II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 376

To amend the Communications Satellite Act of 1962 to promote competition

and privatization in satellite communications, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 4, 1999

Mr. BURNS (for himself, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. BRYAN, Mr.

BROWNBACK, and Mr. CLELAND) introduced the following bill; which was

read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and

Transportation

A BILL

To amend the Communications Satellite Act of 1962 to promote competition and privatization in satellite communications, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Open-market Reorga5 nization for the Betterment of International Tele6 communications Act’’.

7 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

8 It is the purpose of this Act to promote a fully com9 petitive domestic and international market for satellite
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1 communications services for the benefit of consumers and

2 providers of satellite services by fully encouraging the pri3 vatization of the intergovernmental satellite organizations,

4 INTELSAT and INMARSAT, and reforming the regu5 latory framework of COMSAT Corporation.

6 SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that:

8 (1) International satellite communications serv9 ices constitute a critical component of global voice,

10 video and data services, play a vital role in the inte11 gration of all nations into the global economy and

12 contribute toward the ability of developing countries

13 to achieve sustainable development.

14 (2) The United States played a pivotal role in

15 stimulating the development of international satellite

16 communications services by enactment of the Com17 munications Satellite Act of 1962 (47 U.S.C. 701–

18 744; hereinafter the ‘‘Satellite Act’’), and by its crit19 ical contributions, through its signatory, COMSAT

20 Corporation (hereinafter ‘‘COMSAT’’), in the estab21 lishment of INTELSAT, which has successfully es22 tablished global satellite networks to provide member

23 countries with worldwide access to telecommuni24 cations services, including critical lifeline services to

25 the developing world.
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1 (3) By statute, COMSAT, a publicly traded cor2 poration, is the sole United States signatory to

3 INTELSAT and, as such, is responsible for carrying

4 out United States commitments under the

5 INTELSAT Agreement and the INTELSAT Oper6 ating Agreement. Pursuant to a binding Head7 quarters Agreement, the United States, as a Party

8 to INTELSAT, has satisfied many of its obligations

9 under the INTELSAT Agreement.

10 (4) In the 37 years since enactment of the Sat11 ellite Act, satellite technology has advanced dramati12 cally, large-scale financing options have improved

13 immensely and international telecommunications

14 policies have shifted from those of natural monopo15 lies to those based on market forces, resulting in

16 multiple private commercial companies around the

17 world providing, or preparing to provide, the domes18 tic, regional, and global satellite telecommunications

19 services that only INTELSAT had previously had

20 the capabilities to offer.

21 (5) Private commercial satellite communications

22 systems now offer the latest telecommunications

23 services to more and more countries of the world

24 with declining costs, making satellite communica25 tions an attractive complement as well as alternative
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1 to terrestrial communications systems, particularly

2 in lesser developed countries.

3 (6) To enable consumers to realize optimum

4 benefits from international satellite communications

5 services, and to enable these systems to be competi6 tive with other international telecommunication sys7 tems, such as fiber optic cable, the global trade and

8 regulatory environment must support vigorous and

9 robust competition.

10 (7) In particular, all satellite systems should

11 have unimpeded access to the markets that they are

12 capable of serving, and the ability to compete in a

13 fair and meaningful way within those markets.

14 (8) Transforming INTELSAT from an inter15 governmental organization into a conventional sat16 ellite services company is a key element in bringing

17 about the emergence of a fully competitive global en18 vironment for satellite services.

19 (9) Consistent with United States obligations

20 under the WTO Basic Agreement on Telecommuni21 cations Services and to prevent the potential distor22 tion of competition in the United States market, a

23 pro-competitive privatization of INTELSAT is an

24 appropriate prerequisite to granting INTELSAT di25 rect access to users in the United States market.
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1 (10) It is in the interest of the United States

2 to remove, by January 1, 2002, the reservation in

3 the Fourth Protocol to the General Agreement on

4 Trade in Services regarding INTELSAT’s access to

5 the United States market through COMSAT, but

6 such reservation cannot be removed without ade7 quate assurance that the U.S. market for satellite

8 services will not be disrupted by such INTELSAT

9 access.

10 (11) The Satellite Act, and other applicable

11 United States laws, need to be updated to encourage

12 the pro-competitive privatization of INTELSAT to

13 update the domestic United States regulatory regime

14 governing COMSAT, and to ensure a competitively

15 neutral United States framework for the provision of

16 domestic and international telecommunications serv17 ices via satellite systems.

18 SEC. 4. REVISION OF COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE ACT OF

19 1962.

20 (a) CREATION OF CORPORATION.—Section 301 of the

21 Communications Satellite Act of 1962 (47 U.S.C. 731) is

22 amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 301. CREATION OF CORPORATION.

