Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 61 / Thursday, March 29, 2012 / Proposed Rules 18991 

Agency views this as a noncontroversial 

submittal and anticipates no adverse 

comments. A detailed rationale for the 

approval is set forth in the direct final 

rule. If no relevant adverse comments 

are received in response to this action, 

no further activity is contemplated. If 

EPA receives relevant adverse 

comments, the direct final rule will be 

withdrawn and all public comments 

received will be addressed in a 

subsequent final rule based on this 

proposed rule. EPA will not institute a 

second comment period. Any parties 

interested in commenting on this action 

should do so at this time. Please note 

that if EPA receives adverse comment 

on an amendment, paragraph, or section 

of this rule and if that provision may be 

severed from the remainder of the rule, 

EPA may adopt as final those provisions 

of the rule that are not the subject of an 

adverse comment. 

For additional information, see the 

direct final rule which is located in the 

rules section of this Federal Register. 

Dated: March 16, 2012. 

Al Armendariz, 

Regional Administrator, EPA Region 6. 

[FR Doc. 2012–7562 Filed 3–28–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Part 90 

[WT Docket No. 12–64; WT Docket No. 11– 

110; FCC 12–25] 

Channel Spacing and Bandwidth 

Limitations for Certain Economic Area 

(EA)-Based 800 MHz Specialized 

Mobile Radio (SMR) Licensees 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This document proposes to 

modify the Commission’s rules to allow 

Economic Area (EA)-based 800 MHz 

Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) 

licensees to exceed a channel spacing 

and bandwidth limitation, subject to 

two conditions. The Commission 

proposes to allow licensees to exceed 

the channel spacing and bandwidth 

limitation in the 813.5–824/858.5–869 

MHz band in National Public Safety 

Planning Advisory Committee 

(NPSPAC) regions where 800 MHz 

public safety licensee reconfiguration is 

complete. In areas where 800 MHz 

public safety reconfiguration is 

incomplete, EA-based 800 MHz 

licensees would only be allowed to 

exceed the channel spacing and 

bandwidth limitation in the 813.5–821/ 

858.5–866 MHz band. Further, the 

Commission proposes to require any 

EA-based 800 MHz SMR licensee that 

intends to exceed the channel spacing 

and bandwidth limitation of its rules, 

which govern the above-listed MHz 

bands, to provide 30 days written notice 

to public safety licensees with base 

stations in the NPSPAC region and 

within 113 kilometers (70 miles) of the 

affected NPSPAC region. The 

Commission seeks comment on any 

additional steps that may need to be 

taken to protect 800 MHz public safety 

licensees against any possible increased 

interference. The proposed rule changes 

would allow geographic-based 800 MHz 

SMR licensees the flexibility to deploy 

new technologies and to better utilize 

their licensed spectrum, while also 

protecting 800 MHz public safety 

entities. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

April 13, 2012 and reply comments are 

due on or before April 23, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by WT Docket No. 12–64; WT 

Docket No. 11–110; FCC 12–25, by any 

of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Federal Communications 

Commission’s Web Site: http:// 

www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• People With Disabilities: Contact 

the FCC to request reasonable 

accommodations (accessible format 

documents, sign language interpreters, 

CART, etc.) by email: FCC504@fcc.gov 

or phone 202–418–0530 or TTY: 202– 

418–0432. 

For detailed instructions for submitting 

comments and additional information 

on the rulemaking process, see the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Brian Regan, Mobility Division, 

Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, 

brian.regan@fcc.gov, (202) 418–2849. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

summary of the Commission’s Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking (Notice) in WT 

Docket No. 12–64, WT Docket No. 11– 

110; FCC 12–25, adopted March 7, 2012, 

and released March 9, 2012. The full 

text of this document is available for 

inspection and copying during normal 

business hours in the FCC Reference 

Center, 445 12th Street SW., 

Washington, DC 20554. The complete 

text may be purchased from the 

Commission’s copy contractor, Best 

Copy and Printing, Inc., 445 12th Street 

SW., Room CY–B402, Washington, DC 

20554, (202) 488–5300, facsimile (202) 

488–5563, or via email at 

fcc@bcpiweb.com. The full text may also 

be downloaded at: www.fcc.gov. 

Alternative formats are available to 

persons with disabilities by sending an 

email to fcc504@fcc.gov or by calling the 

Consumer & Governmental Affairs 

Bureau at 202–418–0530 (voice), 202– 

418–0432 (TTY). 

Initial Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995 Analysis 

This document contains proposed 

information collection requirements. 

The Commission, as part of its 

continuing effort to reduce paperwork 

burdens, invites the general public and 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) to comment on the information 

collection requirements contained in 

this document, as required by the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

Public Law 104–13. Public and agency 

comments are due May 29, 2012. 

