Notice of 90-Day Period To Submit Affirmation of Operational Status of Identified Earth Station Antennas To Avoid Losing Incumbent Status or File To Remove Identified Antennas From IBFS if No Longer Operational
| Published date | 27 August 2021 |
| Citation | 86 FR 48141 |
| Record Number | 2021-18532 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Federal Communications Commission |
Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 164 (Friday, August 27, 2021)
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 164 (Friday, August 27, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48141-48142]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-18532]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
[IB Docket No. 20-205; DA 21-893; FR ID 43422]
Notice of 90-Day Period To Submit Affirmation of Operational
Status of Identified Earth Station Antennas To Avoid Losing Incumbent
Status or File To Remove Identified Antennas From IBFS if No Longer
Operational
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In this document, the International Bureau (Bureau) provides
notice to certain incumbent earth station operators in the 3700-4200
MHz frequency band of 90-day period to submit affirmation of
operational status of identified earth station antennas to avoid losing
incumbent status or file to remove identified antennas from IBFS if no
longer operational. Specifically, IB provides the following notice to
operators of certain incumbent FSS C-band earth station antennas
recently reported to the Bureau by RSM US LLP (RSM), the C-band
Relocation Coordinator, on behalf of incumbent C-band satellite
operators: Failure to submit a filing to the Bureau by no later than 90
days after the release of the Bureau's Public Notice (i.e., by October
21, 2021) affirming the continued operation of the earth station
antennas reported to the Bureau as inactive and the intent to
participate in the C-band transition will result in a Bureau
announcement that those authorizations identified as inactive in the
Appendix attached to the Bureau's Public Notice have automatically
terminated by operation of rule, and that those authorizations will be
terminated in IBFS and removed from the incumbent earth station list.
According to RSM, each antenna included in the Appendix to the Bureau's
Public Notice was reported by their earth station operator to RSM or a
satellite operator as no longer receiving service from a C-band
satellite even though the FCC's International Bureau Filing System
(IBFS) continues to include the antenna as active.
DATES: Identified earth station operators must provide notice of
operational status by October 21, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kerry Murray, International Bureau,
Satellite Division, at (202) 418-0734, [email protected] or
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's
document, DA 21-893, released July 23, 2021. The full text of this
document, along with the Appendix identifying the specific earth
station antennas subject to automatic termination, is available for
public inspection and can be downloaded at https://www.fcc.gov/document/ib-identifies-inactive-c-band-incumbent-earth-station-antennas
or by using the search function for Docket No. 20-205 on the
Commission's ECFS page at www.fcc.gov/ecfs.
Background. Under the Commission's 3.7 GHz Band Report and Order,
RSM is responsible for coordinating with the five incumbent C-band
satellite operators--Eutelsat, Intelsat, SES, StarOne, and Telesat--to
ensure that all incumbent earth stations are accounted for in the
transition.\1\ The overwhelming majority of incumbent earth stations
have been claimed by the satellite operator(s) from which they receive
service, included in their transition plans to the Commission, and will
be transitioned to the upper 200 megahertz of the band.\2\ In other
cases, RSM, as the C-band Relocation Coordinator, has conducted
outreach and research to determine whether the earth station is still
active and, if so, from which satellite(s) the earth station receives
its service.\3\ In the course of their outreach, the satellite
operators and RSM have identified certain antennas as inactive. The
inactive status of some of these antennas has been confirmed when the
relevant earth station operators filed with the Bureau to close out
those antennas in IBFS. For the rest of these inactive antennas, their
earth station operators reported to the satellite operators (according
to RSM) that these antennas were no longer being used (even though in
these cases their earth station operators failed to make the requisite
discontinuance filings with the FCC in order to close out those
antennas in IBFS). RSM has advised the Commission that it and the
incumbent satellite operators regularly share the results of their
respective outreach efforts to better coordinate the transition of
incumbent earth stations.
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\1\ See Expanding Flexible Use of the 3.7 to 4.2 GHz Band,
Report and Order and Order of Proposed Modification, 35 FCC Rcd
2343, 2391, paragraphs 116 through 123 (2020) (3.7 GHz Band Report
and Order).
\2\ 47 CFR 27.1412(d) (transition plan requirements). The
satellite operators also file quarterly status reports in GN Docket
No. 20-173. 47 CFR 27.1412(f).
\3\ 3.7 GHz Band Report and Order, 35 FCC Rcd 2343, 2460,
paragraph 313.
