Title 47—Telecommunication--Volume 1
PART 25—SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS
§ 25.253   Special requirements for ancillary terrestrial components operating in the 1626.5-1660.5 MHz/1525-1559 MHz bands.
(a) An ancillary terrestrial component in these bands shall:
(1) In any band segment coordinated for the exclusive use of an MSS applicant within the land area of the U.S., where there is no other L-Band MSS satellite making use of that band segment within the visible portion of the geostationary arc as seen from the ATC coverage area, the ATC system will be limited by the in-band and out-of-band emission limitations contained in this section and the requirement to maintain a substantial MSS service.
(2) In any band segment that is coordinated for the shared use of the applicant's MSS system and another MSS operator, where the coordination agreement existed prior to February 10, 2005 and permits a level of interference to the other MSS system of less than 6% ΔT/T, the applicant's combined ATC and MSS operations shall increase the system noise level of the other MSS to no more then 6% ΔT/T. Any future coordination agreement between the parties governing ATC operation will supersede this paragraph.
(3) In any band segment that is coordinated for the shared use of the applicant's MSS system and another MSS operator, where a coordination agreement existed prior to February 10, 2005 and permits a level of interference to the other MSS system of 6% ΔT/T or greater, the applicant's ATC operations may increase the system noise level of the other MSS system by no more than an additional 1% ΔT/T. Any future coordination agreement between the parties governing ATC operations will supersede this paragraph.
(4) In a band segment in which the applicant has no rights under a coordination agreement, the applicant may not implement ATC in that band.
(b) ATC base stations shall not exceed an out-of-channel emissions measurement of −57.9 dBW/MHz at the edge of a MSS licensee's authorized and internationally coordinated MSS frequency assignment.
(c) An applicant for an ancillary terrestrial component in these bands shall:
(1) Demonstrate, at the time of application, how its ATC network will comply with the requirements of footnotes US308 and US315 to the table of frequency allocations contained in § 2.106 of this chapter regarding priority and preemptive access to the L-band MSS spectrum by the aeronautical mobile-satellite en-route service (AMS(R)S) and the global maritime distress and safety system (GMDSS).
(2) Coordinate with the terrestrial CMRS operators prior to initiating ATC transmissions when co-locating ATC base stations with terrestrial commercial mobile radio service (CMRS) base stations that make use of Global Positioning System (GPS) time-based receivers.
(3) Provide, at the time of application, calculations that demonstrate the ATC system conforms to the ΔT/T requirements in paragraphs (a)(2) and (a)(3) of this section, if a coordination agreement that incorporates the ATC operations does not exist with other MSS operators.
(d) Applicants for an ancillary terrestrial component in these bands must demonstrate that ATC base stations shall not:
(1) Exceed a peak EIRP of 31.9-10*log (number of carriers) dBW/200kHz, per sector, for each carrier in the 1525-1541.5 MHz and 1547.5-1559 MHz frequency bands;
(2) Exceed an EIRP in any direction toward the physical horizon (not to include man-made structures) of 26.9-10*log (number of carriers) dBW/200 kHz, per sector, for each carrier in the 1525-1541.5 MHz and 1547.5-1559 MHz frequency bands;
(3) Exceed a peak EIRP of 23.9 −10*log(number of carriers) dBW/200 kHz, per sector, for each carrier in the 1541.5-1547.5 MHz frequency band;
(4) Exceed an EIRP toward the physical horizon (not to include man-made structures) of 18.9-10*log(number of carriers) dBW/200 kHz, per sector, for each carrier in the 1541.5-1547.5 MHz frequency band;
(5) Exceed a total power flux density level of −56.8 dBW/m 2 /200 kHz at the edge of all airport runways and aircraft stand areas, including takeoff and landing paths from all carriers operating in the 1525-1559 MHz frequency bands. The total power flux density here is the sum of all power flux density values associated with all carriers in a sector in the 1525-1559 MHz frequency band, expressed in dB(Watts/m 2 /200 kHz). Free-space loss must be assumed if this requirement is demonstrated via calculation;
(6) Exceed a total power flux density level of −56.6 dBW/ m 2 /200 kHz at the water's edge of any navigable waterway from all carriers operating in the 1525-1541.5 MHz and 1547.5-1559 MHz frequency bands. The total power flux density here is the sum of all power flux density values associated with all carriers in a sector in the 1525-1541.5 MHz and 1547.5-1559 MHz frequency bands, expressed in dB(Watts/m 2 /200 kHz). Free-space loss must be assumed if this requirement is demonstrated via calculation;
(7) Exceed a total power flux density level of −64.6 dBW/ m 2 /200 kHz at the water's edge of any navigable waterway from all carriers operating in the 1541.5-1547.5 MHz frequency band. The total power flux density here is the sum of all power flux density values associated with all carriers in a sector in the 1541.5-1547.5 MHz frequency band, expressed in dB(Watts/m 2 /200 kHz). Free-space loss must be assumed if this requirement is demonstrated via calculation;
(8) Exceed a peak antenna gain of 16 dBi;
(9) Generate EIRP density, averaged over any two-millisecond active transmission interval, greater than −70 dBW/MHz in the 1559-1605 MHz band or greater than a level determined by linear interpolation in the 1605-1610 MHz band, from −70 dBW/MHz at 1605 MHz to −46 dBW/MHz at 1610 MHz. The EIRP, averaged over any two-millisecond active transmission interval, of discrete out-of-band emissions of less than 700 Hz bandwidth from such base stations shall not exceed −80 dBW in the 1559-1605 MHz band or exceed a level determined by linear interpolation in the 1605-1610 MHz band, from −80 dBW at 1605 MHz to −56 dBW at 1610 MHz. A root-mean-square detector function with a resolution bandwidth of one megahertz or equivalent and no less video bandwidth shall be used to measure wideband EIRP density for purposes of this rule, and narrowband EIRP shall be measured with a root-mean-square detector function with a resolution bandwidth of one kilohertz or equivalent.
(e) Applicants for an ancillary terrestrial component in these bands must demonstrate, at the time of the application, that ATC base stations shall use left-hand-circular polarization antennas with a maximum gain of 16 dBi and overhead gain suppression according to the following:
Where: Gmax is the maximum gain of the base station antenna in dBi.
(f) Prior to operation, ancillary terrestrial component licensees shall:
(1) Provide the Commission with sufficient information to complete coordination of ATC base stations with Search-and-Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking (SARSAT) earth stations operating in the 1544-1545 MHz band for any ATC base station located either within 27 km of a SARSAT station, or within radio horizon of the SARSAT station, whichever is less.
(2) Take all practicable steps to avoid locating ATC base stations within radio line of sight of Mobile Aeronautical Telemetry (MAT) receive sites in order to protect U.S. MAT systems consistent with ITU-R Recommendation ITU-R M.1459. MSS ATC base stations located within radio line of sight of a MAT receiver must be coordinated with the Aerospace and Flight Test Radio Coordinating Council (AFTRCC) for non-Government MAT receivers on a case-by-case basis prior to operation. For government MAT receivers, the MSS licensee shall supply sufficient information to the Commission to allow coordination to take place. A listing of current and planned MAT receiver sites can be obtained from AFTRCC for non-Government sites and through the FCC's IRAC Liaison for Government MAT receiver sites.
(g) ATC mobile terminals shall:
(1) Be limited to a peak EIRP level of 0 dBW and an out-of-channel emissions of −67 dBW/4 kHz at the edge of an MSS licensee's authorized and internationally coordinated MSS frequency assignment.
(2) Be operated in a fashion that takes all practicable steps to avoid causing interference to U.S. radio astronomy service (RAS) observations in the 1660-1660.5 MHz band.
(3) Not generate EIRP density, averaged over any two-millisecond active transmission interval, greater than −70 dBW/MHz in the 1559-1605 MHz band or greater than a level determined by linear interpolation in the 1605-1610 MHz band, from −70 dBW/MHz at 1605 MHz to −46 dBW/MHz at 1610 MHz. The EIRP, averaged over any two-millisecond active transmission interval, of discrete out-of-band emissions of less than 700 Hz bandwidth from such mobile terminals shall not exceed −80 dBW in the 1559-1605 MHz band or exceed a level determined by linear interpolation in the 1605-1610 MHz band, from −80 dBW at 1605 MHz to −56 dBW at 1610 MHz. The EIRP density of carrier-off-state emissions from such mobile terminals shall not exceed −80 dBW/MHz in the 1559-1610 MHz band, averaged over a two-millisecond interval. A root-mean-square detector function with a resolution bandwidth of one megahertz or equivalent and no less video bandwidth shall be used to measure wideband EIRP density for purposes of this rule, and narrowband EIRP shall be measured with a root-mean-square detector function with a resolution bandwidth of one kilohertz or equivalent.
(h) When implementing multiple base stations and/or base stations using multiple carriers, where any third-order intermodulation product of these base stations falls on an L-band MSS band coordinated for use by another MSS operator with rights to the coordinated band, the MSS ATC licensee must notify the MSS operator. The MSS operator may request coordination to modify the base station carrier frequencies, or to reduce the maximum base station EIRP on the frequencies contributing to the third-order intermodulation products. The threshold for this notification and coordination is when the sum of the calculated signal levels received by an MSS receiver exceeds −70 dBm. The MSS receiver used in these calculations can be assumed to have an antenna with 0 dBi gain. Free-space propagation between the base station antennas and the MSS terminals can be assumed and actual signal polarizations for the ATC signals and the MSS system may be used.
§ 25.254   Special requirements for ancillary terrestrial components operating in the 1610-1626.5 MHz/2483.5-2500 MHz bands.
(a) An applicant for an ancillary terrestrial component in these bands must demonstrate that ATC base stations shall:
(1) Not exceed a peak EIRP of 32 dBW in 1.25 MHz;
(2) Not cause unacceptable interference to systems identified in paragraph (c) of this section and, in any case, shall not exceed out-of-channel emissions of −44.1 dBW/30 kHz at the edge of the MSS licensee's authorized frequency assignment;
(3) At the time of application, that it has taken, or will take steps necessary to avoid causing interference to other services sharing the use of the 2450-2500 MHz band through frequency coordination; and
(4) Base stations operating in frequencies above 2483.5 MHz shall not generate EIRP density, averaged over any two-millisecond active transmission interval, greater than −70 dBW/MHz in the 1559-1610 MHz band. The EIRP, averaged over any two-millisecond active transmission interval, of discrete out-of-band emissions of less than 700 Hz bandwidth from such base stations shall not exceed −80 dBW in the 1559-1610 MHz band. A root-mean-square detector function with a resolution bandwidth of one megahertz or equivalent and no less video bandwidth shall be used to measure wideband EIRP density for purposes of this rule, and narrowband EIRP shall be measured with a root-mean-square detector function with a resolution bandwidth of one kilohertz or equivalent.
(b) An applicant for an ancillary terrestrial component in these bands must demonstrate that mobile terminals shall:
(1) Meet the requirements contained in § 25.213 to protect radio astronomy service (RAS) observations in the 1610.6-1613.8 MHz band from unacceptable interference;
(2) Observe a peak EIRP limit of 1.0 dBW in 1.25 MHz;
(3) Observe an out-of-channel EIRP limit of −57.1 dBW/30 kHz at the edge of the licensed MSS frequency assignment.
