Questions and Answers from the Microwave Public Forum Held February 9,
2000

**Question/Recommendation:** Additional training is required for
Technical Support staff. One applicant was on hold for an hour and 45
minutes. The Consumer Assistance Staff in Gettysburg also needs
additional training.

**Answer:** Training for the Technical Support Staff and the Consumer
Assistance Staff is being conducted. If you have any comments additional
information you would like to receive from Technical Support or Consumer
Assistance Staff, please send your recommendations to <ULSCOMM@fcc.gov>,
or contact Will Carroll at (202) 414-1250.

**Question/Recommendation:** The Main Form 601 asks if the applicant
provides interconnected service. Is there a purpose behind that question
for Microwave Point to Point applicants, who connect to the phone system
but do not carry Common Carrier Traffic?

**Answer:** No.

**Question/Recommendation:** What are you looking for as attachment with
MAS applications? What has taken the place of the statement of use?

**Answer:** Section 101.105(c)(3) requires a showing that protection
criteria have been met over the entire service area of existing systems.
In addition, Section 101.1309 requires that each application for
authorizations in bands designated for private internal use include a
certification stating why the application satisfies the definition of
private internal use.

**Question/Recommendation:** How does one handle a dismissal for lack of
a signature on an interactive application?

**Answer:** You are not able to interactively submit an application
without a signature. If you receive a dismissal of an interactively
filed application for no signature, contact Technical Support on
202-414-1250.

The FCC has noted a situation where an applicant filed an antenna
structure registration (ASR) application electronically, but also
attached a paper copy to its license application for the site. The
Gettysburg staff attempted to process the paper application but
dismissed it due to lack of a valid signature. Thus, two applications
existed for the same site -- a granted electronically filed application
and a dismissed paper-filed application. Because the applicant did not
realize that its paper attachment had been processed, it believed that
its electronic registration had been dismissed for lack of a signature.
To avoid this situation, applicants should only reference the ASR number
on licensing applications and [not]{.underline} attach a paper copy of
Form 854.

**Question/Recommendation:** There needs to be a level of passwords that
allows consultants to file applications. Allowing consultants to use
their own TINs along with the client's may be a solution.

**Answer**: The ULS Task Force is further evaluating this and other
recommendations to facilitate filing by consultants.

**Question/Recommendation**: There needs to be some level of
administrative control on passwords. Multiple passwords for individual
employees may provide a solution.

**Answer:** The ULS Task Force is further evaluating this
recommendation.

**Question/Recommendation**: Coordinates were rounded to the nearest
tenth on an application. The error message stated the coordinates varied
by more then one second and wouldn't allow the applicant to enter the
application. The applicant entered the coordinates that were in the ASR
database, and the coordinates did not vary by more than one second,
contrary to what the system indicated. The applicant was able to amend
the application later to change the coordinates.

**Answer**: The applicant is going to provide the file number to allow
the ULS Task Force to further research this problem.

**Question/Recommendation**: Are there plans to put MMDS information
into ULS? Is Mass Media going to make its system Internet accessible for
getting information on its auctions?

**Answer:** MMDS is a service administered by the Mass Media Bureau and
as such will be part of its licensing database. We do not know what
plans the Mass Media Bureau has for making licensing information
available.

**Question/Recommendation**: When doing a frequency search, one of the
options is to download results, but the button is not activated in
License Search. An applicant therefore cannot download the results.

**Answer:** The button labeled "Download Search Results" was disabled;
you should not be seeing it on your screen. The Commission needs to
install some specific hardware in order to enable this function. The
hardware in question is also needed to enable filing over the Internet.
The search result download feature will be enabled around the same time
that filing via the Internet becomes available.

**Question/Recommendation**: Applicant submitted a number of broadcast
auxiliary applications prior to August, and the applications are being
returned for things like missing contact information. Is there anything
that can be done to prevent these types of returns?

**Answer:** This problem should have been resolved. If you are still
experiencing a problem contact 1-888-CALL-FCC and press option 2. The
Consumer Assistance Staff will provide further information.

**Question/Recommendation**: Is there a way to conduct a parent call
sign search?

**Answer**: The ULS Task Force is evaluating enhancements to the search
fields.

**Question/Recommendation**: When you submit a new ASR registration and
you get the registration number back, the system doesn't automatically
update the TIN registration. Is there a way this can be done? Tech
Support is telling applicants they need to go back and update their
registration. There is also a question of how this works with Transfers
and Assignments.

**Answer**: If you are filing the application in ULS there is no reason
to update TIN registration. TIN registration is used to associate
pre-existing call signs or ASR numbers with a TIN during conversion to
ULS.

**Question/Recommendation**: Towers that are shielded did not require
registration. An applicant responded to the letter sent out from ITD
this summer indicating that the tower was shielded, but the application
was returned for not having a registration number. Is there any way to
indicate in the system that the tower is shielded and prevent this type
of return?