Comments should address: (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; (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; and (e) ways to 

further reduce the information 

collection burden on small business 

concerns with fewer than 25 employees. 

In addition, pursuant to the Small 

Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, 

Public Law 107–198, see 44 U.S.C. 

3506(c)(4), we seek specific comment on 

how we might further reduce the 

information collection burden for small 

business concerns with fewer than 25 

employees. 

OMB Control Number: 3060–xxxx. 

Title: Section 90.209(b)(7)— 

Bandwidth limitations. 

Form No.: N/A. 

Type of Review: New collection. 

Respondents: Business or other forprofit. 

Number of Respondents and 

Responses: 27 respondents, 27 

responses. 

Estimated Time per Response: .50 up 

to 9 hours. 

Frequency of Response: On occasion, 

third party disclosure requirement. 

Obligation to Respond: Mandatory. 

Total Annual Burden: 232 hours. 

Total Annual Costs: $52,500.00. 

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18992 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 61 / Thursday, March 29, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

Privacy Act Impact Assessment: N/A. 

Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: 

None. 

Needs and Uses: This information 

will be used to ensure that 800 MHz 

public safety licensees are not impacted 

by EA-based 800 MHz SMR licensees 

exceeding the channel spacing and 

bandwidth requirement in the 

Commission’s rules. 

Summary 

I. Introduction and Background 

1. In an effort to reduce barriers to 

innovation and investment in new 

technologies and to promote greater 

spectrum efficiency, we propose to 

eliminate a legacy channel spacing and 

bandwidth limitation for Economic Area 

market (EA)-based 800 MHz Specialized 

Mobile Radio (SMR) licensees in the 

813.5–824/858.5–869 MHz band. 

Subject to certain protections to 

safeguard 800 MHz public safety 

licensees, elimination of the legacy 

channel spacing and bandwidth 

limitation should provide greater 

flexibility to EA-based 800 MHz SMR 

licensees to deploy competitive wireless 

services over contiguous channels. 

2. In 1995, the Commission 

established a new licensing framework 

for 800 MHz SMR and designated 10 

megahertz of contiguous spectrum in 

the 800 MHz band for EA-based 

licensing in the 800 MHz SMR First 

Report and Order, at 61 FR 6138, Feb. 

16, 1996. In doing so, the Commission 

transitioned the 800 MHz SMR service 

from a site-by-site licensing process that 

required licensees to seek prior 

authorization to add or modify 

individual frequency channels and 

transmitter sites to a geographic-based 

licensing mechanism that provides 

licensees with the flexibility to add 

transmitters or modify operations 

within their licensed market and 

licensed spectrum as market conditions 

dictate. 

3. In the 800 MHz SMR First Report 

and Order the Commission determined 

that wide-area licensing would ‘‘give 

licensees the flexibility to use 

technologies that can operate on either 

contiguous or non-contiguous 

spectrum’’ and that large spectrum 

blocks were necessary for ‘‘broadband 

technologies such as CDMA and GSM.’’ 

With wide-area licenses, the 

Commission believed licensees would 

be able to ‘‘compete effectively with 

other CMRS providers, such as cellular 

and broadband PCS systems.’’ Further, 

the Commission stated its intent in the 

Executive Summary of the 800 MHz 

SMR First Report and Order that EAbased licensees would have ‘‘full 

discretion over channelization of 

available spectrum within the block.’’ 

The Commission also adopted an out-ofband emission requirement that applies 

to the outer channels of the spectrum 

block and to spectrum adjacent to 

interior channels used by incumbents. 

4. While the Commission may have 

intended to provide EA-based 800 MHz 

SMR licensees discretion over 

channelization within the channel 

block, it left unchanged an existing 

channelization scheme and bandwidth 

limitation in its rules for the relevant 

portion of the 800 MHz band. Section 

90.209 of the Commission’s rules 

establishes channel spacing and 

authorized bandwidths for particular 

frequencies, unless specified elsewhere. 

Under § 90.209, frequencies in 809–824/ 

854–869 MHz are limited to 25 kHz 

channels with an authorized bandwidth 

of 20 kHz. 

5. In 2004, the Commission initiated 

a process to reconfigure the 800 MHz 

band in the 800 MHz Reconfiguration 

Report and Order, at 69 FR 67823, Nov. 

22, 2004, to ‘‘address the [then] ongoing 

and growing problem of interference to 

public safety communications in the 

800 MHz band.’’ The interference 

problem was caused ‘‘by a 

fundamentally incompatible mix of two 

types of communications systems: 

cellular-architecture multi cell systems 

* * * and high-site non-cellular 

systems.’’ In the short term, the 

Commission implemented technical 

standards that defined unacceptable 

interference in 800 MHz, while also 

reconfiguring the 800 MHz band to 

separate commercial wireless systems 

from public safety systems on a separate 

track. Under the reconfiguration plan, 

SMR and other cellular-system 

operators including Sprint Nextel Corp. 