(4) ATC mobile terminals operating in assigned frequencies in the 1610-1626.5 MHz band shall not generate EIRP density, averaged over any two-millisecond active transmission interval, greater than −70 dBW/MHz in the 1559-1605 MHz band or greater than a level determined by linear interpolation in the 1605-1610 MHz band, from −70 dBW/MHz at 1605 MHz to −10 dBW/MHz at 1610 MHz. The EIRP, averaged over any two-millisecond active transmission interval, of discrete out-of-band emissions of less than 700 Hz bandwidth from such mobile terminals shall not exceed −80 dBW in the 1559-1605 MHz band or exceed a level determined by linear interpolation in the 1605-1610 MHz band, from −80 dBW at 1605 MHz to −20 dBW at 1610 MHz. The EIRP density of carrier-off-state emissions from such mobile terminals shall not exceed −80 dBW/MHz in the 1559-1610 MHz band, averaged over a two-millisecond interval. A root-mean-square detector function with a resolution bandwidth of one megahertz or equivalent and no less video bandwidth shall be used to measure wideband EIRP density for purposes of this rule, and narrowband EIRP shall be measured with a root-mean-square detector function with a resolution bandwidth of one kilohertz or equivalent.
(c) Applicants for an ancillary terrestrial component to be used in conjunction with a Mobile-Satellite Service system using CDMA technology shall coordinate the use of the 1.6/2.4 GHz Mobile-Satellite Service spectrum designated for CDMA systems using the framework established by the ITU in Recommendation ITU-R M.1186 (incorporated by reference, see § 25.108).
(d) To avoid interference to an adjacent channel licensee in the Broadband Radio Service (BRS), the power of any ATC base station emission above 2495 MHz shall be attenuated below the transmitter power (P) measured in watts in accordance with the standards below. If these measures do not resolve a documented interference complaint received from the adjacent channel BRS licensee, the provisions of § 25.255 shall apply.
(1) For base stations, the attenuation shall be not less than 43 + 10 log (P) dB at the upper edge of the authorized ATC band, unless a documented interference complaint is received from an adjacent channel licensee in the BRS. Provided that a documented interference complaint cannot be mutually resolved between the parties, the following additional attenuation requirements set forth in subsections (2)-(5) shall apply:
(2) If a pre-existing BRS base station suffers harmful interference from emissions caused by a new or modified ATC base station located 1.5 km or more away, within 24 hours of the receipt of a documented interference complaint the ATC licensee must attenuate its emissions by at least 67 + 10 log (P) dB measured at 3 megahertz above the edge of the authorized ATC band, and shall immediately notify the complaining licensee upon implementation of the additional attenuation.
(3) If a pre-existing BRS base station suffers harmful interference from emissions caused by a new or modified ATC base station located less than 1.5 km away, within 24 hours of the receipt of a documented interference complaint the ATC licensee must attenuate its emissions by at least 67 + 10 log (P) −20 log(D km /1.5) dB measured at 3 megahertz above the edge of the authorized ATC band, or if both base stations are co-located, limit its undesired signal level at the pre-existing BRS base station receiver(s) to no more than −107 dBm measured in a 5.5 megahertz bandwidth and shall immediately notify the complaining licensee upon such reduction in the undesired signal level.
(4) If a new or modified BRS base station suffers harmful interference from emissions caused by a pre-existing ATC base station located 1.5 km or more away, within 60 days of receipt of a documented interference complaint the licensee of the ATC base station must attenuate its base station emissions by at least 67 + 10 log (P) dB measured at 3 megahertz above the edge of the authorized ATC band.
(5) If a new or modified BRS base station suffers harmful interference from emissions caused by a pre-existing ATC base station located less than 1.5 km away, within 60 days of receipt of a documented interference complaint:
(i) the ATC licensee must attenuate its base station emissions by at least 67 + 10 log (P) −20 log(D km /1.5) dB measured 3 megahertz above the edge of the authorized ATC band, or
(ii) if both base stations are co-located, the ATC licensee must limit its undesired signal level at the new or modified BRS base station receiver(s) to no more than −107 dBm measured in a 5.5 megahertz bandwidth.
(6) Compliance with these rules is based on the use of measurement instrumentation employing a resolution bandwidth of 1 MHz or greater. However, in the 1 MHz bands immediately above and adjacent to the 2495 MHz a resolution bandwidth of at least one percent of the emission bandwidth of the fundamental emission of the transmitter may be employed. A narrower resolution bandwidth is permitted in all cases to improve measurement accuracy, provided the measured power is integrated over the full required measurement bandwidth (i.e., 1 MHz or 1 percent of emission bandwidth, as specified). The emission bandwidth is defined as the width of the signal between two points, one below the carrier center frequency and one above the carrier center frequency, outside of which all emissions are attenuated at least 26 dB below the transmitter power. When an emission outside of the authorized bandwidth causes harmful interference, the Commission may, at its discretion, require greater attenuation than specified in this section.
(e) Licensees of terrestrial low-power systems operating in the 2483.5-2495 MHz band shall operate consistent with the technical limits and other requirements specified in § 25.149(c)(4) and (g)(2)-(3).
The preceding rules of § 25.254 are based on cdma2000 and IS-95 system architecture. To the extent that a 1.6/2.4 GHz Mobile-Satellite Service licensee is able to demonstrate that the use of different system architectures would produce no greater potential interference than would be produced as a result of implementing the rules of this section, the licensee may apply for ATC authorization based on another system architecture.
§ 25.255   Procedures for resolving harmful interference related to operation of ancillary terrestrial components operating in the 1.5/1.6 GHz and 1.6/2.4 GHz bands.
If harmful interference is caused to other services by ancillary MSS ATC operations, either from ATC base stations or mobile terminals, the MSS ATC operator must resolve any such interference. If the MSS ATC operator claims to have resolved the interference and other operators claim that interference has not been resolved, then the parties to the dispute may petition the Commission for a resolution of their claims.
§ 25.256   Special Requirements for operations in the 3.65-3.7 GHz band.
Upon request from a terrestrial licensee authorized under subpart Z, part 90 that seeks to place base and fixed stations in operation within 150 km of a primary earth station, licensees of earth stations operating on a primary basis in the Fixed-Satellite Service in the 3.65-3.7 GHz band must negotiate in good faith with that terrestrial licensee to arrive at mutually agreeable operating parameters to prevent unacceptable interference.
§ 25.257   Special requirements for NGSO MSS operations in the 29.1-29.25 GHz band regarding LMDS.
(a) Non-geostationary Mobile-Satellite Service (NGSO MSS) operators shall be licensed to use the 29.1-29.25 GHz band for Earth-to-space transmissions from feeder link earth station complexes. A “feeder link earth station complex” may include up to three (3) earth station groups, with each earth station group having up to four (4) antennas, located within a radius of 75 km of a given set of geographic coordinates provided by a NGSO MSS licensees or applicants pursuant to § 101.147.
(b) A maximum of seven (7) feeder link earth station complexes in the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii may be placed into operation, in the largest 100 MSAs, in the band 29.1-29.25 GHz in accordance with § 25.203 and § 101.147 of this chapter.
(c) One of the NGSO MSS operators licensed to use the 29.1-29.25 GHz band may specify geographic coordinates for a maximum of eight feeder link earth station complexes that transmit in the 29.1-29.25 GHz band. The other NGSO MSS operator licensed to use the 29.1-29.25 GHz band may specify geographic coordinates for a maximum of two feeder link earth station complexes that transmit in the 29.1-29.25 GHz band.
(d) Additional NGSO MSS operators may be licensed in this band if the additional NGSO MSS operator shows that its system can share with the existing NGSO MSS systems.
(e) All NGSO MSS operators shall cooperate fully and make reasonable efforts to identify mutually acceptable locations for feeder link earth station complexes. In this regard, any single NGSO MSS operator may identify only one feeder-link earth station complex protection zone in each category identified in § 101.147(y)(2) of this chapter until the other NGSO MSS operator has been given an opportunity to select a location from the same category.
§ 25.258   Sharing between NGSO MSS feeder-link stations and GSO FSS services in the 29.25-29.5 GHz band.
(a) Operators of NGSO MSS feeder link earth stations and GSO FSS earth stations in the band 29.25 to 29.5 GHz where both services have a co-primary allocation shall cooperate fully in order to coordinate their systems. During the coordination process both service operators shall exchange the necessary technical parameters required for coordination.
(b) Licensed GSO FSS earth stations in the vicinity of operational NGSO MSS feeder-link earth station complexes must, to the maximum extent possible, operate with frequency/polarization selections that will minimize unacceptable interference with reception of GSO FSS and NGSO MSS uplink transmissions in the 29.25-29.5 GHz band. Earth station licensees operating with GSO FSS systems shall be capable of providing earth station locations to support coordination of NGSO MSS feeder link stations under paragraphs (a) and (c) of this section. Operation of ubiquitously deployed GSO FSS earth stations in the 29.25-29.5 GHz frequency band must conform to the rules contained in § 25.218(i).
(c) Applicants for authority to use the 29.25-29.5 GHz band for NGSO MSS feeder uplinks will have to demonstrate that their systems can share with GSO FSS and NGSO MSS systems that have been authorized for operation in that band.
§ 25.259   Time sharing between NOAA meteorological satellite systems and non-voice, non-geostationary satellite systems in the 137-138 MHz band.
(a) The space stations of a non-voice, non-geostationary Mobile-Satellite Service (NVNG MSS) system time-sharing downlink spectrum in the 137-138 MHz band with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellites shall not transmit signals into the “protection areas” of the NOAA satellites.
(1) With respect to transmission in the 137.333-137.367 MHz, 137.485-137.515 MHz, 137.605-137.635 MHz, and 137.753-137.787 MHz bands, the protection area for a NOAA satellite is the area on the Earth's surface in which the NOAA satellite is in line of sight from the ground at an elevation angle of five degrees or more above the horizon. No NVNG MSS satellite shall transmit in these bands when it is in line of sight at an elevation angle of zero degrees or more from any point on the ground within a NOAA satellite's protected area for that band.
(2) With respect to transmission in the 137.025-137.175 MHz and 137.825-138 MHz bands, the protection area for a NOAA satellite is the area on the Earth's surface in which the NOAA satellite is in line of sight from the ground at any elevation angle above zero degrees. No NVNG MSS satellite shall transmit in these bands when at a line-of-sight elevation angle of zero degrees or more from any point on the ground within a NOAA satellite's protected area for that band. In addition, such an NVNG MSS satellite shall cease transmitting when it is at an elevation angle of less than zero degrees from any such point, if reasonably necessary to protect reception of the NOAA satellite's signal.
(3) An NVNG MSS licensee is responsible for obtaining the ephemeris data necessary for compliance with these restrictions. The ephemeris information must be updated system-wide on at least a weekly basis. For calculation required for compliance with these restrictions an NVNG MSS licensee shall use an orbital propagator algorithm with an accuracy equal to or greater than the NORAD propagator used by NOAA.
(b) An NVNG licensee time sharing spectrum in the 137-138 MHz band must establish a 24-hour per day contact person and telephone number so that claims of harmful interference into NOAA earth stations and other operational issues can be reported and resolved expeditiously. This contact information must be made available to NOAA or its designee. If the NTIA notifies the Commission that NOAA is receiving unacceptable interference from a NVNG licensee, the Commission will require such NVNG licensee to terminate its interfering operations immediately unless it demonstrates to the Commission's reasonable satisfaction, and that of NTIA, that it is not responsible for causing harmful interference into the worldwide NOAA system. An NVNG licensee assumes the risk of any liability or damage that it and its directors, officers, employees, affiliates, agents and subcontractors may incur or suffer in connection with an interruption of its Mobile-Satellite Service, in whole or in part, arising from or relating to its compliance or noncompliance with the requirements of this paragraph.
(c) Each satellite in a NVNG licensee's system time-sharing spectrum with NOAA in the 137-138 MHz band shall automatically turn off and cease satellite transmissions if, after 72 consecutive hours, no reset signal is received from the NVNG licensee's gateway earth station and verified by the satellite. All satellites in such NVNG licensee's system shall be capable of instantaneous shutdown on any sub-band upon command from such NVNG licensee's gateway earth station.