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On January 19, 2021, the Bureau released a Public Notice that
provided notice to those incumbent earth station operators that RSM
reported in a January 14, 2021 filing as inactive, that such earth
station operators had 90 days, until April 19, 2021, to respond in the
Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) or their registrations would be
automatically terminated and they would be removed from the incumbent
earth station list.\4\ The Public Notice released on January 19, 2021
also provided such 90-day notice to a small group of ``unresponsive''
(or, in terms used in the January 14 RSM filing from which these
operators were drawn, ``unable to reach'') incumbent earth station
operators about their antennas. Such ``unresponsive'' stations were all
incumbent earth stations that (a) had not been claimed by any of the
five incumbent C-band satellite operators and, therefore, were not
included in any of the satellite operator Transition Plans, and (b) had
failed to respond to any outreach efforts from the very beginning of
those efforts. The registrations of earth stations that failed to
respond have been terminated in IBFS and those registrations have been
removed from the incumbent earth station list.\5\
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\4\ See International Bureau Identifies Inactive C-Band
Incumbent Earth Station Antennas and Unresponsive C-Band Incumbent
Earth Station Operators, Public Notice, DA 21-81 (rel. Jan. 19,
2021).
\5\ See International Bureau Releases Updated List of Incumbent
Earth Stations in the 3.7-4.2 GHz Band in the Contiguous United
States, Public Notice, DA 21-731, IB Docket No. 20-205 (rel. June
22, 2021) (June 22, 2021, Incumbent Earth Station List) for the
current incumbent earth station list and an explanation of the
criteria applied to be included on the list.
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On July 14, 2021, RSM submitted a letter identifying an additional
group of individual earth station antennas as no longer operational at
the location provided in the latest incumbent earth station list, even
though these antennas continue to be listed in IBFS. The July 14 RSM
filing, with its attachment, can be found in ECFS. RSM explains that it
compiled this group of antennas--which were not included in the Public
Notice released on January 19, 2021--from affirmative representations
made to RSM or the satellite operators by the
[[Page 48142]]
antennas' earth station operators. We have attached to DA 21-893 an
Appendix listing this group of antennas.
We hereby presume, on a rebuttable basis, that earth station
antennas included in the Appendix attached to DA 21-893 are no longer
operational. Section 25.161(c) of the Commission's rules provides that
an earth station authorization is automatically terminated if the
station is not operational for more than 90 days.\6\ We also note that
the Commission's rules require earth station operators to take the
steps necessary to remove non-operational antennas from the active
records in the IBFS.\7\ Moreover, under the Commission's rules,
antennas must continue to be operational to qualify for incumbent
status.\8\
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\6\ 47 CFR 25.161(c). The Bureau has delegated authority to
enforce the Part 25 rules. 47 CFR 0.261(a)(15).
\7\ 47 CFR 25.115(b)(8).
\8\ 47 CFR 25.138(c)(1).
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Incumbent earth station operators who need to affirm the continued
operation of the identified earth station antennas. We direct earth
station operators with incumbent earth station antennas that appear on
the inactive list appended to DA 21-893 to make either of two filings
no later than 90 days after release of this Notice (i.e., by October
21, 2021): (1) File to remove those antennas from IBFS as no longer
operational as required by Commission rule and optionally make a filing
in ECFS IB Docket No. 20-205 confirming the extent to which they are
surrendering or removing antennas in IBFS, or (2) file in ECFS IB
Docket No. 20-205 affirming that those antennas are still operational.
An earth station operator may contact Bureau staff at [email protected]
if it has questions about the above or if it needs instructions on how
to surrender entire Callsigns in IBFS or how to remove an inactive
earth station antenna from a Callsign that includes other operational
earth station antennas.
Earth station operators with earth station antenna(s) on the
inactive list in the Appendix to DA 21-893 that do not respond by
October 21, 2021, affirming the continued operation of the identified
earth station antennas will be deemed to have had the authorizations
for those antennas automatically terminated by rule. Those
authorizations will be terminated in IBFS, i.e., the IBFS records for
those antennas will be shown with a terminated status. Such terminated
earth stations will also be removed from the incumbent earth station
list and will not be entitled to protection from interference from the
network deployments of new wireless licenses or be eligible for
reimbursement of any transition costs, including the cost of any
filters, that those earth stations may decide to incur. Of course,
notwithstanding an affirmation of continued operation, the Bureau
retains the authority to eliminate an earth station antenna's incumbent
status if the Bureau receives additional evidence that the antenna has
failed to satisfy applicable requirements for maintaining operation.
Incumbent earth station operators who need to provide additional
information to avoid harmful interference. Apart from the foregoing
group of earth station operators for which RSM received affirmative
representations of nonoperational status, in the July 14 RSM filing,
RSM separately reported that it had identified a limited number of
incumbent earth station operators with which it has been able to
establish contact but has not been able to get enough information from
the earth station operator for it to be included in a satellite
operator transition plan or for RSM to conclude that the earth station
is in fact participating in the transition process. Further outreach by
RSM with the earth station operator has not been successful.
Such earth station operators that do not provide the necessary
information to the Relocation Coordinator or satellite operators may
not be successfully transitioned before terrestrial wireless licensees
initiate service in the band and, as a result, such earth station
operators may experience harmful interference at their facilities as
terrestrial wireless licensees deploy their networks.
Federal Communications Commission.
Troy Tanner,
Deputy Chief, International Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2021-18532 Filed 8-26-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P