(Sprint Nextel) were required to vacate 

the 806–817/851–862 MHz band and 

relocate to the 817–824/862–869 MHz 

band. 

6. Sprint Nextel holds the majority of 

the EA-based 800 MHz SMR licenses 

(commonly referred to as Enhanced 

SMR or ESMR) and reported as of June 

2011 that it held or will soon hold ‘‘14 

[megahertz] of geographically licensed 

contiguous 800 MHz channels across 

much of the nation.’’ Sprint Nextel has 

used its licenses at 817–824/862–869 

MHz primarily for its iDEN operations, 

which it describes as ‘‘a 2G technology 

that uses non-contiguous channels to 

provide cellular, messaging and pushto-talk services.’’ 

7. In December 2010, Sprint Nextel 

announced that it was transitioning its 

existing operations off of some of its EAbased 800 MHz licenses in order to 

incorporate the spectrum into its CDMA 

network, which it claims requires 

contiguous spectrum and ‘‘occupies a 

1.25 [megahertz] bandwidth.’’ However, 

under the channelization scheme and 

bandwidth limitation in § 90.209 of the 

Commission’s rules, Sprint Nextel is 

unable to aggregate the channels in its 

EA-based 800 MHz SMR licenses to 

provide CDMA. 

8. In June 2011, Sprint Nextel filed a 

petition for declaratory ruling (WT 

Docket No. 11–110) asking the 

Commission to ‘‘clarify and declare that 

its rules permit larger than 25 kHz 

bandwidth operations in the [ESMR] 

portion of the 800 MHz band.’’ Sprint 

Nextel requested in the alternative that 

the Commission issue a notice of 

proposed rulemaking ‘‘to revise § 90.209 

to the extent necessary to expressly 

authorize ESMR band EA licensees to 

deploy technologies using bandwidths 

greater than 25 kHz on their contiguous 

spectrum assignments.’’ Sprint Nextel 

argues that the Commission never 

intended for the 25 kHz channel spacing 

and 20 kHz bandwidth limitation to 

apply to geographically licensed 800 

MHz SMR spectrum and that such 

application will frustrate the 

Commission’s intent of providing 

flexibility to EA-based 800 MHz SMR 

licensees. Sprint Nextel also contends 

that the bandwidth limitation in 

§ 90.209 and the out-of-band emission 

requirement in § 90.691 of the 

Commission’s rules are apparently 

inconsistent and in conflict. The 

Wireless Telecommunications Bureau 

released a Public Notice seeking 

comment on Sprint Nextel’s petition in 

June 2011. 

9. Several commenters in response to 

the Public Notice support Sprint 

Nextel’s request. SouthernLINC 

Wireless and Southern Company urge 

the Commission to also eliminate the 

bandwidth limitation and channel 

spacing in § 90.209 for the ‘‘expanded’’ 

SMR band in the southeastern United 

States, a request that Sprint Nextel 

supports. The Association of PublicSafety Communications OfficialsInternational, Inc. (APCO) and the 

National Public Safety 

Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) 

do not object to Sprint Nextel’s request 

on the condition that certain steps are 

taken to avoid interference with 800 

MHz public safety licensees. While 

AT&T generally supports efforts to 

‘‘provide flexibility to exclusive 

geographic area licensees of commercial 

mobile services,’’ it and Motorola 

Solutions Inc. urge the Commission to 

adopt a rulemaking to explore any 

possible technical issues that may arise 

from wider-bandwidth operations in 

EA-licensed 800 MHz SMR spectrum. 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 61 / Thursday, March 29, 2012 / Proposed Rules 18993 

II. Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

10. In this Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking (Notice), we propose to 

grant EA-based 800 MHz SMR licensees 

the flexibility to deploy CDMA or other 

wireless technologies that operate on 

greater than 25 kHz channels with 

greater than 20 kHz bandwidth. We do 

not, however, find any controversy or 

uncertainty regarding §§ 90.209 or 

90.691 of the Commission’s rules that 

can be resolved or clarified through a 

declaratory ruling. We therefore initiate 

this Notice and propose to allow EAbased 800 MHz SMR licensees to exceed 

the channel spacing and bandwidth 

limitation in § 90.209, subject to two 

conditions we propose to protect against 

any potential for increased interference 

with 800 MHz public safety licensees. 

11. The Commission is authorized to 

issue declaratory rulings to terminate 

controversies or remove uncertainty. 