§ 25.260   Time sharing between DoD meteorological satellite systems and non-voice, non-geostationary satellite systems in the 400.15-401 MHz band.
(a) The space stations of a non-voice, non-geostationary Mobile-Satellite Service (NVNG MSS) system time-sharing downlink spectrum in the 400.15-401.0 MHz band with Department of Defense (DoD) satellites shall not transmit signals into the “protection areas” of the DoD satellites.
(1) The protection area for such a DoD satellite is the area on the Earth's surface in which the DoD satellite is in line of sight from the ground at an elevation angle of five degrees or more above the horizon.
(2) An NVNG MSS space station shall not transmit in the 400.15-401 MHz band when at a line-of-sight elevation angle of zero degrees or more from any point on the ground within the protected area of a DoD satellite operating in that band.
(3) An NVNG MSS licensee is responsible for obtaining the ephemeris data necessary for compliance with this restriction. The ephemeris information must be updated system-wide at least once per week. For calculation required for compliance with this restriction an NVNG MSS licensee shall use an orbital propagator algorithm with an accuracy equal to or greater than the NORAD propagator used by DoD.
(b) An NVNG licensee time sharing spectrum in the 400.15-401 MHz band must establish a 24-hour per day contact person and telephone number so that claims of harmful interference into DoD earth stations and other operational issues can be reported and resolved expeditiously. This contact information must be made available to DoD or its designee. If the NTIA notifies the Commission that DoD is receiving unacceptable interference from a NVNG licensee, the Commission will require such NVNG licensee to terminate its interfering operations immediately unless it demonstrates to the Commission's reasonable satisfaction, and that of NTIA, that it is not responsible for causing harmful interference into the worldwide DoD system. A NVNG licensee assumes the risk of any liability or damage that it and its directors, officers, employees, affiliates, agents and subcontractors may incur or suffer in connection with an interruption of its Mobile-Satellite Service, in whole or in part, arising from or relating to its compliance or noncompliance with the requirements of this paragraph.
(c) Each satellite in a NVNG licensee's system time-sharing spectrum with DoD in the 400.15-401 MHz band shall automatically turn off and cease satellite transmissions if, after 72 consecutive hours, no reset signal is received from the NVNG licensee's gateway earth station and verified by the satellite. All satellites in such NVNG licensee's system shall be capable of instantaneous shutdown on any sub-band upon command from such NVNG licensee's gateway earth station.
(d) Initially, a NVNG licensee time-sharing spectrum with DoD in the 400.15-401 MHz band shall be able to change the frequency on which its system satellites are operating within 125 minutes of receiving notification from a DoD required frequency change in the 400.15-401 MHz band. Thereafter, when a NVNG licensee constructs additional gateway earth stations located outside of North and South America, it shall use its best efforts to decrease to 90 minutes the time required to implement a DoD required frequency change. A NVNG licensee promptly shall notify the Commission and NTIA of any decrease in the time it requires to implement a DoD required frequency change.
(e) Once a NVNG licensee time-sharing spectrum with DoD in the 400.15-401 MHz band demonstrates to DoD that it is capable of implementing a DoD required frequency change within the time required under paragraph (d) of this section, thereafter, such NVNG licensee shall demonstrate its capability to implement a DoD required frequency change only once per year at the instruction of DoD. Such demonstrations shall occur during off-peak hours, as determined by the NVNG licensee, unless otherwise agreed by the NVNG licensee and DoD. Such NVNG licensee will coordinate with DoD in establishing a plan for such a demonstration. In the event that a NVNG licensee fails to demonstrate to DoD that it is capable of implementing a DoD required frequency change in accordance with a demonstration plan established by DoD and the NVNG licensee, upon the Commission's receipt of a written notification from NTIA describing such failure, the Commission shall impose additional conditions or requirements on the NVNG licensee's authorization as may be necessary to protect DoD operations in the 400.15-401 MHz downlink band until the Commission is notified by NTIA that the NVNG licensee has successfully demonstrated its ability to implement a DoD required frequency change. Such additional conditions or requirements may include, but are not limited to, requiring such NVNG licensee immediately to terminate its operations interfering with the DoD system.
§ 25.261   Sharing among NGSO FSS space stations.
(a) Scope. This section applies to NGSO FSS operation with earth stations with directional antennas anywhere in the world under a Commission license, or in the United States under a grant of U.S. market access.
(b) Coordination. NGSO FSS licensees and market access recipients must coordinate in good faith the use of commonly authorized frequencies regardless of their processing round status.
(c) Default procedure. Absent coordination between two or more satellite systems, whenever the increase in system noise temperature of an earth station receiver, or a space station receiver for a satellite with on-board processing, of either system, ΔT/T, exceeds 6 percent due to interference from emissions originating in the other system in a commonly authorized frequency band, such frequency band will be divided among the affected satellite networks in accordance with the following procedure:
(1) Each of n (number of) satellite networks involved that were licensed or granted market access through the same processing round, except as provided in paragraph (e) of this section, must select 1/n of the assigned spectrum available in each of these frequency bands. The selection order for each satellite network will be determined by the date that the first space station in each satellite system is launched and capable of operating in the frequency band under consideration;
(2) The affected station(s) of the respective satellite systems may operate in only the selected (1/n) spectrum associated with its satellite system while the ΔT/T of 6 percent threshold is exceeded;
(3) All affected station(s) may resume operations throughout the assigned frequency bands once the threshold is no longer exceeded.
(d) [Reserved]
(e) Sunsetting. Ten years after the first authorization or grant of market access in a processing round, the systems approved in that processing round will no longer be required to protect earlier-rounds systems, and instead will be required to share spectrum with earlier-round systems under paragraph (c) of this section.
§ 25.262   Licensing and domestic coordination requirements for 17/24 GHz BSS space stations and FSS space stations transmitting in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band.
(a) A 17/24 GHz BSS or FSS applicant seeking to transmit in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band may be authorized to operate a space station at levels up to the maximum power flux density limits defined in paragraphs (a)(1) and (2) of this section without coordinating its power flux density levels with adjacent licensed or permitted operators, as follows:
(1) For 17/24 GHz BSS applicants, up to the power flux density levels specified in § 25.140(b)(3) only if there is no licensed space station, or prior-filed application for a space station transmitting in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band at a location less than four degrees from the orbital location at which the applicant proposes to operate; and
(2) For FSS space station applicants transmitting in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band, up to the maximum power flux density levels in § 25.140(a)(3)(iii), only if there is no licensed 17/24 GHz BSS space station, or prior-filed application for a 17/24 GHz BSS space station, at a location less than four degrees from the orbital location at which the FSS applicant proposes to operate, and there is no licensed FSS space station, or prior-filed application for an FSS space station transmitting in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band, at a location less than two degrees from the orbital location at which the applicant proposes to operate.
(b) Any U.S. licensee or permittee authorized to transmit in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band that does not comply with the applicable power flux-density limits set forth in § 25.140(a)(3)(iii) and/or (b)(3) shall bear the burden of coordinating with any future co-frequency licensees and permittees of a space station transmitting in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band as required in § 25.114(d)(15)(ii).
(c) If no good faith agreement can be reached, the operator of the FSS space station transmitting in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band that does not comply with § 25.140(a)(3)(iii) or the operator of the 17/24 GHz BSS space station that does not comply with § 25.140(b)(3), shall reduce its power flux-density levels to be compliant with those specified in § 25.140(a)(3)(iii) and/or (b)(3) as appropriate.
(d) Any U.S. licensee or permittee of a space station transmitting in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band that is required to provide information in its application pursuant to § 25.140(a)(2) or (b)(4) must accept any increased interference that may result from adjacent space stations transmitting in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band that are operating in compliance with the rules for such space stations specified in §§ 25.140(a) and (b), 25.202(a)(9) and (e) through (g), 25.210(i) through (j), 25.224, 25.262, 25.264(h), and 25.273(a)(3).
(e) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, licensees and permittees will be allowed to apply for a license or authorization for a replacement satellite that will be operated at the same power level and interference protection as the satellite to be replaced.
§ 25.263   Information sharing requirements for SDARS terrestrial repeater operators.
This section requires SDARS licensees in the 2320-2345 MHz band to share information regarding the location and operation of terrestrial repeaters with WCS licensees in the 2305-2320 MHz and 2345-2360 MHz bands. Section 27.72 of this chapter requires WCS licensees to share information regarding the location and operation of base stations in the 2305-2320 MHz and 2345-2360 MHz bands with SDARS licensees in the 2320-2345 MHz band.
(a) SDARS licensees must select terrestrial repeater sites and frequencies, to the extent practicable, to minimize the possibility of harmful interference to WCS base station operations in the 2305-2320 MHz and 2345-2360 MHz bands.
(b) Notice requirements. SDARS licensees that intend to operate a new terrestrial repeater must, before commencing such operation, provide 10 business days prior notice to all potentially affected Wireless Communications Service (WCS) licensees. SDARS licensees that intend to modify an existing repeater must, before commencing such modified operation, provide 5 business days prior notice to all potentially affected WCS licensees.
(1) For purposes of this section, a “potentially affected WCS licensee” is a WCS licensee that:
(i) Is authorized to operate a base station in the 2305-2315 MHz or 2350-2360 MHz bands in the same Major Economic Area (MEA) as that in which the terrestrial repeater is to be located;
(ii) Is authorized to operate base station in the 2315-2320 MHz or 2345-2350 MHz bands in the same Regional Economic Area Grouping (REAG) as that in which the terrestrial repeater is to be located;
(iii) In addition to the WCS licensees identified in paragraphs (b)(1)(i) and (ii) of this section, in cases in which the SDARS licensee plans to deploy or modify a terrestrial repeater within 5 kilometers of the boundary of an MEA or REAG in which the terrestrial repeater is to be located, a potentially affected WCS licensee is one that is authorized to operate a WCS base station in that neighboring MEA or REAG within 5 kilometers of the location of the terrestrial repeater.
(2) For the purposes of this section, a business day is defined by § 1.4(e)(2) of this chapter.
(3) For modifications other than changes in location, a licensee may provide notice within 24 hours after the modified operation if the modification does not result in a predicted increase of the power flux density (PFD) at ground level by more than 1 dB since the last advance notice was given. If a demonstration is made by the WCS licensee that such modifications may cause harmful interference to WCS receivers, SDARS licensees will be required to provide notice 5 business days in advance of additional repeater modifications.
(4) SDARS repeaters operating below 2 watts equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) are exempt from the notice requirements set forth in this paragraph.
(5) SDARS licensees are encouraged to develop separate coordination agreements with WCS licensees to facilitate efficient deployment of and coexistence between each service. To the extent the provisions of any such coordination agreement conflict with the requirements set forth herein, the procedures established under a coordination agreement will control. SDARS licensees must maintain a copy of any coordination agreement with a WCS license in their station files and disclose it to prospective assignees, transferees, or spectrum lessees and, upon request, to the Commission.
(6) SDARS and WCS licensees may enter into agreements regarding alternative notification procedures.
(c) Contents of notice. (1) Notification must be written ( e.g., certified letter, fax, or e-mail) and include the licensee's name, and the name, address, and telephone number of its coordination representative, unless the SDARS licensee and all potentially affected WCS licensees reach a mutual agreement to provide notification by some other means. WCS licensees and SDARS licensees may establish such a mutually agreeable alternative notification mechanism without prior Commission approval, provided that they comply with all other requirements of this section.
(2) Regardless of the notification method, notification must specify relevant technical details, including, at a minimum:
(i) The coordinates of the proposed repeater to an accuracy of no less than ±1 second latitude and longitude;
(ii) The proposed operating power(s), frequency band(s), and emission(s);
(iii) The antenna center height above ground and ground elevation above mean sea level, both to an accuracy of no less than ±1 meter;
(iv) The antenna gain pattern(s) in the azimuth and elevation planes that include the peak of the main beam; and
(v) The antenna downtilt angle(s).
