10280 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 32 / Friday, February 19, 2021 / Notices 

1See Expanding Flexible Use of the 3.7 to 4.2 

GHz Band, Report and Order and Order of Proposed 

Modification, 35 FCC Rcd 2343, 2391, paras. 116– 

23 (2020) (3.7 GHz Band Report and Order). 

2See 47 CFR 27.1412(d) (transition plan 

requirements). The most recent status information 

on the satellite operators’ transitions plans can be 

found in their respective quarterly reports filed in 

GN Docket No. 20–173 on December 31, 2020. 

3 3.7 GHz Band Report and Order, 35 FCC Rcd 

2343, 2460, para. 313. To the extent an earth station 

antenna cannot be assigned to a satellite operator, 

RSM is ultimately responsible for recommending an 

earth station transition plan for that antenna and to 

assist, when necessary, the earth station by 

installing filters or hiring third parties to install 

such filters. 47 CFR 27.1413(c)(3)(ii). 

4See International Bureau Releases Updated List 

of Incumbent Earth Stations in the 3.7–4.2 GHz 

Band in the Contiguous United States, Public 

Notice, DA 20–1424, IB Docket No. 20–205 (rel. 

Nov. 30, 2020) and Erratum to International Bureau 

Releases Updated List of Incumbent Earth Stations 

in the 3.7–4.2 GHz Band in the Contiguous United 

States, Public Notice, DA 20–1448, IB Docket No. 

20–205 (rel. Dec. 3, 2020) for the current incumbent 

earth station list and an explanation of the criteria 

applied to be included on the list. 

5 47 CFR 25.138(c)(1). 

6See 47 CFR 25.161(c). The Bureau has delegated 

authority to enforce the Part 25 rules. 47 CFR 

0.261(a)(15). 

7 47 CFR 25.115(b)(8). 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

[IB Docket No. 20–205; DA 21–81; FRS 

17434] 

Notice of 90-Day Period To Submit 

Affirmation of Continued Operation of 

the Identified Earth Station Antennas 

and of Intent To Participate in the 

C-Band Transition 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In this document, the 

International Bureau (Bureau) provides 

the following notice to (1) operators of 

incumbent Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) 

C-band earth station antennas that have 

been reported as no longer operational 

and (2) incumbent FSS C-band earth 

station operators that have not 

responded to communications from 

RSM US LLP (RSM), the C-band 

Relocation Coordinator, and/or 

incumbent C-band satellite operators: 

Failure to submit a filing to the Bureau 

by no later than 90 days after the release 

of the Bureau’s Notice (April 19, 2021) 

affirming the continued operation of the 

identified earth station antennas and the 

intent to participate in the C-band 

transition will result in a Bureau 

announcement that the authorizations 

identified in the attached documents 

filed by RSM in IB Docket No. 20–205 

on January 14, 2021 have automatically 

terminated by operation of rule, and that 

those authorizations will be terminated 

in the International Bureau Filing 

System (IBFS) and removed from the 

incumbent earth station list. 

DATES: Identified earth station operators 

must provide notice of operational 

status by April 19, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kerry Murray, International Bureau, 

Satellite Division, at (202) 418–0734, 

Kerry.Murray@fcc.gov or IBFSINFO@

fcc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

summary of the Commission’s 

document, DA 21–81, released January 

19, 2021. The full text of this document, 

along with the attachments identifying 

the specific earth station antennas 

subject to automatic termination, is 

available for public inspection and can 

be downloaded at https://www.fcc.gov/ 

document/ib-identifiesinactiveunresponsive-c-bandincumbent-earth-stations or by using the 

search function for Docket No. 20–205 

on the Commission’s ECFS page at 

www.fcc.gov/ecfs. 

Background. Under the Commission’s 

3.7 GHz Band Report and Order, RSM 

is responsible for coordinating with the 

five incumbent C-band satellite 

operators—Eutelsat, Intelsat, SES, 

StarOne, and Telesat—to ensure that all 

incumbent earth stations are accounted 

for in the transition.1 The overwhelming 

majority of incumbent earth stations 

have been claimed by the satellite 

operator from which they receive 

service and will be transitioned to the 

upper 200 megahertz of the band. 