While it has broad discretion in 

deciding whether to exercise such 

authority, the Commission will 

generally decline to issue such a ruling 

when there appears to be no significant 

controversy or uncertainty. Here, the 

record does not demonstrate any such 

controversy or uncertainty regarding the 

application of § 90.209 to EA-based 800 

MHz SMR licensees or the relationship 

between §§ 90.209 and 90.691. Section 

90.209 is clear on its face that the 

channel spacings and authorized 

bandwidth for the listed frequencies, 

which include the frequencies assigned 

to EA-based 800 MHz SMR licenses, 

apply ‘‘unless specified elsewhere.’’ A 

different bandwidth authorization for 

this band is not listed elsewhere in the 

Commission’s rules, including in 

§ 90.691. As some commenters point 

out, in instances when the Commission 

has established different bandwidth 

limitations for frequencies listed in 

§ 90.209, the Commission has done so 

explicitly. The out-of-band emission 

requirement in § 90.691 is intended to 

protect against adjacent channel 

interference, which is unnecessary for 

sequential channels licensed as a block 

and has no bearing on whether a 

spectrum block can be channelized or 

have a bandwidth limitation. 

12. In lieu of a declaratory ruling, 

through the instant Notice, we propose 

to eliminate the channel spacing and 

bandwidth limitation in § 90.209 of the 

Commission’s rules for EA-based 800 

MHz SMR licenses in the frequencies 

813.5–824/858.5–869 MHz, subject to 

two proposed conditions outlined 

below. The record suggests that 

eliminating these limitations may serve 

the public interest by allowing licensees 

to deploy more advanced wireless 

technologies, to consumers’ benefit, 

while continuing to ensure such 

operations do not increase interference 

to 800 MHz public safety licensees 

through the conditions proposed below. 

As set forth below, we seek comment on 

this proposal and on the type and 

magnitude of any accompanying costs 

or benefits. 

13. We recognize that protection of 

public safety licensees in the 800 MHz 

band is essential and do not intend to 

take any actions that might negatively 

impact the progress made through the 

800 MHz reconfiguration process. APCO 

and NPSTC assert that in order to 

protect against interference with 800 

MHz public safety licensees, operations 

using greater than 25 kHz bandwidth 

should only be allowed in National 

Public Safety Planning Advisory 

Committee (NPSPAC) regions where 

public safety reconfiguration is 

complete. Accordingly, we propose to 

allow EA-based 800 MHz SMR licensees 

to exceed the channel spacing and 

bandwidth limitation in § 90.209 in the 

813.5–824/858.5–869 MHz band in 

NPSPAC regions where all 800 MHz 

public safety licensees in the region 

have completed band reconfiguration. 

Further, in NPSPAC regions where 

reconfiguration is incomplete, we 

propose to allow EA-based 800 MHz 

SMR licensees to exceed the channel 

spacing and bandwidth limitation only 

in the 813.5–821/858.5–866 MHz band. 

Public safety users are being relocated 

from 821–824/866–869 MHz to the new 

band of 806–809/851–854 MHz. Sprint 

Nextel asserts that it will not—and 

cannot—deploy CDMA in the ‘‘old’’ 

public safety band until the public 

safety users in the NPSPAC region have 

moved to the ‘‘new’’ band. Upon all 800 

MHz public safety licensees in a region 

completing band reconfiguration, EAbased 800 MHz SMR licensees in the 

821–824/866–869 MHz band would 

then be allowed to exceed the channel 

spacing and bandwidth limitation. 

14. Additionally, we propose to 

require all EA-based 800 MHz SMR 

licensees to provide at least 30 days 

written notice to public safety licensees 

with base stations in the NPSPAC region 

where an EA-based 800 MHz SMR 

licensee intends to exceed the channel 

spacing and bandwidth limitation and 

to public safety licensees with base 

stations within 113 kilometers (70 

miles) of the affected NPSPAC region 

border. These conditions appear to 

balance the need to protect 800 MHz 

public safety licensees from any 

possible increased interference, while 

enabling 800 MHz SMR licensees to 

efficiently utilize their spectrum to 

provide more advanced wireless 

services. We seek comment on these 

proposed conditions, including with 

respect to any costs that these 

conditions might impose. 

15. We encourage commenters to 

explain any interference issues they 

claim may arise—even with 

conditions—with specificity, including 

any relevant data supporting such 

claims. We also encourage commenters 

to describe in detail and to justify fully 

any modification to these or additional 

conditions they argue may be necessary 

to protect 800 MHz public safety 

licensees from increased interference. 