(3) An SDARS licensee operating terrestrial repeaters must maintain an accurate and up-to-date inventory of its terrestrial repeaters operating above 2 watts average EIRP, including the information set forth in § 25.263(c)(2), which shall be available upon request by the Commission.
(d) Calculation of Notice Period. Notice periods are calculated from the date of receipt by the licensee being notified. If notification is by mail, the date of receipt is evidenced by the return receipt on certified mail. If notification is by fax, the date of receipt is evidenced by the notifying party's fax transmission confirmation log. If notification is by e-mail, the date of receipt is evidenced by a return e-mail receipt. If the SDARS licensee and all potentially affected WCS licensees reach a mutual agreement to provide notification by some other means, that agreement must specify the method for determining the beginning of the notice period.
(e) Duty to cooperate. SDARS licensees must cooperate in good faith in the selection and use of new repeater sites to reduce interference and make the most effective use of the authorized facilities. SDARS licensees should provide WCS licensees as much lead time as practicable to provide ample time to conduct analyses and opportunity for prudent repeater site selection prior to SDARS licensees entering into real estate and tower leasing or purchasing agreements. Licensees of stations suffering or causing harmful interference must cooperate in good faith and resolve such problems by mutually satisfactory arrangements. If the licensees are unable to do so, the Space Bureau, in consultation with the Office of Engineering and Technology and the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, will consider the actions taken by the parties to mitigate the risk of and remedy any alleged interference. In determining the appropriate action, the Bureau will take into account the nature and extent of the interference and act promptly to remedy the interference. The Bureau may impose restrictions on SDARS licensees, including specifying the transmitter power, antenna height, or other technical or operational measures to remedy the interference, and will take into account previous measures by the licensees to mitigate the risk of interference.
§ 25.264   Requirements to facilitate reverse-band operation in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band.
(a) Each applicant or licensee for a space station transmitting in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band must submit a series of tables or graphs containing predicted off-axis gain data for each antenna that will transmit in any portion of the 17.3-17.8 GHz band, in accordance with the following specifications. Using a Cartesian coordinate system wherein the X axis is tangent to the geostationary orbital arc with the positive direction pointing east, i.e., in the direction of travel of the satellite; the Y axis is parallel to a line passing through the geographic north and south poles of the Earth, with the positive direction pointing south; and the Z axis passes through the satellite and the center of the Earth, with the positive direction pointing toward the Earth, the applicant or licensee must provide the predicted transmitting antenna off-axis antenna gain information:
(1) In the X-Z plane, i.e. , the plane of the geostationary orbit, over a range of ±30 degrees from the positive and negative X axes in increments of 5 degrees or less.
(2) In planes rotated from the X-Z plane about the Z axis, over a range of ±60 degrees relative to the equatorial plane, in increments of 10 degrees or less.
(3) In both polarizations.
(4) At a minimum of one measurement frequency at the center of the portion of the 17.3-17.8 GHz frequency band over which the space station is designed to transmit. Applicants or licensees must provide additional measurement data at 5 MHz above the lower edge of the band and/or at 5 MHz below the upper edge of the band, upon request by the Commission staff.
(5) Over a greater angular measurement range, if necessary, to account for any planned spacecraft orientation bias or change in operating orientation relative to the reference coordinate system. The applicant or licensee must state the reasons for including such additional information.
(6) The predictive gain information must be submitted to the Commission for each license application that is filed for a space station transmitting in any portion of the 17.3-17.8 GHz band no later than two years after license grant for the space station.
(b) A space station applicant or licensee transmitting in any portion of the 17.3-17.8 GHz band must submit power flux density (pfd) calculations based on the predicted gain data submitted in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section, as follows:
(1) The pfd calculations must be provided at the location of all prior-filed U.S. DBS space stations where the applicant's pfd level exceeds the coordination trigger of −117 dBW/m 2 /100 kHz in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band. In this rule, the term prior-filed U.S. DBS space station refers to any co-frequency Direct Broadcast Satellite service space station for which an application was filed with the Commission, or an authorization was granted by the Commission, prior to the filing of the information and certifications required by paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section. The term prior-filed U.S. DBS space station does not include any applications (or authorizations) that have been denied, dismissed, or are otherwise no longer valid. Prior-filed U.S. DBS space stations may include foreign-licensed DBS space stations seeking authority to serve the United States market, but do not include foreign-licensed DBS space stations that have not filed applications with the Commission for market access in the United States.
(2) The calculations must take into account the aggregate pfd levels at the DBS receiver at each measurement frequency arising from all antenna beams on the space station transmitting in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band. They must also take into account the maximum permitted longitudinal station-keeping tolerance, orbital inclination and orbital eccentricity of both the space station transmitting in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band and DBS space stations, and must:
(i) Identify each prior-filed U.S. DBS space station at whose location the coordination threshold pfd level of −117 dBW/m 2 /100 kHz is exceeded; and
(ii) Indicate the extent to which the calculated pfd of the space station's transmissions in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band exceed the threshold pfd level of −117 dBW/m 2 /100 kHz at those prior-filed U.S. DBS space station locations.
(3) If the calculated pfd exceeds the threshold level of −117 dBW/m 2 /100 kHz at the location of any prior-filed U.S. DBS space station, the applicant or licensee must also provide with the pfd calculations a certification that all affected DBS operators acknowledge and do not object to such higher off-axis pfd levels. No such certification is required in cases where the frequencies assigned to the DBS and to the space station transmitting in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band do not overlap.
(4) The information and any certification required by paragraph (b) of this section must be submitted to the Commission for each license application that is filed for a space station transmitting in any portion of the 17.3-17.8 GHz band no later than two years after license grant for the space station.
(c) No later than two months prior to launch, each licensee of a space station transmitting in any portion of the 17.3-17.8 GHz band must update the predicted transmitting antenna off-axis gain information provided in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section by submitting measured transmitting antenna off-axis gain information over the angular ranges, measurement frequencies and polarizations specified in paragraphs (a)(1) through (5) of this section. The transmitting antenna off-axis gain information should be measured under conditions as close to flight configuration as possible. As an alternative, licensees authorized to operate at locations one degree or greater from a prior-filed DBS space station may submit simulated transmitting antenna off-axis gain data in lieu of measured data, over the same angular ranges, frequencies and polarizations.
(d) No later than two months prior to launch, or when applying for authority to change the location of a space station transmitting in any portion of the 17.3-17.8 GHz band that is already in orbit, each such space station licensee must provide pfd calculations based on the measured off-axis gain data submitted in accordance with paragraph (c) of this section, as follows:
(1) The pfd calculations must be provided:
(i) At the location of all prior-filed U.S. DBS space stations as defined in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, where the applicant's pfd level in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band exceeds the coordination trigger of −117 dBW/m 2 /100 kHz; and
(ii) At the location of any subsequently filed U.S. DBS space station where the pfd level in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band calculated on the basis of measured gain data exceeds −117 dBW/m 2 /100 kHz. In this paragraph (d)(1)(ii), the term “subsequently filed U.S. DBS space station” refers to any co-frequency Direct Broadcast Satellite service space station proposed in a license application filed with the Commission after the operator of a space station transmitting in any portion of the 17.3-17.8 GHz band submitted the predicted data required by paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section but before submission of the measured data required by this paragraph. Subsequently filed U.S. DBS space stations may include foreign-licensed DBS space stations seeking authority to serve the United States market. The term does not include any applications (or authorizations) that have been denied, dismissed, or are otherwise no longer valid, nor does it include foreign-licensed DBS space stations that have not filed applications with the Commission for market access in the United States.
(2) The pfd calculations must take into account the maximum permitted longitudinal station-keeping tolerance, orbital inclination and orbital eccentricity of both the transmitting 17.3-17.8 GHz and DBS space stations, and must:
(i) Identify each prior-filed U.S. DBS space station at whose location the coordination threshold pfd level of −117 dBW/m 2 /100 kHz is exceeded; and
(ii) Demonstrate the extent to which the applicant's or licensee's transmissions in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band exceed the threshold pfd level of −117 dBW/m 2 /100 kHz at those prior-filed U.S. DBS space station locations.
(e) If the aggregate pfd level calculated from the measured data submitted in accordance with paragraph (d) of this section is in excess of the threshold pfd level of −117 dBW/m 2 /100 kHz:
(1) At the location of any prior-filed U.S. DBS space station as defined in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, then the operator of the space station transmitting in any portion of the 17.3-17.8 GHz band must either:
(i) Coordinate its operations that are in excess of the threshold pfd level of −117 dBW/m 2 /100 kHz with the affected prior-filed U.S. DBS space station operator, or
(ii) Adjust its operating parameters so that at the location of the prior-filed U.S. DBS space station, the pfd level of −117 dBW/m 2 /100 kHz is not exceeded.
(2) At the location of any subsequently filed U.S. DBS space station as defined in paragraph (d)(1) of this section, where the aggregate pfd level submitted in accordance with paragraph (d) of this section is also in excess of the pfd level calculated on the basis of the predicted data submitted in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section that were on file with the Commission at the time the DBS space station application was filed, then the operator of the space station transmitting in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band must either:
(i) Coordinate with the affected subsequently-filed U.S. DBS space station operator all of its operations that are either in excess of the pfd level calculated on the basis of the predicted antenna off-axis gain data, or are in excess of the threshold pfd level of −117 dBW/m 2 /100 kHz, whichever is greater, or
(ii) Adjust its operating parameters so that at the location of the subsequently-filed U.S. DBS space station, either the pfd level calculated on the basis of the predicted off-axis transmitting antenna gain data, or the threshold pfd level of −117 dBW/m 2 /100 kHz, whichever is greater, is not exceeded.
(3) No coordination or adjustment of operating parameters is required in cases where there is no overlap in frequencies assigned to the DBS and the space station transmitting in the 17.3-17.8 GH band.
(f) The applicant or licensee for the space station transmitting in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band must modify its license, or amend its application, as appropriate, based upon new information:
(1) If the pfd levels submitted in accordance with paragraph (d) of this section, are in excess of those submitted in accordance with paragraph (b) of this section at the location of any prior-filed or subsequently-filed U.S. DBS space station as defined in paragraphs (b)(1) and (d)(1)of this section, or
(2) If the operator of the space station transmitting in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band adjusts its operating parameters in accordance with paragraph (e)(1)(ii) or (e)(2)(ii) or this section.
(g) Absent an explicit agreement between operators to permit more closely spaced operations, U.S. authorized 17/24 GHz BSS or FSS space stations transmitting in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band and U.S. authorized DBS space stations with co-frequency assignments may not be licensed to operate at locations separated by less than 0.2 degrees in orbital longitude.
(h) All operational space stations transmitting in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band must be maintained in geostationary orbits that:
(1) Do not exceed 0.075° of inclination.
(2) Operate with an apogee less than or equal to 35,806 km above the surface of the Earth, and with a perigee greater than or equal to 35,766 km above the surface of the Earth ( i.e. , an eccentricity of less than 4.7 × 10 −4 ).
(i) U.S. authorized DBS networks may claim protection from space path interference arising from the reverse-band operations of U.S. authorized space stations transmitting in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band to the extent that the DBS space station operates within the bounds of inclination and eccentricity listed in paragraphs (i)(1) and (2) of this section. When the geostationary orbit of the DBS space station exceeds these bounds on inclination and eccentricity, it may not claim protection from any additional space path interference arising as a result of its inclined or eccentric operations and may only claim protection as if it were operating within the bounds listed in paragraphs (i)(1) and (2) of this section:
(1) The DBS space station's orbit does not exceed 0.075° of inclination, and
(2) The DBS space station's orbit maintains an apogee less than or equal to 35,806 km above the surface of the Earth, and a perigee greater than or equal to 35,766 km above the surface of the Earth ( i.e., an eccentricity of less than 4.7 × 10 −4 ).
