**FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION**

**WASHINGTON, D.C. 20554**

RELEASED: February 4, 2005

DA 05-304

Letter Dated: February 3, 2005

Douglas I. Brandon

AT&T Wireless

1150 Connecticut Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 200036

Re: CALEA Section 107(c) Extension Petition

Deadline for Packet-Mode Communications

AT&T Wireless Services, Inc.

TRS No. 821002

Dear Mr. Brandon:

On April 9, 2004, AT&T Wireless[^1] filed a supplement to its pending
request for additional time in which to implement packet-mode
surveillance capability pursuant to the Communications Assistance for
Law Enforcement Act (CALEA).[^2] On July 12, 2004, the Commission
received a Statement of Nonsupport filed by the Department of Justice
(DOJ) and directed to the AT&T Wireless supplement.[^3] In pertinent
part, the DOJ filing "opposes the granting of any further extension of
the CALEA packet-mode compliance deadline for \[AT&T Wireless's\]
push-to-talk ("PTT") service."[^4] DOJ noted, however, that "\[AT&T
Wireless\] has not yet commenced offering its PTT service to the public,
nor is it apparent when such an offering might occur."[^5] In your
letter of December 8, 2004,[^6] you stated that "New Cingular does not
have a stand-alone PTT extension request pending and, in any event, New
Cingular has not yet deployed a PTT service."[^7] Therefore, you submit,
the issues raised in DOJ filing should not bar Commission acceptance of
the AT&T Wireless supplement.[^8]

We are sensitive to DOJ's concern that PTT services must be
CALEA-compliant. However, because New Cingular has not deployed PTT
service, the CALEA compliance issues raised in the DOJ filing are not
ripe for decision. Accordingly, we have associated your letter, the AT&T
Wireless supplement, and the DOJ filing with the pending packet-mode
extension request filed by AT&T Wireless before the recent merger, and
are taking no further administrative action at this time. Thus, we are
accepting the AT&T Wireless supplement and will address the issues
raised in the supplement and the underlying petition[^9] at a future
date.

In your December 8, 2004, letter, you represent that any PTT offering to
the public by New Cingular will be compliant with the safe-harbor
industry standard from the outset. We would not hesitate to act should
this prove not to be the case. We encourage New Cingular to notify the
Commission at least 30 days prior to making PTT service commercially
available, and to describe the approach taken to achieving CALEA
compliance for that service. In recognition of the competitive
sensitivity of such information, such notification may be filed
confidentially.

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Michael J. Wilhelm

Chief, Public Safety and Critical Infrastructure Division

Wireless Telecommunications Bureau

cc: Laura Parsky, Esq.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General---Criminal Division

United States Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Suite 2113

Washington, D.C. 20530

[^1]: AT&T Wireless became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cingular
    Wireless Corporation, and was renamed New Cingular, in October,
    2004. *See* Applications of AT&T Wireless Services, Inc. and
    Cingular Wireless Corporation, WT Docket No. 04-70, *Memorandum
    Opinion and Order*, 19 FCC Rcd 21522 (2004).

[^2]: Letter dated April 9, 2004 from Douglas I. Brandon, Vice
    President, External Affairs and Law, AT&T Wireless, to Marlene H.
    Dortch, Secretary, FCC. CALEA is codified at 47 U.S.C. § 1001 *et
    seq*.

[^3]: Department of Justice, Statement of Non-Support Opposing Petition
    of AT&T Wireless Services, Inc., for Extension of the Packet-Mode
    Communications Deadline Under CALEA Section 107(c), Docket No.
    97-213, July 12, 2004.

[^4]: *Id.* at 2.

[^5]: *Id.* at 3, *citing* Scott Moritz, *AT&T Wireless Pulls Back on
    Push-to-Talk*, TheStreet.com, April 23, 2004, available at
    http://www.thestreet.com/pf/tech/scottmoritz/10156283.html.

[^6]: Letter dated December 8, 2004 from Douglas I. Brandon, Vice
    President, External Affairs and Law, AT&T Wireless, to Marlene H.
    Dortch, Secretary, FCC.

[^7]: *Id.* at 2.

[^8]: *Id*.

[^9]: AT&T Wireless Services, Inc., Petition for Extension of the
    Compliance Date, CC Docket No. 97-213 (filed Sept. 26, 2003).