For example, NPSTC suggests that the 

Commission should impose a one 

megahertz guard band at 820–821/865– 

866 MHz between EA-based 800 MHz 

SMR operations that exceed the channel 

spacing and bandwidth limitation and 

public safety operations where band 

reconfiguration is incomplete. Similarly, 

APCO suggests that EA-based 800 MHz 

SMR licensees that exceed the channel 

spacing and bandwidth limitation 

‘‘maintain a minimum of 1.0 MHz 

separation from any public safety 

operation in the upper portion of the 

interleaved band (i.e., above 860 MHz) 

in the service area of the * * * cellular 

site.’’ APCO also suggests that EA-based 

800 MHz SMR operations that exceed 

the channel spacing and bandwidth 

limitation and are near a public safety 

system in a NPSPAC region where 

reconfiguration is incomplete must 

protect public safety operations ‘‘both 

on-channel and on the 12.5 kHz offset 

to the 5 dBu.’’ We seek comment on 

these suggested conditions, as well as 

any other proposals. Commenters 

should include technical justifications 

for why additional or alternative 

conditions may be necessary, and 

should identify any costs that additional 

or alternative conditions might impose. 

III. Procedural Matters 

A. Ex Parte Rules-Permit-But-Disclose 

Proceeding 

16. The proceeding this Notice 

initiates shall be treated as a ‘‘permitbut-disclose’’ proceeding in accordance 

with the Commission’s ex parte rules. 

Persons making ex parte presentations 

must file a copy of any written 

presentation or a memorandum 

summarizing any oral presentation 

within two business days after the 

presentation (unless a different deadline 

applicable to the Sunshine period 

applies). Persons making oral ex parte 

presentations are reminded that 

memoranda summarizing the 

presentation must (1) list all persons 

attending or otherwise participating in 

the meeting at which the ex parte 

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18994 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 61 / Thursday, March 29, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

presentation was made, and (2) 

summarize all data presented and 

arguments made during the 

presentation. If the presentation 

consisted in whole or in part of the 

presentation of data or arguments 

already reflected in the presenter’s 

written comments, memoranda or other 

filings in the proceeding, the presenter 

may provide citations to such data or 

arguments in his or her prior comments, 

memoranda, or other filings (specifying 

the relevant page and/or paragraph 

numbers where such data or arguments 

can be found) in lieu of summarizing 

them in the memorandum. Documents 

shown or given to Commission staff 

during ex parte meetings are deemed to 

be written ex parte presentations and 

must be filed consistent with § 1.1206(b) 

of the Commission’s rules. In 

proceedings governed by § 1.49(f), for 

which the Commission has made 

available a method of electronic filing, 

written ex parte presentations and 

memoranda summarizing oral ex parte 

presentations, and all attachments 

thereto, must be filed through the 

electronic comment filing system 

available for that proceeding, and must 

be filed in their native format (e.g., .doc, 

.xml, .ppt, searchable .pdf). Participants 

in this proceeding should familiarize 

themselves with the Commission’s ex 

parte rules. 

B. Comment Dates 

17. Pursuant to §§ 1.415 and 1.419 of 

the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR 1.415, 

and 1.419, interested parties may file 

comments and reply comments on or 

before the dates indicated on the first 

page of this document. Comments may 

be filed using the Commission’s 

Electronic Comment Filing System 

(ECFS). See Electronic Filing of 

Documents in Rulemaking Proceedings, 

at 63 FR 24121 (1998). 

D Electronic Filers: Comments may be 

filed electronically using the Internet by 

accessing the ECFS: http:// 

fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs2/. 

D Paper Filers: Parties that choose to 

file by paper must file an original and 

one copy of each filing. If more than one 

docket or rulemaking number appears in 

the caption of this proceeding, filers 

must submit two additional copies for 

each additional docket or rulemaking 

number. 

Filings can be sent by hand or 

messenger delivery, by commercial 

overnight courier, or by first-class or 

overnight U.S. Postal Service mail. All 

filings must be addressed to the 

Commission’s Secretary, Office of the 

Secretary, Federal Communications 

Commission. 

D All hand-delivered or messengerdelivered paper filings for the 

Commission’s Secretary must be 

delivered to FCC Headquarters at 445 

12th St. SW., Room TW–A325, 

Washington, DC 20554. The filing hours 

are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. All hand deliveries 

must be held together with rubber bands 

or fasteners. Any envelopes and boxes 

must be disposed of before entering the 

building. 

D Commercial overnight mail (other 

than U.S. Postal Service Express Mail 

and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9300 

East Hampton Drive Capitol Heights, 

MD 20743. 

D U.S. Postal Service first-class, 

Express, and Priority mail must be 

addressed to 445 12th Street SW., 

Washington, DC 20554. 