§ 25.265   Acceptance of interference in 2000-2020 MHz.
(a) MSS receivers operating in the 2000-2020 MHz band must accept interference from lawful operations in the 1995-2000 MHz band, where such interference is due to:
(1) The in-band power of any operations in 1995-2000 MHz ( i.e., the portion of transmit power contained in the 1995-2000 MHz band); or
(2) The portion of out-of-band emissions contained in 2000-2005 MHz.
(b) [Reserved]
§ 25.271   Control of transmitting stations.
(a) The licensee of a facility licensed under this part is responsible for the proper operation and maintenance of the station.
(b) The licensee of a transmitting earth station licensed under this part shall ensure that a trained operator is present on the earth station site, or at a designated remote control point for the earth station, at all times that transmissions are being conducted. No operator's license is required for a person to operate or perform maintenance on facilities authorized under this part.
(c) Authority will be granted to operate a transmitting earth station by remote control only on the conditions that:
(1) The parameters of the transmissions of the remote station monitored at the control point, and the operational functions of the remote earth stations that can be controlled by the operator at the control point, are sufficient to ensure that the operations of the remote station(s) are at all times in full compliance with the remote station authorization(s);
(2) The earth station facilities are protected by appropriate security measures to prevent unauthorized entry or operations;
(3) Upon detection by the licensee, or upon notification from the Commission of a deviation or upon notification by another licensee of harmful interference, the operation of the remote station shall be immediately suspended by the operator at the control point until the deviation or interference is corrected, except that transmissions concerning the immediate safety of life or property may be conducted for the duration of the emergency; and
(4) The licensee shall have available at all times the technical personnel necessary to perform expeditiously the technical servicing and maintenance of the remote stations.
(5) Operators of blanket-licensed GSO FSS earth station networks that provide international service must maintain a control point within the United States, or maintain a point of contact within the United States available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with the ability to shut off any earth station within the network immediately upon notification of harmful interference.
(d) The licensee shall ensure that the licensed facilities are properly secured against unauthorized access or use whenever an operator is not present at the transmitter. For space station operations, this includes securing satellite commands against unauthorized access and use.
(e) [Reserved]
(f) The licensee of any transmitting earth station licensed under this part must update the contact information provided in the most recent license application for the station within 10 days of any change therein. The updated information must be filed electronically in the “Other Filings” tab of the station's current authorization file in the International Communications Filing System.
(g) All applicants shall ensure compliance with the Commission's radio frequency exposure requirements in §§ 1.1307(b), 2.1091, and 2.1093 of this chapter, as appropriate. Applicants with terminals that will exceed the guidelines in § 1.1310 of this chapter for radio frequency radiation exposure shall provide a plan for mitigation of radiation exposure to the extent required to meet those guidelines. Licensees of transmitting earth stations are prohibited from using remote earth stations in their networks that are not designed to stop transmission when synchronization to signals from the target satellite fails.
§ 25.272   General inter-system coordination procedures.
(a) Each space station licensee in the Fixed-Satellite Service shall establish a satellite network control center which will have the responsibility to do the following:
(1) Monitor space-to-Earth transmissions in its system (thus indirectly monitoring uplink earth station transmissions in its system) and
(2) Coordinate transmissions in its satellite system with those of other systems to prevent harmful interference incidents or, in the event of a harmful interference incident, to identify the source of the interference and correct the problem promptly.
(b) [Reserved]
(c) The transmitting earth station licensee shall provide the operator(s) of the satellites, on which the licensee is authorized to transmit, contact telephone numbers for the control center of the earth station and emergency telephone numbers for key personnel; a current file of these contacts shall be maintained at each satellite system control center.
(d) An earth station licensee shall ensure that each of its authorized earth stations complies with the following:
(1) The earth station licensee shall ensure that there is continuously available means of communications between the satellite network control center and the earth station operator or its remote control point as designated by the licensee.
(2) The earth station operator shall notify the satellite network control center and receive permission from the control center before transmitting to the satellite or changing the basic characteristics of a transmission.
(3) The earth station operator shall keep the space station licensee informed of all actual and planned usage.
(4) Upon approval of the satellite network control center, the earth station operator may radiate an RF carrier into the designated transponder. Should improper illumination of the transponder or undue adjacent transponder interference be observed by the satellite network control center, the earth station operator shall immediately take whatever measures are needed to eliminate the problem.
(5) The space station licensee may delegate the responsibility and duties of the satellite network control center to a technically qualified user or group of users, but the space station licensee shall remain ultimately responsible for the performance of those duties.
§ 25.273   Duties regarding space communications transmissions.
(a) No person shall:
(1) Transmit to a satellite unless the specific transmission is first authorized by the satellite network control center;
(2) Conduct transmissions over a transponder unless the operator is authorized to transmit at that time by the satellite licensee or the satellite licensee's successor in interest; or
(3) Transmit in any manner that causes unacceptable interference to the authorized transmission of another licensee.
(b) Satellite operators shall provide upon request by the Commission and by earth station licensees authorized to transmit on their satellites relevant information needed to avoid unacceptable interference to other users, including the polarization angles for proper illumination of a given transponder.
(c) Space station licensees are responsible for maintaining complete and accurate technical details of current and planned transmissions over their satellites, and shall require that authorized users of transponders on their satellites, whether by tariff or contract, provide any necessary technical information in this regard including that required by § 25.272. Based on this information, space station licensees shall exchange among themselves general technical information concerning current and planned transmission parameters as needed to identify and promptly resolve any potential cases of unacceptable interference between their satellite systems.
(d) Space stations authorized after May 10, 1993 which do not satisfy the requirements of § 25.210 may be required to accept greater constraints in resolving interference problems than complying ones. The extent of these constraints shall be determined on a case-by-case basis.
§ 25.274   Procedures to be followed in the event of harmful interference.
(a) The earth station operator whose transmission is suffering harmful interference shall first check the earth station equipment to ensure that the equipment is functioning properly.
(b) The earth station operator shall then check all other earth stations in the licensee's network that could be causing the harmful interference to ensure that none of them is the source of the interference and to verify that the interference is not from a local terrestrial source.
(c) After the earth station operator has determined that the source of the interference is not another earth station operating in the same network or from a terrestrial source, the earth station operator shall contact the satellite system control center and advise the satellite operator of the problem. The control center operator shall observe the interference incident and make reasonable efforts to determine the source of the problem. A record shall be maintained by the control center operator and the earth station operator of all harmful interference incidents and their resolution. These records shall be made available to an FCC representative on request.
(d) Where the suspected source of the interference incident is the operation of an earth station licensed to operate on one or more of the satellites in the satellite operator's system, the control center operator shall advise the offending earth station of the harmful interference incident and assist in the resolution of the problem where reasonably possible.
(e) The earth station licensee whose operations are suspected of causing harmful interference to the operations of another earth station shall take reasonable measures to determine whether its operations are the source of the harmful interference problem. Where the operations of the suspect earth station are the source of the interference, the licensee of that earth station shall take all measures necessary to resolve the interference.
(f) Where the earth station suspected of causing harmful interference to the operations of another earth station cannot be identified or is identified as an earth station operating on a satellite system other than the one on which the earth station suffering harmful interference is operating, it is the responsibility of a representative of the earth station suffering harmful interference to contact the control center of other satellite systems. The operator of the earth station suffering harmful interference is free to choose any representative to make this contact, including but not limited to the operator of the satellite system on which the earth station is operating. The operator of the earth station suffering harmful interference is also free to contact the control center of the other satellite systems directly.
(g) At any point, the system control center operator may contact the Commission's Columbia Operations Center in Columbia, Maryland, to assist in resolving the matter. This office specializes in the resolution of satellite interference problems. All licensees are required to cooperate fully with the Commission in any investigation of interference problems.
§ 25.275   Particulars of operation.
(a) Radio station authorizations issued under this part will normally specify only the frequency bands authorized for transmission and/or reception of the station.
(b) When authorized frequency bands are specified in the station authorization, the licensee is authorized to transmit any number of r.f. carriers on any discrete frequencies within an authorized frequency band in accordance with the other terms and conditions of the authorization and the requirements of this part. Specific r.f. carrier frequencies within the authorized frequency band shall be selected by the licensee to avoid unacceptable levels of interference being caused to other earth, space or terrestrial stations. Any coordination agreements, both domestic and international, concerning specific frequency usage constraints, including non-use of any particular frequencies within the frequency bands listed in the station authorization, are considered to be conditions of the station authorization.
(c) A license for a transmitting earth station will normally specify only the r.f. carriers having the highest e.i.r.p. density, the narrowest bandwidth, and the largest bandwidth authorized for transmission from that station. Unless otherwise specified in the station authorization, the licensee is authorized to transmit any other type of carrier not specifically listed which does not exceed the highest e.i.r.p., e.i.r.p. density and bandwidth prescribed for any listed emission.
(d) Only the most sensitive emission(s) for which protection is being afforded from interference in the authorized receive frequency band(s) will be specified in the station authorization.
(e) Transmission from an earth station of an unmodulated carrier at a power level sufficient to saturate a satellite transponder is prohibited, except as consented to by the space station licensee to determine transponder performance characteristics.
§ 25.276   Points of communication.
Unless otherwise specified in the station authorization, an earth station may transmit to any space station in the same radio service that is listed as a point of communication in the earth station license, provided that permission has been received from the space station operator to access that space station.
§ 25.277   Temporary fixed earth station operations.
(a) When an earth station in the Fixed-Satellite Service is to remain at a single location for fewer than 6 months, the location may be considered to be temporary fixed. Services provided at a single location which are initially known to be of longer than six months' duration shall not be provided under a temporary fixed authorization.
(b) When a station, other than an ESV, authorized as a temporary fixed earth station, is to remain at a single location for more than six months, application for a regular station authorization at that location shall be filed at least 30 days prior to the expiration of the six-month period.
(c) The licensee of an earth station, other than an ESV, which is authorized to conduct temporary fixed operations in bands shared co-equally with terrestrial fixed stations shall provide the following information to the Director of the Columbia Operations Center at 9200 Farmhouse Lane, Columbia, Maryland 21046, and to the licensees of all terrestrial facilities lying within the coordination contour of the proposed temporary fixed earth station site before beginning transmissions:
(1) The name of the person operating the station and the telephone number at which the operator can be reached directly;
(2) The exact frequency or frequencies used and the type of emissions and power levels to be transmitted; and
(3) The commencement and anticipated termination dates of operation from each location.
(d) Except as set forth in § 25.151(e), transmissions may not be commenced until all affected terrestrial licensees have been notified and the earth station operator has confirmed that unacceptable interference will not be caused to such terrestrial stations.
(e) Operations of temporary fixed earth stations shall cease immediately upon notice of harmful interference from the Commission or the affected licensee.
(f) Filing requirements concerning applications for new temporary fixed earth station facilities operating in frequency bands shared co-equally with terrestrial fixed stations.
(1) When the initial location of the temporary fixed earth station's operation is known, the applicant shall provide, as part of the Form 312 application, a frequency coordination report in accordance with § 25.203 for the initial station location.
(2) When the initial location of the temporary fixed earth station's operation is not known at the time the application is filed, the applicant shall provide, as part of the Form 312 application, a statement by the applicant acknowledging its coordination responsibilities under § 25.277.
§ 25.278   Additional coordination obligation for non-geostationary and geostationary satellite systems in frequencies allocated to the fixed-satellite service.
Licensees of non-geostationary satellite systems that use frequency bands allocated to the Fixed-Satellite Service for their feeder link operations shall coordinate their operations with licensees of geostationary Fixed-Satellite Service systems licensed by the Commission for operation in the same frequency bands. Licensees of geostationary Fixed-Satellite Service systems in the frequency bands that are licensed to non-geostationary satellite systems for feeder link operations shall coordinate their operations with the licensees of such non-geostationary satellite systems.
