**Before the**

**Federal Communications Commission**

**Washington, D.C. 20554**

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| In the Matter of                 | *  |                              |
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| AVALON COMMUNICATIONS            | ** |                              |
| CORPORATION                      |    |                              |
|                                  | *  |                              |
| Petition to Delete Frequency     | *) |                              |
| 162.025 MHz from License for     | ** |                              |
| Marine Public Coast Station WAH, |    |                              |
| St. Thomas, United States Virgin | *  |                              |
| Islands                          | *) |                              |
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+----------------------------------+----+------------------------------+

**ORDER OF MODIFICATION**

**Adopted: October 12, 2005 Released: October 13, 2005**

By the Chief, Public Safety and Critical Infrastructure Division,
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau:

1.  *Introduction*. In this *Order of Modification*, we modify the
    authorization of Marine Public Coast Station WAH, St. Thomas, United
    States Virgin Islands, licensed to Avalon Communications Corporation
    (Avalon), by deleting frequency 162.025 MHz. As explained in further
    detail below, we take this action pursuant to an earlier order
    proposing to modify Avalon's license.[^1]

2.  *Background*. Marine VHF Channel 88 (ship transmit frequency 157.425
    MHz/coast transmit frequency 162.025 MHz) is available under certain
    circumstances for use by public coast stations near the Canadian
    border, but is otherwise allocated exclusively for Federal
    Government use.[^2] In 1986, after coordinating the request with the
    Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee (IRAC) of the National
    Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA),[^3] the
    Commission granted the request of Avalon's predecessor in interest
    for authorization to transmit on frequency 162.025 MHz.[^4] IRAC's
    approval of the request was for a five-year period, and any renewal
    of the authorization was conditioned on Station WAH again
    coordinating the use of the frequency with the IRAC.[^5] Due to
    administrative oversight, however, the condition requiring that use
    of frequency 162.025 MHz be recoordinated with the IRAC was not
    added to the license, and the license was renewed (most recently
    in 2003) without recoordination.

3.  On April 11, 2005, NTIA requested that the Commission rescind
    Avalon's authorization to transmit on frequency 162.025 MHz.[^6]
    NTIA notes that Station WAH's use of frequency 162.025 MHz is no
    longer authorized, and requests that the license be corrected
    accordingly.[^7] It also indicates that Station WAH is causing
    interference to Automatic Identification System (AIS)[^8] operations
    on the frequency, resulting in a hazard to navigation for
    international shipping within approximately two hundred miles of St.
    Thomas.[^9] In the *Order Proposing Modification*, we concluded that
    Avalon's renewal applications should have been coordinated with the
    IRAC, as provided for in the initial authorization from NTIA, and
    that grant of the applications was therefore improper.[^10]
    Consequently, we proposed to modify the license for Station WAH to
    delete frequency 162.025 MHz.[^11]

4.  *Discussion*. The *Order Proposing Modification* was released on
    July 7, 2005. Avalon did not protest the proposed modification of
    its license within the requisite thirty-day time frame.[^12]
    Accordingly, Avalon is deemed to have consented to the proposed
    modification.[^13] Based on the record before us, we conclude that
    it is in the pubic interest to modify Avalon's station license for
    WAH by deleting frequency 162.025 MHz.

5.  *Ordering Clauses*. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Sections
    4(i) and 316(a) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47
    U.S.C. §§ 154(i), 316(a), and Section 1.87 of Commission's Rules, 47
    C.F.R. § 1.87, that the license for Marine Public Coast Station WAH
    held by Avalon Communications Corporation BE MODIFIED by removing
    the frequency 162.025 MHz.

6.  IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this *Order of Modification* SHALL BE
    SENT by certified mail, return receipt requested, to Avalon
    Communications Corporation, 7844 Mountain Top, St. Thomas, United
    States Virgin Islands 00802.

7.  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 COMMUNICATION COMMISSION

Michael J. Wilhelm

Chief, Public Safety and Critical Infrastructure Division

Wireless Telecommunications Bureau

# 

[^1]: *See* Avalon Communications Corporation, *Order Proposing
    Modification*, 20 FCC Rcd 12030 (WTB PSCID 2005) (*Order Proposing
    Modification*).

[^2]: *See* 47 C.F.R. §§ 2.106 n.US223, 80.371(c)(1)(i) n.3.

[^3]: The IRAC is a committee of the Federal departments, agencies, and
    administrations that advises NTIA in assigning frequencies to
    Federal radio stations and in developing and executing policies,
    programs, procedures, and technical criteria pertaining to the
    allocation, management, and use of the spectrum. Amendment of Parts
    2, 25, and 73 of the Commission's Rules to Implement Decisions from
    the World Radiocommunication Conference (Geneva, 2003) (WRC-03)
    Concerning Frequency Bands Between 5900 kHz and 27.5 GHz and to
    Otherwise Update the Rules in This Frequency Range, *Report and
    Order*, ET Docket No. 04-139, 20 FCC 6570, 6636 (2005).

[^4]: *See* Bureau Chief Waiver of Commission Rules, dated November 21,
    1986, from Gary R. Stanford, Chief, Licensing Division, Private
    Radio Bureau.

[^5]: *See* IRAC FAS Docket No. I8625476.

[^6]: Letter dated April 11, 2005 from Karl B. Nebbia, Deputy Associate
    Administrator, NTIA to Ronald Repasi, Federal Communications
    Commission.

[^7]: *See id.* at 1.

[^8]: AIS is a maritime navigation safety communications system
    standardized by the International Telecommunication Union for use in
    collision avoidance and vessel monitoring and tracking. It employs
    on-board transponders, electronic charts, Differential Global
    Positioning System technology, and a technique called
    Self-Organizing Time Division Multiple Access to provide a VHF
    ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore radio service in which vessels and
    designated shore stations broadcast a unique identifier, coupled
    with safety-related data on, for example, ship positions, routes,
    dimensions, and navigational status. AIS-transmitted information can
    be received by similarly equipped vessels and shore stations in
    order to mitigate the risk of collisions and facilitate vessel
    monitoring and tracking. Amendment of the Commission's Rules
    Regarding Maritime Automatic Identification Systems, Petition for
    Rule Making Filed by National Telecommunications and Information
    Administration, *Memorandum Opinion and Order and Notice of Proposed
    Rule Making*, WT Docket No. 04-344, 19 FCC Rcd 20071, 20074 ¶ 5
    (2004) (*AIS NPRM*) (citing Amendments of Parts 13 and 80 of the
    Commission's Rules Concerning Maritime Communications, *Second
    Report and Order, Sixth Report and Order, and Second Further Notice
    of Proposed Rule Making*, WT Docket No. 00-48 & PR Docket No.
    92-257, 19 FCC Rcd 3145, 3179 ¶ 64 (2004)).

[^9]: *See* Letter dated March 1, 2005 from Joseph D. Hersey, Jr.,
    United States Coast Guard to Karl B. Nebbia, Chairman, IRAC. NTIA's
    request that the Commission designate frequency 162.025 MHz
    exclusively for AIS is being addressed in a separate proceeding.
    *See* *AIS NPRM*.

[^10]: *See* *Order Proposing Modification*, 20 FCC Rcd at 12031 ¶ 5.

[^11]: *Id.*

[^12]: *See* 47 C.F.R. § 1.87(g)(1).

[^13]: *See* 47 C.F.R. § 1.87(h).