**Answer**: The ITD letters sent to licensees were part of a follow-up
effort to identify towers that appeared to require registration with the
Commission by July 1, 1998 based upon our licensing records. This letter
was an enforcement initiative independent of conversion of the antenna
registration database to ULS. For antenna structures that are shielded
and do not require registration as specified in 47 C.F.R § 17.14,
applicants need to submit a Section 17.14 attachment with each license
application filed that proposes to use the shielded antenna structure.
The attachment must describe the specific situation and detail the
reasons that the antenna structure does not need registration. The only
way to indicate that a tower is shielded is to place it in the record --
i.e., to register it. Because shielded towers are exempt from the
registration requirement, the FCC will not have a record of it in the
Antenna Structure Registration files unless the owner elects to register
the shielded tower.

**Question/Recommendation**: Can we change the deployment schedule
reference to indicate that services are deployed? Can we put the
deployment spreadsheet on the ULS homepage?

**Answer:** This information has been added to the ULS homepage.

**Question/Recommendation**: License and Application search are
available over the Internet. When will Internet filing via the Internet
be available?

**Answer**: ULS Internet filing is currently being developed. A Public
Notice will be released announcing the date it will become available.

**Question/Recommendation**: When you file ASR, the system asks filers
to round up the coordinates. When one applicant tried to search for the
ASR, it could not be found with the rounded-up coordinates but was found
under the FAA coordinates. Why does this occur?

**Answer**: To evaluate this situation, we need the specific file
numbers for the registration in question. In general, the antenna
structure registrations are issued at the coordinates specified by the
user. When searching for a specific structure, it is recommended that
you use a point radius search around a set of coordinates or search by
the FAA study number, rather than looking for exact coordinates.

**Question/Recommendation**: Is ASR filing going to be available via the
Internet as well? Is it on the same schedule as the other filings? Why
does ASR run so slowly, and what improvements can we expect to see?

**Answer:** We plan to put ASR filing on the Internet, but do not have a
timetable for this. Because applicants have noted that the ASR system is
particularly slow, the improvements to this system will primarily be
technical in nature and will focus on decreasing the time it takes to
file ASR applications.

**Question/Recommendation**: Why can't a person file modifications to a
tower until it is constructed?

**Answer:** You cannot file a modification to an antenna structure until
it is constructed. In cases where you wish to modify a registration
prior to construction, you need to cancel the current registration and
file a new one reflecting the modified data. This restriction was put in
place to promote air safety by ensuring that a notice of construction
can be filed only against the approved registration record. The ULS Task
force will reevaluate this restriction.

**Question/Recommendation**: When registering a point-to-point microwave
in one direction, the system doesn't ask for antenna information on the
receive end. What impact does this have for receive-only sites were the
receiver is not a transmitter?

**Answer:** In Form 601, a Schedule I, Supplement 1 (Location Data)
needs to be filed for each receive location. Supplement 2 (Path Data)
collects receive antenna information in the Final Receiver section.

**Question/Recommendation**: Is there a way to tell if a field is
optional as you are filling out an application? Can these questions be
changed to another color?

**Answer**: The ULS Task Force is evaluating this recommendation.

**Question/Recommendation**: Can the FCC add fields to indicate that an
application has gone on Public Notice or to give more information on the
status?

**Answer:** To determine whether an application is on Public Notice,
find the application using the ULS Application Search function. Once you
have the application on the screen, click on the down arrow next to
application options and select History. The History contains the
applicable Public Notice dates.

**Question/Recommendation**: What is the status of database corrections?
What happens when previous corrections have not been properly added to
the system? There were approximately 600 or 700 corrections filed by one
applicant.

**Answer**: Although we have many microwave database corrections to key,
resources are currently being utilized to process new and modification
applications. When the backlog has been reduced, processors will review
correction requests to determine if the database should be corrected or
if an intervening modification has superceded the correction request.
Licensees will either receive a new license or be contacted for further
information if needed.

**Question/Recommendation**: Is the FCC going to require support
structure information for deletion requests on Form 601?

**Answer:** No

**Question/Recommendation**: Could the FCC add a separate signature line
for consultants, similar to that on tax forms?

**Answer**: The ULS Task Force is evaluating this recommendation.

**Question/Recommendation**: Could the FCC provide applicants with the
status of their applications via e-mail?

**Answer**: The ULS Task Force is evaluating this recommendation.

**Question/Recommendation**: Do attachments need to include the Path
Data Sheet?

**Answer**: Path data sheets are no longer required.

**Question/Recommendation**: Is there going to be a replacement for the
Form 415T?

**Answer:** No. Form 415T will be eliminated.

**Question/Recommendation**: When do I update the TIN call sign ASR
registration?

**Answer**: You need to associate your TIN with a call sign or ASR
number that is not currently associated with a TIN. If the call sign or
ASR number was issued through ULS, it will be associated with the TIN,
and there is no need to update the record

**Question/Recommendation**: Comsearch recommended delaying the March 1,
2000 mandatory electronic filing date. Will the FCC implement this
recommendation?

**Answer:** The mandatory electronic filing date has been delayed until
April 1, 2000, or the date on which filing via the Internet becomes
available, whichever is later.