§ 25.279   Inter-satellite service.
(a) Any satellite communicating with other space stations may use frequencies in the inter-satellite service as indicated in § 2.106 of this chapter. This does not preclude the use of other frequencies for such purposes as provided for in several service definitions, e.g. , FSS. The technical details of the proposed inter-satellite link shall be provided in accordance with § 25.114(c).
(b) Operating conditions. In order to ensure compatible operations with authorized users in the frequency bands to be utilized for operations in the inter-satellite service, these inter-satellite service systems must operate in accordance with the conditions specified in this section.
(1) Coordination requirements with federal government users. (i) In frequency bands allocated for use by the inter-satellite service that are also authorized for use by agencies of the federal government, the federal use of frequencies in the inter-satellite service frequency bands is under the regulatory jurisdiction of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
(ii) The Commission will use its existing procedures to reach agreement with NTIA to achieve compatible operations between federal government users under the jurisdiction of NTIA and inter-satellite service systems through frequency assignment and coordination practice established by NTIA and the Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee (IRAC). In order to facilitate such frequency assignment and coordination, applicants shall provide the Commission with sufficient information to evaluate electromagnetic compatibility with the federal government users of the spectrum, and any additional information requested by the Commission. As part of the coordination process, applicants shall show that they will not cause interference to authorized federal government users, based upon existing system information provided by the government. The frequency assignment and coordination of the satellite system shall be completed prior to grant of construction authorization.
(2) Coordination among inter-satellite service systems. Applicants for authority to establish inter-satellite service are encouraged to coordinate their proposed frequency usage with existing permittees and licensees in the inter-satellite service whose facilities could be affected by the new proposal in terms of frequency interference or restricted system capacity. All affected applicants, permittees, and licensees, shall at the direction of the Commission, cooperate fully and make every reasonable effort to resolve technical problems and conflicts that may inhibit effective and efficient use of the radio spectrum; however, the permittee or licensee being coordinated with is not obligated to suggest changes or re-engineer an applicant's proposal in cases involving conflicts.
§ 25.280   Inclined orbit operations.
(a) Satellite operators may commence operation in inclined orbit mode without obtaining prior Commission authorization provided that the Commission is notified by letter within 30 days after the last north-south station keeping maneuver. The notification shall include:
(1) The operator's name;
(2) The date of commencement of inclined orbit operation;
(3) The initial inclination;
(4) The rate of change in inclination per year; and
(5) The expected end-of-life of the satellite accounting for inclined orbit operation, and the maneuvers specified under § 25.283 of the Commission's rules.
(b) Licensees operating in inclined-orbit are required to:
(1) Periodically correct the satellite attitude to achieve a stationary spacecraft antenna pattern on the surface of the Earth and centered on the satellite's designated service area;
(2) Control all electrical interference to adjacent satellites, as a result of operating in an inclined orbit, to levels not to exceed that which would be caused by the satellite operating without an inclined orbit;
(3) Not claim protection in excess of the protection that would be received by the satellite network operating without an inclined orbit; and
(4) Continue to maintain the space station at the authorized longitude orbital location in the geostationary satellite arc with the appropriate east-west station-keeping tolerance.
§ 25.281   Transmitter identification requirements for video uplink transmissions.
(a) Earth-to-space transmissions carrying video information with analog modulation must be identified through use of an Automatic Transmitter Identification System (ATIS) with an analog identifier or a direct sequence spread spectrum signal.
(1) Use of an analog identifier must be in accordance with the following requirements:
(i) The ATIS signal must be a separate subcarrier that is automatically activated whenever any radio frequency signal is transmitted.
(ii) The ATIS message must continuously repeat.
(iii) The ATIS subcarrier signal must be generated at a frequency of 7.1 MHz ±25 kHz and modulate the uplink radio frequency carrier at a level no less than −26 dB (referenced to the unmodulated carrier).
(iv) ATIS subcarrier deviation must not exceed 25 kHz.
(v) The ATIS message protocol must be International Morse Code keyed by a 1200 Hz ±800 Hz tone representing a mark and a message rate of 15 to 25 words per minute. The tone must frequency-modulate the subcarrier signal with the ATIS message.
(vi) The ATIS message must include the FCC-assigned call sign of the transmitting earth station, a telephone number providing immediate access to personnel capable of resolving interference or coordination problems, and a unique serial number of ten or more digits programmed into the ATIS message in a permanent manner so that it cannot be readily changed by the operator on duty. Additional information may be included in the ATIS data stream provided the total ATIS message length does not exceed 30 seconds.
(2) Use of a direct sequence spread spectrum ATIS signal must be in accordance with the requirements in paragraphs (b)(1) and (2) of this section.
(b) As of September 3, 2017, transmissions of fixed-frequency, digitally modulated video signals with a symbol rate of 128,000/s or more from a temporary-fixed earth station must be identified through use of an ATIS in accordance with the requirements that follow.
(1) The ATIS message must be modulated onto a direct sequence spread spectrum signal in accordance with the DVB-CID standard, ETSI TS 103 129 V1.1.2 (2014-03) (incorporated by reference, see § 25.108).
(2) The ATIS message must continuously repeat.
Paragraph (b) is waived for earth stations using modulators manufactured before August 1, 2017, that cannot be made compliant with the DVB-CID standard by a software upgrade.
(c) ATIS equipment must be integrated into the uplink transmitter chain with a method that cannot easily be defeated.
§ 25.282   Orbit raising maneuvers.
A space station authorized to operate in the geostationary satellite orbit under this part is also authorized to transmit in connection with short-term, transitory maneuvers directly related to post-launch, orbit-raising maneuvers, provided that the following conditions are met:
(a) Authority is limited to those tracking, telemetry, and control frequencies in which the space station is authorized to operate once it reaches its assigned geostationary orbital location;
(b) The space station operator will coordinate on an operator-to-operator basis with any potentially affected satellite networks.
(c) The space station licensee is required to accept interference from any lawfully operating satellite network or radio communication system.
§ 25.283   End-of-life disposal.
(a) Geostationary orbit space stations. Unless otherwise explicitly specified in an authorization, a space station authorized to operate in the geostationary satellite orbit under this part shall be relocated, at the end of its useful life, barring catastrophic failure of satellite components, to an orbit with a perigee with an altitude of no less than:
(b) Geostationary orbit space station end of life operations. A space station authorized to operate in the geostationary satellite orbit under this part may operate using its authorized tracking, telemetry and control frequencies, and outside of its assigned orbital location, for the purpose of removing the satellite from the geostationary satellite orbit at the end of its useful life, provided that the conditions of paragraph (a) of this section are met, and on the condition that the space station's tracking, telemetry and control transmissions are planned so as to avoid electrical interference to other space stations, and coordinated with any potentially affected satellite networks.
(c) All space stations. Upon completion of any relocation authorized by paragraph (b) of this section, or any relocation at end-of-life specified in an authorization, or upon a spacecraft otherwise completing its authorized mission, a space station licensee shall ensure, unless prevented by technical failures beyond its control, that stored energy sources on board the satellite are discharged, by venting excess propellant, discharging batteries, relieving pressure vessels, or other appropriate measures.
(d) Applicability of minimum perigee for geostationary orbit space stations. The minimum perigee requirement of paragraph (a) of this section shall not apply to space stations launched prior to March 18, 2002.
(e) Low-Earth orbit space stations. For space stations ending their mission in or passing through the low-Earth orbit region below 2000 km altitude and planning disposal through uncontrolled atmospheric re-entry, disposal must be completed as soon as practicable following end of mission, and no later than five years after the end of the mission. For purposes of this paragraph (e), end of mission is defined as the time at which the individual spacecraft is no longer capable of conducting collision avoidance maneuvers. For spacecraft without collision avoidance capabilities, end of mission is defined as the point in which the individual spacecraft has completed its primary mission.
§ 25.284   [Reserved]
§ 25.285   Operation of MSS and ATC transmitters or transceivers on board civil aircraft.
(a) Operation of any of the following devices aboard civil aircraft is prohibited, unless the device is installed in a manner approved by the Federal Aviation Administration or is used by the pilot or with the pilot's consent:
(1) Earth stations capable of transmitting in the 1.5/1.6 GHz, 1.6/2.4 GHz, or 2 GHz Mobile-Satellite Service frequency bands;
(2) ATC terminals capable of transmitting in the 1.5/1.6 GHz or 1.6/2.4 GHz MSS bands;
(3) Earth stations used for non-voice, non-geostationary Mobile-Satellite Service communication that can emit radiation in the 108-137 MHz band.
(b) No portable device of any type identified in paragraph (a) of this section (including transmitter or transceiver units installed in other devices that are themselves portable) may be sold or distributed to users unless it conspicuously bears the following warning: “This device must be turned off at all times while on board aircraft.” For purposes of this section, a device is portable if it is a “portable device” as defined in § 2.1093(b) of this chapter or is designed to be carried by hand.
§ 25.286   Antenna painting and lighting.
The owner of an earth station antenna structure must comply with all applicable painting, marking, and/or lighting requirements in part 17 of this chapter. In the event of default by the owner, the station licensee will be responsible for ensuring that such requirements are met.
§ 25.287   Requirements pertaining to operation of mobile stations in the NVNG, 1.5/1.6 GHz, 1.6/2.4 GHz, and 2 GHz Mobile-Satellite Service bands.
(a) Any mobile earth station (MES) operating in the 1530-1544 MHz and 1626.5-1645.5 MHz bands must have the following minimum set of capabilities to ensure compliance with Footnote 5.353A in 47 CFR 2.106 and the priority and real-time preemption requirements imposed by Footnote US315.
(1) All MES transmissions must have a priority assigned to them that preserves the priority and preemptive access given to maritime distress and safety communications sharing the band.
(2) Each MES with a requirement to handle maritime distress and safety data communications must be capable of either:
(i) Recognizing message and call priority identification when transmitted from its associated Land Earth Station (LES), or
(ii) Accepting message and call priority identification embedded in the message or call when transmitted from its associated LES and passing the identification to shipboard data message processing equipment.
(3) Each MES must be assigned a unique terminal identification number that will be transmitted upon any attempt to gain access to a system.
(4) After an MES has gained access to a system, the mobile terminal must be under control of an LES and must obtain all channel assignments from it.
(5) All MESs that do not continuously monitor a separate signaling channel or signaling within the communications channel must monitor the signaling channel at the end of each transmission.
(6) Each MES must automatically inhibit its transmissions if it is not correctly receiving separate signaling channel or signaling within the communications channel from its associated LES.
(7) Each MES must automatically inhibit its transmissions on any or all channels upon receiving a channel-shut-off command on a signaling or communications channel it is receiving from its associated LES.
(8) Each MES with a requirement to handle maritime distress and safety communications must have the capability within the station to automatically preempt lower precedence traffic.
(b) Any LES for an MSS system operating in the 1530-1544 MHz and 1626.5-1645.5 MHz bands must have the following minimum set of capabilities to ensure compliance with Footnotes 5.353A and the priority and real-time preemption requirements imposed by Footnote US315. An LES fulfilling these requirements must not have any additional priority with respect to FSS stations operating with other systems.
(1) LES transmissions to MESs must have a priority assigned to them that preserves the priority and preemptive access given to maritime distress and safety communications pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section.
(2) The LES must recognize the priority of calls to and from MESs and make channel assignments taking into account the priority access that is given to maritime distress and safety communications.
(3) The LES must be capable of receiving the MES identification number when transmitted and verifying that it is an authorized user of the system to prohibit unauthorized access.
(4) The LES must be capable of transmitting channel assignment commands to the MESs.