People with Disabilities: To request 

materials in accessible formats for 

people with disabilities (braille, large 

print, electronic files, audio format), 

send an email to fcc504@fcc.gov or call 

the Consumer & Governmental Affairs 

Bureau at 202–418–0530 (voice), 202– 

418–0432 (TTY). 

C. Initial Paperwork Reduction Act 

Analysis 

18. This document contains a 

proposed new information collection 

requirement. The Commission, as part 

of its continuing effort to reduce 

paperwork burdens, invites the general 

public and the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) to comment on the 

information collection requirements 

contained in this document, as required 

by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995, Public Law 104–13. In addition, 

pursuant to the Small Business 

Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Public 

Law 107–198, see 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(4), 

we seek specific comment on how we 

might further reduce the information 

collection burden for small business 

concerns with fewer than 25 employees. 

IV. Initial Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis 

19. As required by the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended 

(RFA), the Commission has prepared 

this Initial Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis (IRFA) of the possible 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities by 

the policies and rules proposed in this 

Notice. Written comments are requested 

on this IRFA. Comments must be 

identified as responses to the IRFA and 

must be filed by the deadlines for 

comments on the Notice. The 

Commission will send a copy of the 

Notice, including this IRFA, to the Chief 

Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 

Business Administration (SBA). In 

addition, the Notice and IRFA (or 

summaries thereof) will be published in 

the Federal Register. 

A. Need for, and Objectives of, the 

Proposed Rules 

20. The proposed rule eliminates 

legacy channel spacing and bandwidth 

limitation governing Economic Area 

(EA)-based 800 MHz specialized mobile 

radio (SMR) licensees. Further, the 

proposed rule provides licensees the 

flexibility to deploy competitive 

wireless services, while also continuing 

to protect 800 MHz public safety 

licensees from any potential 

interference. 

21. The proposed rule allow EA-based 

800 MHz SMR licensees in the 813.5– 

824/858.5–869 MHz band to exceed the 

channel spacing and bandwidth limits 

in § 90.209 of the Commission’s rules, 

subject to two conditions. We propose 

to allow EA-based 800 MHz SMR 

licensees to exceed the channel spacing 

and bandwidth limitation in the 813.5– 

824/858.5–869 MHz band in National 

Public Safety Planning Advisory 

Committee (NPSPAC) regions where 800 

MHz reconfiguration is complete. In 

NPSPAC regions where 800 MHz 

reconfiguration is incomplete, we 

propose to allow EA-based 800 MHz 

licensees to exceed the channel spacing 

and bandwidth limitation only in the 

813.5–821/858.5–866 MHz band. Upon 

all 800 MHz public safety licensees in 

a region completing band 

reconfiguration, EA-based 800 MHz 

SMR licensees in the 821–824/866–869 

MHz band would also be allowed to 

exceed the channel spacing and 

bandwidth limitation. We also propose 

to require EA-based 800 MHz SMR 

licensees to provide 30 days written 

notice to 800 MHz public safety 

licensees with base stations in the 

NPSPAC region where an EA-based 800 

MHz SMR licensee intends to exceed 

the channel spacing and bandwidth 

limitation, and to public safety licensees 

with base stations within 113 kilometers 

(70 miles) of the affected NPSPAC 

region border. 

22. We believe the proposed rule will 

reduce barriers to innovation and 

investment and allow EA-based 800 

MHz SMR licensees to deploy 

competitive wireless services, to 

consumers’ benefit. 

B. Legal Basis 

23. The legal basis for any action that 

may be taken pursuant to the Notice is 

contained in sections 1, 2, 4(i), 4(j), 301, 

302, 303, 307, and 308 of the 

Communications Act of 1934, as 

amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 154(i), 

154(j), 301, 302, 303, 307, and 308. 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 61 / Thursday, March 29, 2012 / Proposed Rules 18995 

C. Description and Estimate of the 

Number of Small Entities to Which the 

Proposed Rules Will Apply 

24. The RFA directs agencies to 

provide a description of, and where 

feasible, an estimate of the number of 

small entities that may be affected by 

the proposed rules, if adopted. The RFA 

generally defines the term ‘‘small 

entity’’ as having the same meaning as 

the terms ‘‘small business,’’ ‘‘small 

organization,’’ and ‘‘small governmental 

jurisdiction.’’ In addition, the term 

‘‘small business’’ has the same meaning 

as the term ‘‘small-business concern’’ 

under the Small Business Act. A smallbusiness concern’’ is one which: (1) Is 

independently owned and operated; (2) 

is not dominant in its field of operation; 

and (3) satisfies any additional criteria 

established by the SBA. 

25. Small Businesses. Nationwide, 

there are a total of approximately 27.5 

million small businesses, according to 

the SBA. 

