**Before the**

**Federal Communications Commission**

**Washington, D.C. 20554**

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| In the Matter of                 | *  | File No. 0002940104          |
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| VERITAS GEOPHYSICAL SERVICES,    | ** |                              |
| LLC                              |    |                              |
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| Application for Modification of  | *) |                              |
| the License for Station KNNS699  | ** |                              |
| and Request for Waiver of        |    |                              |
| Section 90.259(a) of the         | *  |                              |
| Commission's Rules               | *) |                              |
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+----------------------------------+----+------------------------------+

**ORDER**

**Adopted: October 18, 2007 Released: October 19, 2007**

By the Deputy Chief, Mobility Division, Wireless Telecommunications
Bureau:

1.  *Introduction.* We have before us the above-captioned application
    and associated request for waiver filed by Veritas Geophysical
    Services ("Veritas") on March 8, 2007 and supplemented on July 27,
    2007.[^1] Veritas seeks to add a frequency pair to the license for
    its grandfathered 216-220 MHz band wide-area telemetry station, and
    seeks a waiver to permit operation on that frequency pair with
    higher power and wider bandwidth than authorized by Section
    90.259(a) of the Commission's Rules.[^2] For the reasons set forth
    below, we dismiss the application as defective, and dismiss the
    waiver request as moot.

2.  *Background.* For over ten years, Veritas has been authorized under
    Call Sign KNNS699 to conduct telemetry operations anywhere in the
    United States on four 216-217 MHz frequencies[^3] pursuant to
    Section 90.259, which authorizes telemetry use of the 216-220 MHz
    band on a secondary basis to the fixed and mobile services.[^4]
    Veritas's mobile units are authorized for one watt of output power.
    It uses the facilities in association with geophysical exploration
    for petroleum products.[^5]

3.  In 2002, the Commission reaffirmed the secondary status of telemetry
    operations in the 216-220 MHz band.[^6] In addition, the Commission
    amended the rules to prohibit the future licensing of secondary
    telemetry operations in the band over a wide area, and instead to
    require applicants to specify their area of normal day-to-day
    operations in terms of a maximum distance from a geographical
    center.[^7] It stated that grandfathered licensees in the 217-220
    MHz band could add new transmitters "so long as no harmful
    interference is caused to primary licensees."[^8] The Commission
    also decided to require frequency coordination for any application
    proposing new or modified telemetry operations, including
    geophysical telemetry operations.[^9]

4.  Also in 2002, the Commission adopted a geographic licensing scheme
    for Automated Maritime Telecommunications System (AMTS) stations,
    which operate in the 217/219 MHz portion of the 216-220 MHz
    band.[^10] AMTS geographic licenses were assigned pursuant to
    auctions conducted in 2004 and 2005.[^11]

5.  On March 8, 2007, Veritas filed the above-captioned application to
    modify its license for Station KNNS699. It seeks authority to add
    temporary base stations and mobile units operating on frequencies
    217.000 MHz and 219.000 MHz with an output power of six watts and a
    bandwidth of up to 800 kilohertz.[^12] Accordingly, Veritas seeks a
    waiver of Section 90.259(a)(4),[^13] which limits maximum
    transmitter output power to two watts, and proffers justification,
    as required by Section 90.259(a)(7),[^14] for a channel bandwidth
    exceeding fifty kilohertz.[^15] The basis for Veritas's request is
    that these are the technical parameters of the SERCEL, Inc. (SERCEL)
    equipment that it proposes to use, and the Commission already has
    approved the equipment and concluded that it poses no risk of
    interference to other licensees.[^16] Finally, Veritas argues that
    the application does not require frequency coordination, pursuant to
    the Commission's decision to permit grandfathered licensees to add
    transmitters.[^17]

6.  *Discussion.* As noted above, when the Commission amended Section
    90.259 in 2002, it provided that applicants must specify an area of
    operations, and that applications for new and modified 217-220 MHz
    secondary telemetry licenses would require frequency coordination,
    with no express exception for the addition of transmitters by
    grandfathered licensees.[^18] Elsewhere in the order, however, it
    stated that grandfathered 217-220 MHz secondary telemetry licensees
    would be permitted to add transmitters, and the only condition it
    mentioned was that they not interfere with primary licensees.[^19]
    Thus, it is not entirely clear whether the Commission intended to
    require frequency coordination when a grandfathered wide-area
    217-220 MHz secondary telemetry licensee adds transmitters. Given
    that wide-area licenses do not contain coordinate information, and
    frequency coordination without coordinate information is of little
    value,[^20] there may be merit to Veritas's contention that the
    Commission did not intend to require frequency coordination in such
    cases.[^21]

7.  We need not resolve the issue, however, because the exception from
    the frequency coordination requirement, assuming *arguendo* that
    there is one, is very narrow, and applies only when a grandfathered
    licensee seeks to change nothing other than the number of authorized
    transmitters. In the present matter, Veritas also seeks substantial
    changes to its authorized technical parameters: it seeks to operate
    on additional frequencies with increased power and a wider
    bandwidth. Under these circumstances, frequency coordination clearly
    is required. We therefore shall dismiss the application as
    defective. If Veritas wishes to modify its license to add
    transmitters operating on different frequencies or with different
    technical parameters from its current equipment, it must specify its
    area(s) of operation and provide evidence of frequency coordination.

