**Before the**

**Federal Communications Commission**

**Washington, D.C. 20554**

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| In the Matter of                 | *  |                              |
|                                  | *) |                              |
| THOMAS A. WOOLLEY                | ** |                              |
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| First Class Radiotelegraph       | *  |                              |
| Operator\'s Certificate          | *) |                              |
| T100000003                       | ** |                              |
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|                                  | *) |                              |
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+----------------------------------+----+------------------------------+

**ORDER OF MODIFICATION**

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

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

1.  *Introduction.* In this *Order of Modification*, we modify the
    commercial operator license of Thomas A. Woolley (Woolley) by
    modifying his radiotelegraph operator's certificate from First Class
    Radiotelegraph Operator's Certificate T100000003 to Second Class
    Radiotelegraph Operator's Certificate T200000027. As explained
    below, we take this action pursuant to an earlier order proposing to
    modify Woolley's license.[^1]

2.  *Background*. To qualify for a First Class Radiotelegraph
    Operator\'s Certificate (T1), one must pass certain written and
    Morse Code examinations, and \"have one year of experience in
    sending and receiving public correspondence by radiotelegraph at a
    public coast station, a ship station, or both.\"[^2]  On November
    24, 2003, Woolley, who held Second Class Radiotelegraph Operator's
    Certificate T200000027,[^3] filed an application for a T1. The
    application did not indicate that Woolley had satisfied the one-year
    experience requirement. Nonetheless, the application was granted on
    December 11, 2003, and Woolley was issued First Class Radiotelegraph
    Operator's Certificate T100000003. Because no person may hold more
    than one unexpired radiotelegraph operator's certificate at the same
    time,[^4] Woolley's T2 was terminated when his T1 was granted.

3.  The Commission subsequently received a complaint that Woolley was
    not qualified to hold a T1.[^5] In response to an inquiry from the
    Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Mobility Division,[^6] Woolley
    indicated that he did not meet the one-year experience
    requirement.[^7] It thus appears that Woolley should not have been
    granted a T1. Consequently, we proposed to modify his radiotelegraph
    operator's certificate from First Class Radiotelegraph Operator's
    Certificate T100000003 to Second Class Radiotelegraph Operator's
    Certificate T200000027.[^8]

4.  *Discussion*. The *Order Proposing Modification* was released on
    July 25, 2007. Woolley did not protest the proposed modification of
    his license within the requisite thirty-day time frame.[^9]
    Accordingly, Woolley is deemed to have consented to the proposed
    modification.[^10] Based on the record before us, we conclude that
    it is in the pubic interest to modify Woolley's radiotelegraph
    operator's certificate from First Class Radiotelegraph Operator's
    Certificate T100000003 to Second Class Radiotelegraph Operator's
    Certificate T200000027.

5.  *Conclusion.* Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that, 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, the license for First Class Radiotelegraph Operator's
    Certificate T100000003 BE MODIFIED to Second Class Radiotelegraph
    Operator's Certificate T200000027.

6.  IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this *Order of Modification* shall be
    sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, to Thomas A.
    Woolley, 14779 E. Nanry St., Whittier, CA 90605-1851.

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 COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
>
> Scot Stone

Deputy Chief, Mobility Division

Wireless Telecommunications Bureau

[^1]: *See* Thomas A. Woolley, *Order Proposing Modification*, 22 FCC
    Rcd 13609 (WTB MD 2007) (*Order Proposing Modification*).

[^2]: *See* 47 C.F.R. § 13.201(b)(1)(iv). 

[^3]: To qualify for a Second Class Radiotelegraph Operator\'s
    Certificate (T2), one must pass certain written and Morse Code
    examinations, but there is no experience requirement. *See* 47
    C.F.R. § 13.201(b)(2).

[^4]: *See* 47 C.F.R. § 13.11(a)(1).

[^5]: *See* Letter dated August 2, 2005 from Richard Monjure to Federal
    Communications Commission.

[^6]: *See* Letter dated January 30, 2007 from Scot Stone, Deputy Chief,
    Mobility Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau to Thomas A.
    Woolley.

[^7]: *See* Letter dated April 27, 2007 from Thomas A. Woolley to
    Ghassan Khalek, Mobility Division, Wireless Telecommunications
    Bureau. He stated that he had filed the T1 application because a
    Commission employee told him that the requirement would be waived,
    in light of the lack of current opportunities to gain the required
    experience. *Id.* To the extent Woolley was told that the one-year
    experience requirement would be waived, he was misinformed. *See*
    Robert E. Griffin, *Letter*, 22 FCC Rcd 3696, 3696-97 (WTB MD 2007)
    (denying a request for waiver of the one-year experience
    requirement, notwithstanding the lack of current opportunities to
    gain the required experience). Moreover, erroneous advice from the
    staff does not bind the Commission to take an action contrary to its
    rules. *See*, *e.g.*, San Diego MDS Company, *Memorandum Opinion and
    Order*, 19 FCC Rcd 23120, 23126 ¶ 13 (2004); Allen Leeds, *Order on
    Reconsideration*, 22 FCC Rcd 1508, 1513 ¶ 11 (WTB 2007), *review
    pending*.

[^8]: *See Order Proposing Modification*, 22 FCC Rcd at 13610 ¶ 5.

[^9]: *See* 47 C.F.R. § 1.87(g)(1).

[^10]: *See* 47 C.F.R. § 1.87(h).