26. Wireless Telecommunications 

Carriers (except Satellite). Since 2007, 

the SBA has recognized wireless firms 

within this new, broad, economic 

census category. Prior to that time, such 

firms were within the now-superseded 

categories of Paging and Cellular and 

Other Wireless Telecommunications. 

Under the present and prior categories, 

the SBA has deemed a wireless business 

to be small if it has 1,500 or fewer 

employees. For this category, census 

data for 2007 show that there were 1,383 

firms that operated for the entire year. 

Of this total, 1,368 firms had 999 or 

fewer employees, and 15 had 1,000 

employees or more. Similarly, according 

to Commission data, 413 carriers 

reported that they were engaged in the 

provision of wireless telephony, 

including cellular service, Personal 

Communications Service (PCS), and 

Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) 

Telephony services. Of these, an 

estimated 261 have 1,500 or fewer 

employees, and 152 have more than 

1,500 employees. Consequently, the 

Commission estimates that 

approximately half or more of these 

firms can be considered small. Thus, 

using available data, we estimate that 

the majority of wireless firms can be 

considered small. 

27. Specialized Mobile Radio. The 

Commission awards small business 

bidding credits in auctions for 

Specialized Mobile Radio (‘‘SMR’’) 

geographic area licenses in the 800 MHz 

and 900 MHz bands to entities that had 

revenues of no more than $15 million in 

each of the three previous calendar 

years. The Commission awards very 

small business bidding credits to 

entities that had revenues of no more 

than $3 million in each of the three 

previous calendar years. The SBA has 

approved these small business size 

standards for the 800 MHz and 900 MHz 

SMR Services. The Commission has 

held auctions for geographic area 

licenses in the 800 MHz and 900 MHz 

bands. The 900 MHz SMR auction was 

completed in 1996. Sixty bidders 

claiming that they qualified as small 

businesses under the $15 million size 

standard won 263 geographic area 

licenses in the 900 MHz SMR band. The 

800 MHz SMR auction for the upper 200 

channels was conducted in 1997. Ten 

bidders claiming that they qualified as 

small businesses under the $15 million 

size standard won 38 geographic area 

licenses for the upper 200 channels in 

the 800 MHz SMR band. A second 

auction for the 800 MHz band was 

conducted in 2002 and included 23 BEA 

licenses. One bidder claiming small 

business status won five licenses. 

28. The auction of the 1,053 800 MHz 

SMR geographic area licenses for the 

General Category channels was 

conducted in 2000. Eleven bidders that 

won 108 geographic area licenses for the 

General Category channels in the 800 

MHz SMR band qualified as small 

businesses under the $15 million size 

standard. In an auction completed in 

2000, a total of 2,800 Economic Area 

licenses in the lower 80 channels of the 

800 MHz SMR service were awarded. Of 

the 22 winning bidders, 19 claimed 

small business status and won 129 

licenses. Thus, combining all three 

auctions, 40 winning bidders for 

geographic licenses in the 800 MHz 

SMR band claimed status as small 

business. 

29. In addition, there are numerous 

incumbent site-by-site SMR licensees 

and licensees with extended 

implementation authorizations in the 

800 and 900 MHz bands. We do not 

know how many firms provide 800 MHz 

or 900 MHz geographic area SMR 

pursuant to extended implementation 

authorizations, nor how many of these 

providers have annual revenues of no 

more than $15 million. One firm has 

over $15 million in revenues. In 

addition, we do not know how many of 

these firms have 1,500 or fewer 

employees. We assume, for purposes of 

this analysis, that all of the remaining 

existing extended implementation 

authorizations are held by small 

entities, as that small business size 

standard is approved by the SBA. 

D. Description of Projected Reporting, 

Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance 

Requirements for Small Entities 

30. The proposed rule provides 

regulatory flexibility to all EA-based 800 

MHz SMR licensees. The proposed rule 

would impose limited reporting or 

recordkeeping requirements to the 

extent an EA-based 800 MHz SMR 

licensee seeks to exceed the channel 

spacing and bandwidth limitation in 

§ 90.209 of the Commission’s rules. In 

such cases, the licensee must provide 30 

days advanced written notice to all 

public safety licensees with a base 

station in the affected NPSPAC region 

and within 113 kilometers (70 miles) of 

the border of the affected NPSPAC 

region. Otherwise, the proposed rule 

would impose only a small compliance 

burden. 