Because the incumbent satellite 

operators do not necessarily have a 

direct customer relationship with each 

earth station receiving from their 

satellites, the satellite operators have 

conducted significant outreach to earth 

station operators to build, refine, and 

maintain their lists of claimed stations, 

which have been identified in each of 

the satellite operators’ transition plans 

to the Commission.2 A limited number 

of incumbent earth stations, however, 

remain unclaimed by any of the satellite 

operators. In these cases, RSM, as the 

C-band Relocation Coordinator, has 

conducted outreach and research to 

determine whether the earth station is 

still active and, if so, the satellite(s) 

from which the earth station receives its 

service so that it may assign, if possible, 

that earth station to a satellite operator 

for transition purposes.3 RSM states that 

it and the incumbent satellite operators 

regularly share the results of their 

respective outreach efforts to better 

coordinate the transition of incumbent 

earth stations. 

On January 14, 2021, RSM submitted 

an ex parte filing that includes two lists 

of incumbent earth stations. The ex 

parte letter is provided as Attachment C 

to DA 21–81. In one list, Attachment A 

to DA 21–81, RSM identifies various 

individual earth station antennas that it 

reports, based on communications with 

earth station operators by RSM or 

satellite operators or both, as no longer 

operational at the site address and GPS 

coordinates provided in the latest 

incumbent earth station list.4 In the 

other list, Attachment B to DA 21–81, 

RSM identifies earth station operators 

(and associated antennas) that it reports 

as unresponsive to multiple and varied 

C-band transition outreach efforts by 

RSM, the satellite operators, or both, via 

email, phone, and, in some cases, 

certified mail. 

Reported inactive earth station 

antennas. RSM and/or the incumbent 

satellite operators have reported that, 

based on their communications with the 

relevant earth station operators, the 

incumbent earth station antennas 

identified in Attachment A are no 

longer operational. Under the 

Commission’s rules, antennas must 

continue to be operational to qualify for 

incumbent status.5

We hereby presume that earth station 

antennas reported to us as inactive on 

Attachment A are no longer operational. 

Section 25.161(c) of the Commission’s 

rules provides that an earth station 

authorization is automatically 

terminated if the station is not 

operational for more than 90 days.6 We 

also note that the Commission’s rules 

require earth station operators to take 

the steps necessary to remove nonoperational antennas from the active 

records in the International Bureau 

Filing System (IBFS).7

We direct earth station operators with 

incumbent earth station antennas 

reported to Commission staff as inactive 

to make either of two filings no later 

than 90 days after release of this Notice 

(April 19, 2021): (1) File to remove those 

antennas from IBFS as no longer 

operational as required by Commission 

rule, or (2) file in Electronic Comment 

Filing System (ECFS) IB Docket No. 20– 

205 to assert that those antennas are still 

operational. An earth station operator 

may contact Bureau staff at IBFSINFO@

fcc.gov if it wants advice on how to 

make a filing in ECFS, if it needs 

instructions on how to surrender entire 

Callsigns in IBFS or how to remove an 

inactive earth station antenna from a 

Callsign that includes other operational 

earth station antennas, or if it has other 

questions about the above. 


tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 32 / Friday, February 19, 2021 / Notices 10281 

8 47 CFR 25.161(c). 

Earth station operators that do not 

respond by April 19, 2021 to affirm the 

continued operation of the identified 

earth station antennas will be deemed to 

have had the authorizations for those 

antennas automatically terminated by 

rule. Those authorizations will be 

terminated in IBFS, i.e., the IBFS 

records for those antennas will be 

shown with a terminated status. Such 

terminated earth stations will also be 

removed from the incumbent earth 

station list and will not be entitled to 

protection from interference from the 

network deployments of new wireless 

licenses or be eligible for reimbursement 

of any transition costs, including the 

cost of any filters, that those earth 

stations may decide to incur. 

Unresponsive earth station operators 

(and associated antennas). Based on 

their failure to respond to multiple 

contact attempts by RSM and the 

incumbent satellite operators, we hereby 

presume that the incumbent earth 

station antennas identified in 

Attachment B as associated with 

unresponsive earth station operators 

have ceased operations. Section 

25.161(c) of the Commission’s rules 

provide that an earth station 

authorization is automatically 

terminated if the station is not 

operational for more than 90 days.8

To confirm whether or not these 

unresponsive station operators have 

discontinued the operation of these 

earth station antennas, we direct the 

operators of earth stations on the list 

whose facilities continue to be 

operational to submit a notification, by 

no later than 90 days after release of this 

Public Notice (i.e., no later than April 

19, 2021), affirming that these facilities 

remain operational and that they intend 

to participate in the C-band transition. 

