000 employees or more. Thus, under this 
category and associated small business size standard, the majority of 
firms can be considered small. For the census category of Cellular and 
Other Wireless Telecommunications, Census Bureau data for 2002 show 
that there were 1,397 firms in this category that operated for the 
entire year. Of this total, 1,378 firms had employment of 999 or fewer 
employees, and 19 firms had employment of 1,000 employees or more. 
Thus, under this second category and size standard, the majority of 
firms can, again, be considered small.
Description of Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance 
Requirements for Small Entities
    10. The Report and Order does not impose any reporting, 
recordkeeping, or other compliance requirements on small entities.
Steps Taken To Minimize the Significant Economic Impact on Small 
Entities, and Significant Alternatives Considered
    11. The RFA requires an agency to describe any significant 
alternatives that it has considered in developing its approach, which 
may include the following four alternatives (among others): ``(1) The 
establishment of differing compliance or reporting requirements or 
timetables that take into account the resources available to small 
entities; (2) the clarification, consolidation, or simplification of 
compliance and reporting requirements under the rule for such small 
entities; (3) the use of performance rather than design standards; and 
(4) an exemption from coverage of the rule, or any part thereof, for 
such small entities.''
    12. The rules adopted in the Report and Order will not have any 
adverse economic impact on small entities. To the contrary, they remove 
existing regulatory restrictions on the affected entities.

D. Report to Congress

    13. The Commission will send a copy of this Report and Order in WT 
Docket No. 04-257, including the Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, 
in a report to be sent to Congress pursuant to the Congressional Review 
Act. In addition, the Commission will send a copy of the Report and 
Order, including the Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, to the 
Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the SBA. A copy of the Report and Order 
and the Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (or summaries thereof) 
will also be published in the Federal Register.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.

Rule Changes

0
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal Communications

[[Page 31194]]

Commission amends 47 CFR parts 20 and 80 as follows:

PART 20--COMMERCIAL MOBILE RADIO SERVICES

0
1. The authority citation for part 20 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 160, 201, 251-254, 303, and 332 unless 
otherwise noted.


0
2. Amend Sec.  20.9 by revising paragraphs (b) introductory text and 
(b)(1) to read as follows:


Sec.  20.9  Commercial mobile radio service.

* * * * *
    (b) Licensees of a Personal Communications Service or applicants 
for a Personal Communications Service license, and VHF Public Coast 
Station geographic area licensees or applicants, and Automated Maritime 
Telecommunications System (AMTS) licensees or applicants, proposing to 
use any Personal Communications Service, VHF Public Coast Station, or 
AMTS spectrum to offer service on a private mobile radio service basis 
must overcome the presumption that Personal Communications Service, VHF 
Public Coast, and AMTS Stations are commercial mobile radio services.
    (1) The applicant or licensee (who must file an application to 
modify its authorization) seeking authority to dedicate a portion of 
the spectrum for private mobile radio service, must include a 
certification that it will offer Personal Communications Service, VHF 
Public Coast Station, or AMTS service on a private mobile radio service 
basis. The certification must include a description of the proposed 
service sufficient to demonstrate that it is not within the definition 
of commercial mobile radio service in Sec.  20.3. Any application 
requesting to use any Personal Communications Service, VHF Public Coast 
Station, or AMTS spectrum to offer service on a private mobile radio 
service basis will be placed on public notice by the Commission.
* * * * *

PART 80--STATIONS IN THE MARITIME SERVICES

0
3. The authority citation for part 80 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: Secs. 4, 303, 307(e), 309, and 332, 48 Stat. 1066, 
1082, as amended; 47 U.S.C. 154, 303, 307(e), 309, and 332, unless 
otherwise noted. Interpret or apply 48 Stat. 1064-1068, 1081-1105, 
as amended; 47 U.S.C. 151-155, 301-609; 3 UST 3450, 3 UST 4726, 12 
UST 2377.


0
4. Amend Sec.  80.5 by revising the definition of ``Automated maritime 
telecommunications system'' to read as follows:


Sec.  80.5  Definitions.

* * * * *
    Automated maritime telecommunications system (AMTS). An automatic 
maritime communications system.
* * * * *

0
5. Amend Sec.  80.123 by revising the introductory text to read as 
follows:


Sec.  80.123  Service to stations on land.

    Marine VHF public coast stations, including AMTS coast stations, 
may provide service to stations on land in accordance with the 
following:
* * * * *

0
6. Amend Sec.  80.371 by revising the introductory text of paragraph 
(c)(1)(i) to read as follows:


Sec.  80.371  Public correspondence frequencies.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (1) (i) The frequency pairs listed in this paragraph are available 
for assignment to public coast stations for communications with ship 
stations and units on land.
* * * * *

0
7. Amend Sec.  80.475 by revising paragraph (c) and adding a new 
paragraph (d) to read as follows:


Sec.  80.475  Scope of service of the Automated Maritime 
Telecommunications System (AMTS).

* * * * *
    (c) An AMTS system may provide private mobile radio service in 
addition to or instead of public correspondence service. However, such 
communications may be provided only to stations whose licensees make 
cooperative arrangements with the AMTS coast station licensees. In 
emergency and distress situations, services must be provided to ship 
stations without prior arrangements.
    (d) AMTS systems providing private mobile radio service instead of, 
or in addition to, public correspondence service are not required to be 
interconnected to the public switched network when providing such 
private mobile radio service. AMTS systems providing public 
correspondence service must be interconnected to the public switched 
network, but the licensee may also offer non-interconnected services.

0
8. Amend Sec.  80.479 by revising paragraph (a) to read as follows:


Sec.  80.479  Assignment and use of frequencies for AMTS.

    (a) The frequencies assignable to AMTS stations are listed in 
subpart H of this subpart.
* * * * *
 [FR Doc. E7-10724 Filed 6-5-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P