E. Steps Taken To Minimize the 

Significant Economic Impact on Small 

Entities, and Significant Alternatives 

Considered 

31. The RFA requires an agency to 

describe any significant alternatives that 

it has considered in reaching its 

proposed approach, which may include 

the following four alternatives (among 

others): (1) The establishment of 

differing compliance or reporting 

requirements or timetables that take into 

account the resources available to small 

entities; (2) the clarification, 

consolidation, or simplification of 

compliance or reporting requirements 

under the rule for small entities; (3) the 

use of performance, rather than design, 

standards; and (4) an exemption from 

coverage of the rule, or any part thereof, 

for small entities. 

32. The Notice is deregulatory in 

nature and imposes only a minor 

compliance requirement on all affected 

entities, including small entities. In 

recognition of the resources available to 

small entities, and in the interest of 

simplified compliance obligations, the 

Notice does not mandate any specific 

form or manner in which entities must 

comply with the reporting requirement. 

Specifically, the Notice proposes to 

require EA-based 800 MHz SMR 

licensees to provide written notice to all 

public safety licensees with a base 

station in the affected NPSPAC region 

and within 113 kilometers (70 miles) of 

the border of the affected NPSPAC 

region if the licensee intends to exceed 

the channel spacing and bandwidth 

limitation. Licensees have the flexibility 

to provide written notice through 

whatever means the licensee chooses. 

We believe this notice is necessary to 

ensure that public safety licensees are 

aware of the operation and can actively 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS

18996 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 61 / Thursday, March 29, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

monitor for any interference issues that 

may arise. While we strive to provide 

flexibility to small entities, because we 

believe that protection of public safety 

licensees is essential and in the public 

interest, we do not propose any 

exemption for small entities. 

F. Federal Rules That May Duplicate, 

Overlap, or Conflict With the Proposed 

Rules 

33. None. 

V. Ordering Clauses 

34. Pursuant to the authority 

contained in sections 1, 2, 4(i), 4(j), 301, 

302, 303, 307, and 308 of the 

Communications Act of 1934, as 

amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 154(i), 

154(j), 301, 302, 303, 307, and 308, this 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is 

adopted. 

35. Pursuant to sections 1, 2, 4(i), 4(j), 

301, and 303 of the Communications 

Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 

152, 154(i), 154(j), 301, 303 and § 1.2 of 

the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR 1.2, the 

Petition for Declaratory Ruling filed on 

June 3, 2011 by Sprint Nextel Corp. is 

denied. 

36. Pursuant to sections 1, 2, 4(i), 4(j), 

301, and 303 of the Communications 

Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 

152, 154(i), 154(j), 301, 303, and § 1.407 

of the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR 

1.407, the Petition for Rulemaking in the 

alternative filed on June 3, 2011 by 

Sprint Nextel Corp. is granted. 

37. The Commission’s Consumer & 

Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference 

Information Center, shall send a copy of 

this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 

including the Initial Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis, to the Chief 

Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 

Business Administration. 

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 90 

Communications equipment, 

Common carriers, Business and 

industry, Radio. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene H. Dortch, 

Secretary. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, the Federal Communications 

Commission proposes to amend 47 CFR 

part 90 as follows: 

PART 90—PRIVATE LAND MOBILE 

RADIO SERVICE 

1. The authority citation for part 90 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Sections 4(i), 11, 303(g), 303(r), 

and 332(c)(7) of the Communications Act of 

1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(i), 161, 

303(g), 303(r), 332(c)(7). 

2. Section 90.209 is amended by 

adding paragraph (b)(7) to read as 

follows: 

§ 90.209 Bandwidth limitations. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(7) Economic Area (EA)-based 

licensees in frequencies 813.5–824/ 

858.5–869 may exceed the standard 

channel spacing and authorized 

bandwidth listed in paragraph (b)(5) of 

this section in any National Public 

Safety Planning Advisory Committee 

Region when all 800 MHz public safety 

licensees in the Region have completed 

band reconfiguration. In any National 

Public Safety Planning Advisory 

Committee Region where the band 

reconfiguration is incomplete, EA-based 

licensees in frequencies 813.5–821/ 

858.5–866 MHz may exceed the 

standard channel spacing and 

authorized bandwidth listed in 

paragraph (b)(5) of this section. Upon all 

800 MHz public safety licensees in a 

region completing band reconfiguration, 

EA-based 800 MHz SMR licensees in the 

821–824/866–869 MHz band would also 

be allowed to exceed the channel 

spacing and authorized bandwidth. 

Licensees authorized to exceed the 

standard channel spacing and 

authorized bandwidth under this 

paragraph must provide at least 30 days 

written notice prior to initiating service 

in the bands listed herein to every 800 

MHz public safety licensee with a base 

station in the affected National Public 

Safety Planning Advisory Committee 

Region, and every 800 MHz public 

safety licensee within 113 kilometers 

(70 miles) of the affected Region. 

[FR Doc. 2012–7588 Filed 3–28–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

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