8.  Veritas argues that the application should nonetheless be granted
    because the SERCEL equipment "does not present a heightened
    interference risk to other authorized users in the 217-218 MHz and
    219-220 MHz bands relative to other Part 90 geophysical telemetry
    devices" due to the reduced spectral density that results from the
    wider bandwidth.[^22] This argument is not persuasive. First, it
    does not address the fact that Veritas seeks to add new frequencies
    to its license.[^23] The potential for interference on the added
    frequencies indisputably would be increased. Moreover, the issue is
    not whether the SERCEL equipment poses a heightened interference
    risk relative to "other Part 90 geophysical telemetry devices."
    "\[O\]ther Part 90 geophysical telemetry devices\" require frequency
    coordination and specified areas of operation in order to be
    licensed, but Veritas seeks a wide-area authorization without
    frequency coordination.  Thus, the issue is not how the SERCEL
    equipment compares with site-licensed geophysical telemetry devices
    operating with two watts output power; rather, the relevant
    comparison is between the six-watt SERCEL equipment and the one-watt
    mobile units authorized by Veritas's grandfathered license. Veritas
    does not indicate whether the SERCEL mobile units are less likely
    than its current equipment to cause interference.

9.  In light of our conclusion that the application requires frequency
    coordination, we conclude that it would be premature to address the
    issue of whether Veritas has made an adequate showing to justify
    granting its request to operate with six watts output power and up
    to 800 kilohertz bandwidth. The operating area and other information
    obtained as a consequence of the frequency coordination process
    would be relevant to whether to grant the requested technical
    parameters.[^24]

10. *Conclusion.* In summary, even if grandfathered wide-area licensees
    adding transmitters are exempt from the frequency coordination
    requirement for applications to modify 217-220 MHz secondary
    telemetry licenses, the instant application does not fall within the
    exemption because it also proposes substantial changes in Veritas's
    operating parameters. Because the application fails for lack of
    frequency coordination, we need not address Veritas's request to be
    authorized for maximum transmitter output power and channel
    bandwidth limits beyond those set forth in Section 90.259(a). If
    Veritas wishes to pursue adding the transmitters described in its
    waiver request, it must first specify its area(s) of operation and
    obtain frequency coordination. At that time, we would consider
    whether a waiver of Section 90.259(a) would be appropriate.

11. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED pursuant to Section 4(i) of the
    Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. § 154(i), and
    Section 1.934 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R. § 1.934, that
    application FCC No. 0002940104 filed by Veritas Geophysical
    Services, LLC on March 8, 2007 SHALL BE DISMISSED, and the
    associated waiver request IS DISMISSED AS MOOT.

12. This action is taken under delegated authority pursuant to Sections
    0.131 and 0.331 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.131,
    0.331.

    FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Scot Stone

> Deputy Chief, Mobility Division
>
> Wireless Telecommunications Bureau

[^1]: FCC File File No. 0002940104 (Application), Exhibit A --
    Modification Clarification (filed Mar. 8, 2007) (Modification
    Clarification), Exhibit B -- Request for Waiver of 47 C.F.R. §
    90.259(a) (filed Mar. 8, 2007) (Waiver Request), Exhibit Re: Power
    Output (filed July 27, 2007) (Supplement).

[^2]: 47 C.F.R. § 90.259(a).

[^3]: Specifically, 216.275 MHz, 216.325 MHz, 217.625 MHz, and 217.725
    MHz.

[^4]: *See* 47 C.F.R. § 90.259(a)(2).

[^5]: Modification Clarification at 1.

[^6]: *See* Reallocation of the 216-220 MHz, 1390-1392 MHz, 1427-1429
    MHz, 1429-1432 MHz, 1432-1435 MHz, 1670-1675 MHz, and 2385-2390 MHz
    Government Transfer Bands, ET Docket No. 00-221, *Report and Order
    and Memorandum Opinion and Order,* 17 FCC Rcd 368, 383 ¶ 33 (2002).
    That decision also prohibited new assignments in the 216-217 MHz
    band in order to protect the Low Power Radio Service (LPRS), but
    grandfathered incumbent telemetry licensees on the condition that
    they not cause interference to LPRS operations. *See id.* at 380 ¶
    26.