(5) The communications channels used between the LES and the MES shall have provision for signaling within the voice/data channel, for an MES that does not continuously monitor the LES signaling channel during a call.
(6) The LES must transmit periodic control signals to MESs that do not continuously monitor the LES signaling channel.
(7) The LES must automatically inhibit transmissions to an MES to which it is not transmitting in a signaling channel or signaling within the communications channel.
(8) The LES must be capable of transmitting channel-shut-off commands to MESs on signaling or communications channels.
(9) Each LES must be capable of interrupting, and if necessary, preempting ongoing routine traffic from an MES in order to complete a maritime distress, urgency or safety call to that MES.
(10) Each LES must be capable of automatically turning off one or more of its associated channels in order to complete a maritime distress, urgency or safety call.
(c) No person without an FCC license for such operation may transmit to a space station in the NVNG, 1.5/1.6 GHz, 1.6/2.4 GHz, or 2 GHz Mobile-Satellite Service from anywhere in the United States except to receive service from the holder of a pertinent FCC blanket license or from another party with the permission of such a blanket licensee.
§ 25.288   Obligation to remedy interference caused by NGSO MSS feeder downlinks in the 6700-6875 MHz band.
If an NGSO MSS satellite transmitting in the 6700-6875 MHz band causes harmful interference to previously licensed co-frequency Public Safety facilities, the satellite operator has an obligation to remedy the interference.
§ 25.289   Protection of GSO networks by NGSO systems.
Unless otherwise provided in this chapter, an NGSO system licensee must not cause unacceptable interference to, or claim protection from, a GSO FSS or GSO BSS network. An NGSO FSS licensee operating in compliance with the applicable equivalent power flux-density limits in Article 22, Section II of the ITU Radio Regulations (incorporated by reference, § 25.108) will be considered as having fulfilled this obligation with respect to any GSO network.
§ 25.290   Responsibility of licensee for blanket-licensed earth station operation.
The holder of an FCC blanket earth station license is responsible for operation of any earth station under that license. Operators of satellite networks and systems must not transmit communications to or from such earth stations in the United States unless such communications are authorized under a service contract with the holder of a pertinent FCC blanket earth station license or under a service contract with another party with authority for such operation delegated by such a blanket licensee.
§ 25.301   Satellite Emergency Notification Devices (SENDs).
No device described by the marketer or seller using the terms “SEND” or “Satellite Emergency Notification Device” may be marketed or sold in the United States unless it complies with the requirements of RTCM 12800.0 (incorporated by reference, see § 25.108).
§ 25.401   Satellite DARS applications subject to competitive bidding.
Mutually exclusive initial applications for DARS service licenses are subject to competitive bidding. The general competitive bidding procedures set forth in part 1, subpart Q of this chapter will apply unless otherwise provided in this part.
§ 25.402   [Reserved]
§ 25.403   Bidding application and certification procedures.
Submission of Supplemental Application Information. In order to be eligible to bid, each pending applicant must timely submit certain supplemental information. All supplemental information shall be filed by the applicant five days after publication of these rules in the Federal Register. The supplemental information must be certified and include the following:
(a) Applicant's name;
(b) Mailing Address (no Post Office boxes);
(c) City;
(d) State;
(e) ZIP Code;
(f) Auction Number 15;
(g) FCC Account Number;
(h) Person(s) authorized to make or withdraw a bid (list up to three individuals);
(i) Certifications and name and title of person certifying the information provided;
(j) Applicant's contact person and such person's telephone number, E-mail address and FAX number; and
(k) Signature and date.
§ 25.404   Submission of down payment and filing of long-form applications.
A high bidder that meets its down payment obligations in a timely manner must, within thirty (30) business days after being notified that it is a high bidder, submit an amendment to its pending application to provide the information required by § 25.144.
§§ 25.405-25.406   [Reserved]
§ 25.601   Equal employment opportunities.
Notwithstanding other EEO provisions within these rules, an entity that uses an owned or leased Fixed-Satellite Service or Direct Broadcast Satellite Service or 17/24 GHz Broadcasting-Satellite Service facility (operating under this part) to provide video programming directly to the public on a subscription basis must comply with the equal employment opportunity requirements set forth in part 76, subpart E, of this chapter, if such entity exercises control (as defined in part 76, subpart E, of this chapter) over the video programming it distributes. Notwithstanding other EEO provisions within these rules, a licensee or permittee of a direct broadcast satellite station operating as a broadcaster, and a licensee or permittee in the satellite DARS service, must comply with the equal employment opportunity requirements set forth in 47 CFR part 73.
§ 25.701   Other DBS Public interest obligations.
(a) DBS providers are subject to the public interest obligations set forth in paragraphs (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) of this section. As used in this section, DBS providers are any of the following:
(1) Entities licensed to operate satellites in the 12.2 to 12.7 GHz DBS frequency bands; or
(2) Entities licensed to operate satellites in the Ku band Fixed-Satellite Service and that sell or lease capacity to a video programming distributor that offers service directly to consumers providing a sufficient number of channels so that four percent of the total applicable programming channels yields a set aside of at least one channel of non commercial programming pursuant to paragraph (e) of this section, or
(3) Non U.S. licensed satellite operators in the Ku band that offer video programming directly to consumers in the United States pursuant to an earth station license issued under part 25 of this title and that offer a sufficient number of channels to consumers so that four percent of the total applicable programming channels yields a set aside of one channel of noncommercial programming pursuant to paragraph (e) of this section, or
(4) Entities licensed to operate satellites in the 17/24 GHz BSS that offer video programming directly to consumers or that sell or lease capacity to a video programming distributor that offers service directly to consumers providing a sufficient number of channels so that four percent of the total applicable programming channels yields a set aside of at least one channel of noncommercial programming pursuant to paragraph (e) of this section, or
(5) Non U.S. licensed satellite operators in the 17/24 GHz BSS that offer video programming directly to consumers in the United States or that sell or lease capacity to a video programming distributor that offers service directly to consumers in the United States pursuant to an earth station license issued under part 25 of this title and that offer a sufficient number of channels to consumers so that four percent of the total applicable programming channels yields a set aside of one channel of noncommercial programming pursuant to paragraph (e) of this section.
(b) Political broadcasting requirements—
(1) Legally qualified candidates for public office for purposes of this section are as defined in § 73.1940 of this chapter.
(2) DBS origination programming is defined as programming (exclusive of broadcast signals) carried on a DBS facility over one or more channels and subject to the exclusive control of the DBS provider.
(3) Reasonable access. (i) DBS providers must comply with section 312(a)(7) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, by allowing reasonable access to, or permitting purchase of reasonable amounts of time for, the use of their facilities by a legally qualified candidate for federal elective office on behalf of his or her candidacy.
(ii) Weekend access. For purposes of providing reasonable access, DBS providers shall make facilities available for use by federal candidates on the weekend before the election if the DBS provider has provided similar access to commercial advertisers during the year preceding the relevant election period. DBS providers shall not discriminate between candidates with regard to weekend access.
(4) Use of facilities; equal opportunities. DBS providers must comply with section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, by providing equal opportunities to legally qualified candidates for DBS origination programming.
(i) General requirements. Except as otherwise indicated in § 25.701(b)(3), no DBS provider is required to permit the use of its facilities by any legally qualified candidate for public office, but if a DBS provider shall permit any such candidate to use its facilities, it shall afford equal opportunities to all other candidates for that office to use such facilities. Such DBS provider shall have no power of censorship over the material broadcast by any such candidate. Appearance by a legally qualified candidate on any:
(A) Bona fide newscast;
(B) Bona fide news interview;
(C) Bona fide news documentary (if the appearance of the candidate is incidental to the presentation of the subject or subjects covered by the news documentary); or
(D) On the spot coverage of bona fide news events (including, but not limited to political conventions and activities incidental thereto) shall not be deemed to be use of a DBS provider's facility. (Section 315(a) of the Communications Act.)
(ii) Uses. As used in this section and § 25.701(c), the term “use” means a candidate appearance (including by voice or picture) that is not exempt under paragraphs (b)(3)(i)(A) through (b)(3)(i)(D) of this section.
(iii) Timing of request. A request for equal opportunities must be submitted to the DBS provider within 1 week of the day on which the first prior use giving rise to the right of equal opportunities occurred: Provided, however, That where the person was not a candidate at the time of such first prior use, he or she shall submit his or her request within 1 week of the first subsequent use after he or she has become a legally qualified candidate for the office in question.
(iv) Burden of proof. A candidate requesting equal opportunities of the DBS provider or complaining of noncompliance to the Commission shall have the burden of proving that he or she and his or her opponent are legally qualified candidates for the same public office.
(v) Discrimination between candidates. In making time available to candidates for public office, no DBS provider shall make any discrimination between candidates in practices, regulations, facilities, or services for or in connection with the service rendered pursuant to this part, or make or give any preference to any candidate for public office or subject any such candidate to any prejudice or disadvantage; nor shall any DBS provider make any contract or other agreement that shall have the effect of permitting any legally qualified candidate for any public office to use DBS origination programming to the exclusion of other legally qualified candidates for the same public office.
(c) Candidate rates —(1) Charges for use of DBS facilities. The charges, if any, made for the use of any DBS facility by any person who is a legally qualified candidate for any public office in connection with his or her campaign for nomination for election, or election, to such office shall not exceed:
(i) During the 45 days preceding the date of a primary or primary runoff election and during the 60 days preceding the date of a general or special election in which such person is a candidate, the lowest unit charge of the DBS provider for the same class and amount of time for the same period.
(A) A candidate shall be charged no more per unit than the DBS provider charges its most favored commercial advertisers for the same classes and amounts of time for the same periods. Any facility practices offered to commercial advertisers that enhance the value of advertising spots must be disclosed and made available to candidates upon equal terms. Such practices include but are not limited to any discount privileges that affect the value of advertising, such as bonus spots, time sensitive make goods, preemption priorities, or any other factors that enhance the value of the announcement.
(B) The Commission recognizes non preemptible, preemptible with notice, immediately preemptible and run of schedule as distinct classes of time.
(C) DBS providers may establish and define their own reasonable classes of immediately preemptible time so long as the differences between such classes are based on one or more demonstrable benefits associated with each class and are not based solely upon price or identity of the advertiser. Such demonstrable benefits include, but are not limited to, varying levels of preemption protection, scheduling flexibility, or associated privileges, such as guaranteed time sensitive make goods. DBS providers may not use class distinctions to defeat the purpose of the lowest unit charge requirement. All classes must be fully disclosed and made available to candidates.
(D) DBS providers may establish reasonable classes of preemptible with notice time so long as they clearly define all such classes, fully disclose them and make them available to candidates.
(E) DBS providers may treat non preemptible and fixed position as distinct classes of time provided that they articulate clearly the differences between such classes, fully disclose them, and make them available to candidates.
(F) DBS providers shall not establish a separate, premium priced class of time sold only to candidates. DBS providers may sell higher priced non preemptible or fixed time to candidates if such a class of time is made available on a bona fide basis to both candidates and commercial advertisers, and provided such class is not functionally equivalent to any lower priced class of time sold to commercial advertisers.
(G) [Reserved]
(H) Lowest unit charge may be calculated on a weekly basis with respect to time that is sold on a weekly basis, such as rotations through particular programs or dayparts. DBS providers electing to calculate the lowest unit charge by such a method must include in that calculation all rates for all announcements scheduled in the rotation, including announcements aired under long term advertising contracts. DBS providers may implement rate increases during election periods only to the extent that such increases constitute “ordinary business practices,” such as seasonal program changes or changes in audience ratings.
(I) DBS providers shall review their advertising records periodically throughout the election period to determine whether compliance with this section requires that candidates receive rebates or credits. Where necessary, DBS providers shall issue such rebates or credits promptly.