Operators should submit this 

notification to the Bureau in ECFS IB 

Docket No. 20–205. In providing this 

response, an earth station operator 

affirming that the identified earth 

station antennas remain operational 

should identify the satellite from which 

each antenna is receiving service. 

Commission staff will forward all 

affirmations of continued operation to 

the Relocation Coordinator and/or 

relevant satellite operator(s), who will 

contact affirming earth station operators 

directly to initiate the transition. An 

earth station operator may contact 

Bureau staff at IBFSINFO@fcc.gov if it 

wants advice on how to make a filing in 

ECFS. 

Earth station operators that do not 

respond by April 19, 2021 to affirm the 

continued operation of the identified 

earth station antennas will be deemed to 

have had the authorizations for those 

antennas automatically terminated by 

rule. Those authorizations will be 

terminated in IBFS. Such terminated 

earth stations will also be removed from 

the incumbent earth station list and will 

not be entitled to protection from 

interference from the network 

deployments of new wireless licenses or 

be eligible for reimbursement of any 

transition costs, including the cost of 

any filters, that those earth stations may 

decide to incur. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Troy Tanner, 

Deputy Chief, International Bureau. 

[FR Doc. 2021–03408 Filed 2–18–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

[OMB 3060–0678; FRS 17488] 

Information Collection Being 

Submitted for Review and Approval to 

Office of Management and Budget 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort 

to reduce paperwork burdens, as 

required by the Paperwork Reduction 

Act (PRA) of 1995, the Federal 

Communications Commission (FCC or 

the Commission) invites the general 

public and other Federal Agencies to 

take this opportunity to comment on the 

following information collection. 

Pursuant to the Small Business 

Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, the FCC 

seeks specific comment on how it can 

further reduce the information 

collection burden for small business 

concerns with fewer than 25 employees. 

DATES: Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be 

submitted on or before March 22, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to 

www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 

Find this particular information 

collection by selecting ‘‘Currently under 

30-day Review—Open for Public 

Comments’’ or by using the search 

function. Your comment must be 

submitted into www.reginfo.gov per the 

above instructions for it to be 

considered. In addition to submitting in 

www.reginfo.gov also send a copy of 

your comment on the proposed 

information collection to Cathy 

Williams, FCC, via email to PRA@

fcc.gov and to Cathy.Williams@fcc.gov. 

Include in the comments the OMB 

control number as shown in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

additional information or copies of the 

information collection, contact Cathy 

Williams at (202) 418–2918. To view a 

copy of this information collection 

request (ICR) submitted to OMB: (1) Go 

to the web page http://www.reginfo.gov/ 

public/do/PRAMain, (2) look for the 

section of the web page called 

‘‘Currently Under Review,’’ (3) click on 

the downward-pointing arrow in the 

‘‘Select Agency’’ box below the 

‘‘Currently Under Review’’ heading, (4) 

select ‘‘Federal Communications 

Commission’’ from the list of agencies 

presented in the ‘‘Select Agency’’ box, 

(5) click the ‘‘Submit’’ button to the 

right of the ‘‘Select Agency’’ box, (6) 

when the list of FCC ICRs currently 

under review appears, look for the Title 

of this ICR and then click on the ICR 

Reference Number. A copy of the FCC 

submission to OMB will be displayed. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Commission may not conduct or 

sponsor a collection of information 

unless it displays a currently valid 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) control number. No person shall 

be subject to any penalty for failing to 

comply with a collection of information 

subject to the PRA that does not display 

a valid OMB control number. 

As part of its continuing effort to 

reduce paperwork burdens, as required 

by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 

of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501–3520), the FCC 

invited the general public and other 

Federal Agencies to take this 

opportunity to comment on the 

following information collection. 

Comments are requested concerning: (a) 

Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

Commission, including whether the 

information shall have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the Commission’s 

burden estimates; (c) ways to enhance 

the quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information collected; and (d) ways to 

minimize the burden of the collection of 

information on the respondents, 

including the use of automated 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. Pursuant to the 

Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 

2002, Public Law 107–198, see 44 U.S.C. 

3506(c)(4), the FCC seeks specific 

comment on how it might ‘‘further 

reduce the information collection 

burden for small business concerns with 

fewer than 25 employees.’’ 

OMB Control No.: 3060–0678. 


tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with NOTICES