[^7]: *See* Amendments to Parts, 1, 2, 27 and 90 of the Commission's
    Rules to License Services in the 216-220 MHz,

    1390-1395 MHz, 1427-1429 MHz, 1429-1432 MHz, 1432-1435 MHz,
    1670-1675 MHz, and 2385-2390 MHz

    Government Transfer Bands, *Report and Order*, WT Docket No. 02-8,
    17 FCC Rcd 9980, 10000 ¶ 45 (2002) (*27 MHz Report and Order*); *see
    also* 47 C.F.R. § 90.259(a)(6) ("Wide area operations will not be
    authorized. The area of normal day-to-day operations will be
    described in the application in terms of maximum distance from a
    geographical center (latitude and longitude).").

[^8]: *See 27 MHz Report and Order*, 17 FCC Rcd at 10003 ¶ 53.

[^9]: *See id.* at 10016 ¶¶ 90-91.

[^10]: *See* Amendment of the Commission's Rules Concerning Maritime
    Communications, *Second Memorandum Opinion and Order and Fifth
    Report and Order*, PR Docket No. 92-257, 17 FCC Rcd 6685, 6686 ¶ 2
    (2002).

[^11]: *See* Auction of Automated Maritime Telecommunications System
    Licenses Closes: Winning Bidders Announced for Auction No. 61,
    *Public Notice*, 20 FCC Rcd 13747 (WTB 2005); Automated Maritime
    Telecommunications System Spectrum Auction Closes, *Public Notice*,
    19 FCC Rcd 18252 (WTB 2004).

[^12]: *See* Application. Veritas states that it will operate the
    additional units "exclusively in isolated rural inland areas,
    primarily in close proximity to oil and gas fields in the southern
    and Rocky Mountain states," *see* Modification Clarification at 1,
    but the Application itself does not propose such a limitation, *see*
    Application at Schedule D, Item 24 (requesting a nationwide
    operating area).

[^13]: 47 C.F.R. § 90.259(a)(4).

[^14]: 47 C.F.R. § 90.259(a)(7).

[^15]: *See* Waiver Request at 1.

[^16]: *Id.*

[^17]: *See* Modification Clarification at 1.

[^18]: *See* *27 MHz Report and Order*, 17 FCC Rcd at 10000 ¶ 45, 10016
    ¶¶ 90-91.

[^19]: *Id*. at 10003 ¶ 53.

[^20]: *See* Amendment of Part 90 of the Commission\'s Rules and
    Policies for Applications and Licensing of Low Power Operations in
    the Private Land Mobile Radio 450-470 MHz Band, *Report and Order*,
    WT Docket No. 01-146, 18 FCC Rcd 3948, 3956 ¶ 17, 3965 ¶ 39 (2003);
    Amendment of the Commission\'s Rules with Regard to the 3650-3700
    MHz Government Transfer Band, *First Report and Order and Second
    Notice of Proposed Rule Making*, ET Docket No. 98-237, 15 FCC Rcd
    20488, 20531 ¶ 108 (2000).

[^21]: *See* Modification Clarification at 1.

[^22]: *See* Supplement at 1.

[^23]: Veritas also fails to address the fact that its proposed
    operations on frequency 217.000 MHz would result in emissions in the
    216-217 MHz band. As noted above, new assignments in the 216-217 MHz
    band are prohibited in order to protect the LPRS. *See* 47 C.F.R. §
    90.259(a)(3) and *supra* note Error: Reference source not found. For
    that reason, frequency 217.000 MHz is not an assignable frequency
    for telemetry operations. *See* 47 C.F.R. § 90.259(a)(8).

[^24]: Nonetheless, we reject Veritas's argument that the Commission
    implicitly waived the power and bandwidth limitations in Section
    90.259 when it authorized the SERCEL equipment. *See* Waiver Request
    at 1. The grant of an equipment authorization application does not
    guarantee that all potential licensees will be able to obtain a
    license to operate the device. *See* Lawrence J. Movshin, Esq.,
    *Letter*, 22 FCC Rcd 3821, 3822 (WTB MD 2007). Moreover, we note
    that the base station equipment identified by Veritas (Grant of
    Equipment Authorization KQ9LRU) was approved before the rule was
    amended to add the current power and bandwidth limits, and that the
    related mobile units (Grant of Equipment Authorization KQ9LAUR) were
    approved for a maximum transmitter output power of two watts, rather
    than the six watts Veritas is seeking here.