(J) Unit rates charged as part of any package, whether individually negotiated or generally available to all advertisers, must be included in the lowest unit charge calculation for the same class and length of time in the same time period. A candidate cannot be required to purchase advertising in every program or daypart in a package as a condition for obtaining package unit rates.
(K) DBS providers are not required to include non cash promotional merchandising incentives in lowest unit charge calculations; provided, however, that all such incentives must be offered to candidates as part of any purchases permitted by the system. Bonus spots, however, must be included in the calculation of the lowest unit charge calculation.
(L) Make goods, defined as the rescheduling of preempted advertising, shall be provided to candidates prior to election day if a DBS provider has provided a time sensitive make good during the year preceding the pre election periods, respectively set forth in paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section, to any commercial advertiser who purchased time in the same class.
(M) DBS providers must disclose and make available to candidates any make good policies provided to commercial advertisers. If a DBS provider places a make good for any commercial advertiser or other candidate in a more valuable program or daypart, the value of such make good must be included in the calculation of the lowest unit charge for that program or daypart.
(ii) At any time other than the respective periods set forth in paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section, DBS providers may charge legally qualified candidates for public office no more than the charges made for comparable use of the facility by commercial advertisers. The rates, if any, charged all such candidates for the same office shall be uniform and shall not be rebated by any means, direct or indirect. A candidate shall be charged no more than the rate the DBS provider would charge for comparable commercial advertising. All discount privileges otherwise offered by a DBS provider to commercial advertisers must be disclosed and made available upon equal terms to all candidates for public office.
(2) If a DBS provider permits a candidate to use its facilities, it shall make all discount privileges offered to commercial advertisers, including the lowest unit charges for each class and length of time in the same time period and all corresponding discount privileges, available on equal terms to all candidates. This duty includes an affirmative duty to disclose to candidates information about rates, terms, conditions and all value enhancing discount privileges offered to commercial advertisers, as provided herein. DBS providers may use reasonable discretion in making the disclosure; provided, however, that the disclosure includes, at a minimum, the following information:
(i) A description and definition of each class of time available to commercial advertisers sufficiently complete enough to allow candidates to identify and understand what specific attributes differentiate each class;
(ii) A description of the lowest unit charge and related privileges (such as priorities against preemption and make goods prior to specific deadlines) for each class of time offered to commercial advertisers;
(iii) A description of the DBS provider's method of selling preemptible time based upon advertiser demand, commonly known as the “current selling level,” with the stipulation that candidates will be able to purchase at these demand generated rates in the same manner as commercial advertisers;
(iv) An approximation of the likelihood of preemption for each kind of preemptible time; and
(v) An explanation of the DBS provider's sales practices, if any, that are based on audience delivery, with the stipulation that candidates will be able to purchase this kind of time, if available to commercial advertisers.
(3) Once disclosure is made, DBS providers shall negotiate in good faith to actually sell time to candidates in accordance with the disclosure.
(d) Political file. (1) Each DBS operator engaged in origination programming shall maintain, and make available for public inspection, a complete record of a request to purchase adverting time that:
(i) Is made by or on behalf of a legally qualified candidate for public office; or
(ii) Communicates a message relating to any political matter of national importance, including:
(A) A legally qualified candidate;
(B) Any election to Federal office; or
(C) A national legislative issue of public importance.
(2) A record maintained under this paragraph shall contain information regarding:
(i) Whether the request to purchase advertising time is accepted or rejected by the DBS operator;
(ii) The rate charged for the advertising time;
(iii) The date and time on which the communication is aired;
(iv) The class of time that is purchased;
(v) The name of the candidate to which the communication refers and the office to which the candidate is seeking election, the election to which the communication refers, or the issue to which the communication refers (as applicable);
(vi) In the case of a request made by, or on behalf of, a candidate, the name of the candidate, the authorized committee of the candidate, and the treasurer of such committee; and
(vii) In the case of any other request, the name of the person purchasing the time, the name, address, and phone number of a contact person for such person, and a list of the chief executive officers or members of the executive committee or of the board of directors of such person.
(3) When free time is provided for use by or on behalf of candidates, a record of the free time provided shall be placed in the political file.
(4) All records required by this paragraph shall be placed in the online public file hosted by the Commission as soon as possible and shall be retained for a period of two years. As soon as possible means immediately absent unusual circumstances.
(e) Commercial limits in children's programs. (1) No DBS provider shall air more than 10.5 minutes of commercial matter per hour during children's programming on weekends, or more that 12 minutes of commercial matter per hour on week days.
(2) This rule shall not apply to programs aired on a broadcast television channel which the DBS provider passively carries, or to channels over which the DBS provider may not exercise editorial control, pursuant to 47 U.S.C. 335(b)(3).
(3) DBS providers airing children's programming must maintain in the online file hosted by the Commission records sufficient to verify compliance with this rule. Such records must be maintained for a period sufficient to cover the limitations period specified in 47 U.S.C. 503(b)(6)(B).
Commercial matter means airtime sold for purposes of selling a product or service.
For purposes of this section, children's programming refers to programs originally produced and broadcast primarily for an audience of children 12 years old and younger.
(f) Carriage obligation for noncommercial programming—
(1) Reservation requirement. DBS providers shall reserve four percent of their channel capacity exclusively for use by qualified programmers for noncommercial programming of an educational or informational nature. Channel capacity shall be determined annually by calculating, based on measurements taken on a quarterly basis, the average number of channels available for video programming on all satellites licensed to the provider during the previous year. DBS providers may use this reserved capacity for any purpose until such time as it is used for noncommercial educational or informational programming.
(2) Qualified programmer. For purposes of these rules, a qualified programmer is:
(i) A noncommercial educational broadcast station as defined in section 397(6) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended,
(ii) A public telecommunications entity as defined in section 397(12) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended,
(iii) An accredited nonprofit educational institution or a governmental organization engaged in the formal education of enrolled students (A publicly supported educational institution must be accredited by the appropriate state department of education; a privately controlled educational institution must be accredited by the appropriate state department of education or the recognized regional and national accrediting organizations), or
(iv) A nonprofit organization whose purposes are educational and include providing educational and instructional television material to such accredited institutions and governmental organizations.
(v) Other noncommercial entities with an educational mission.
(3) Editorial control. (i) A DBS operator will be required to make capacity available only to qualified programmers and may select among such programmers when demand exceeds the capacity of their reserved channels.
(ii) A DBS operator may not require the programmers it selects to include particular programming on its channels.
(iii) A DBS operator may not alter or censor the content of the programming provided by the qualified programmer using the channels reserved pursuant to this section.
(4) Non-commercial channel limitation. A DBS operator cannot initially select a qualified programmer to fill more than one of its reserved channels except that, after all qualified entities that have sought access have been offered access on at least one channel, a provider may allocate additional channels to qualified programmers without having to make additional efforts to secure other qualified programmers.
(5) Rates, terms and conditions. (i) In making the required reserved capacity available, DBS providers cannot charge rates that exceed costs that are directly related to making the capacity available to qualified programmers. Direct costs include only the cost of transmitting the signal to the uplink facility and uplinking the signal to the satellite.
(ii) Rates for capacity reserved under paragraph (a) of this section shall not exceed 50 percent of the direct costs as defined in this section.
(iii) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit DBS providers from negotiating rates with qualified programmers that are less than 50 percent of direct costs or from paying qualified programmers for the use of their programming.
(iv) DBS providers shall reserve discrete channels and offer these to qualifying programmers at consistent times to fulfill the reservation requirement described in these rules.
(6) Public file. (i) In addition to the political file requirements in § 25.701, each DBS provider shall maintain in the online file hosted by the Commission a complete and orderly record of:
(A) Quarterly measurements of channel capacity and yearly average calculations on which it bases its four percent reservation, as well as its response to any capacity changes;
(B) A record of entities to whom noncommercial capacity is being provided, the amount of capacity being provided to each entity, the conditions under which it is being provided and the rates, if any, being paid by the entity;
(C) A record of entities that have requested capacity, disposition of those requests and reasons for the disposition.
(D) Each satellite carrier shall, no later than July 31, 2020, provide an up-to-date email address for carriage election notice submissions and an up-to-date phone number for carriage-related questions. Each satellite carrier is responsible for the continuing accuracy and completeness of the information furnished. It must respond to questions from broadcasters as soon as is reasonably possible.
(ii) All records required by paragraph (i) of this paragraph shall be placed in the online file hosted by the Commission as soon as possible and shall be retained for a period of two years.
(iii) Each DBS provider must also place in the online file hosted by the Commission the records required to be placed in the public inspection file by § 25.701(e) (commercial limits in children's programs) and by § 25.601 and 47 CFR part 76, subpart E (equal employment opportunity requirements) and retain those records for the period required by those rules.
(iv) Each DBS provider must provide a link to the online public inspection file hosted on the Commission's Web site from the home page of its own Web site, if the provider has a Web site, and provide on its Web site contact information for a representative who can assist any person with disabilities with issues related to the content of the public files. Each DBS provider also must include in the online public file hosted by the Commission the address of the provider's local public file, if the provider retains documents in the local public file that are not available in the Commission's online file, and the name, phone number, and email address of the provider's designated contact for questions about the public file.
(7) Effective date. DBS providers are required to make channel capacity available pursuant to this section upon the effective date. Programming provided pursuant to this rule must be available to the public no later than six months after the effective date.
§ 25.702   Other SDARS Public interest obligations.
(a) Political broadcasting requirements. The following political broadcasting rules shall apply to all SDARS licensees: 47 CFR 73.1940 (Legally qualified candidates for public office), 73.1941 (Equal opportunities), 73.1942 (Candidate rates), and 73.1944 (Reasonable access).
(b) Political file. (1) Each SDARS licensee engaged in origination programming shall maintain, and make available for public inspection, a complete record of a request to purchase broadcast time that:
(i) Is made by or on behalf of a legally qualified candidate for public office; or
(ii) Communicates a message relating to any political matter of national importance, including:
(A) A legally qualified candidate;
(B) Any election to Federal office; or
(C) A national legislative issue of public importance.
(2) A record maintained under this paragraph shall contain information regarding:
(i) Whether the request to purchase broadcast time is accepted or rejected by the licensee;
(ii) The rate charged for the broadcast time;
(iii) The date and time on which the communication is aired;
(iv) The class of time that is purchased;
(v) The name of the candidate to which the communication refers and the office to which the candidate is seeking election, the election to which the communication refers, or the issue to which the communication refers (as applicable);
(vi) In the case of a request made by, or on behalf of, a candidate, the name of the candidate, the authorized committee of the candidate, and the treasurer of such committee; and
(vii) n the case of any other request, the name of the person purchasing the time, the name, address, and phone number of a contact person for such person, and a list of the chief executive officers or members of the executive committee or of the board of directors of such person.
(3) When free time is provided for use by or on behalf of candidates, a record of the free time provided shall be placed in the political file.
(4) All records required by this paragraph shall be placed in the online public file hosted by the Commission as soon as possible and shall be retained for a period of two years. As soon as possible means immediately absent unusual circumstances.
(c) Public inspection file. (1) Each SDARS applicant or licensee must also place in the online public file hosted by the Commission the records required to be placed in the public inspection file by 47 CFR 25.601 and 73.2080 (equal employment opportunities (EEO)) and retain those records for the period required by those rules.
(2) Each SDARS licensee must provide a link to the public inspection file hosted on the Commission's Web site from the home page of its own Web site, if the licensee has a Web site, and provide on its Web site contact information for a representative who can assist any person with disabilities with issues related to the content of the public files. Each SDARS licensee also must include in the online public file the address of the licensee's local public file, if the licensee retains documents in the local public file that are not available in the Commission's online file, and the name, phone number, and email address of the licensee's designated contact for questions about the public file.