2 ‘‘The Corporation shall be subject to the provisions

3 of this Act. The right to repeal, alter, or amend this Act

4 at any time is expressly reserved.’’.

5 (b) SATELLITE SERVICES COMPETITION AND PRI6 VATIZATION.—The Communications Satellite Act of 1962

7 (47 U.S.C. 701) is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing:

9 ‘‘TITLE VI—SATELLITE SERVICES

10 COMPETITION AND PRIVAT11 IZATION

12 ‘‘Subtitle A—Transition to a

13 Privatized INTELSAT

14 ‘‘SEC. 601. POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES.

15 ‘‘It is the policy of the United States to—

16 ‘‘(1) encourage INTELSAT to privatize in a

17 pro-competitive manner as soon as possible, but not

18 later than January 1, 2002, recognizing the need for

19 a reasonable transition and process to achieve a full,

20 pro-competitive restructuring; and

21 ‘‘(2) work constructively with its international

22 partners in INTELSAT, and with INTELSAT

23 itself, to bring about a prompt restructuring that

24 will ensure fair competition, both in the United

25 States as well as in the global markets served by the

26 INTELSAT system.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 602. ROLE OF COMSAT.

2 ‘‘(a) ADVOCACY.—As the sole United States signa3 tory to INTELSAT, COMSAT shall act as an advocate

4 of pro-competitive privatization of INTELSAT, and shall

5 exercise its voting rights with INTELSAT consistent with

6 that mission and the United States instructional process.

7 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORTS.—COMSAT shall report an8 nually to the Committee on Commerce of the House of

9 Representatives and the Committee on Commerce,

10 Science, and Transportation of the Senate on the progress

11 being made by INTELSAT to privatize in a pro-competi12 tive manner.

13 ‘‘SEC. 603. RESTRICTIONS PENDING PRIVATIZATION.

14 ‘‘(a) INTELSAT ACCESS TO UNITED STATES MAR15 KET.—INTELSAT shall be prohibited from entering the

16 United States market directly to provide any satellite com17 munications services or space segment capacity to carriers

18 (other than the United States signatory, COMSAT) or end

19 users in the United States prior to achieving a pro-com20 petitive privatization certified by the President pursuant

21 to section 612.

22 ‘‘(b) SERVICE RESTRICTIONS.—Until the President

23 makes a certification pursuant to section 612, the follow24 ing services provided by the INTELSAT system shall not

25 be authorized in the United States by the Federal Commu26 nications Commission: direct-to-home satellite services, di-
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1 rect broadcast satellite services, satellite digital audio

2 radio services, and satellite communications services in the

3 Ka Band. The preceding sentence may be waived by the

4 President if the President finds that the provision of such

5 service would enhance national security or serve a vital

6 public interest. This provision is not intended to disrupt

7 or otherwise jeopardize the continuing provision of existing

8 authorized services in the United States via the

9 INTELSAT system.

10 ‘‘Subtitle B—Privatization of

11 INTELSAT

12 ‘‘SEC. 611. PRIVATIZATION.

13 ‘‘The President shall secure a pro-competitive privat14 ization of INTELSAT as soon as practicable, but no later

15 than January 1, 2002. Such privatization shall be con16 firmed by a final decision of the INTELSAT Assembly

17 of Parties.

18 ‘‘SEC. 612. PROVISION OF SERVICES IN THE UNITED STATES

19 BY INTERGOVERNMENTAL SATELLITE ORGA20 NIZATION AFFILIATES.

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In order to achieve the objectives

22 and carry out the purposes of the Open-market Reorga23 nization for the Betterment of International Tele24 communications Act, the Commission—
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1 ‘‘(1) shall apply a presumption in favor of entry

2 to an IGO affiliate licensed by a WTO Member for

3 services covered by U.S. commitments under the

4 WTO Basic Telecom Agreement;

5 ‘‘(2) may attach conditions to any grant of au6 thority to an IGO affiliate that raises the potential

7 for competitive harm; or

8 ‘‘(3) shall in the exceptional case in which an

9 application by an IGO affiliate would pose a very

10 high risk to competition in the U.S. satellite market,

11 deny the application.

12 ‘‘(b) DETERMINATION FACTORS.—In determining

13 whether an application to serve the United States market

14 by an IGO affiliate raises the potential for competitive

15 harm under (a)(2), the FCC shall consider any potential

16 anti-competitive or market distorting consequences of con17 tinued relationships or connections between an IGO and

18 its affiliates, including:

19 ‘‘(1) whether the affiliate is structured to pre20 vent practices such as collusive behavior or cross21 subsidization;

22 ‘‘(2) the degree of affiliation between the IGO

23 and its affiliate;

24 ‘‘(3) whether the affiliate can directly or indi25 rectly benefit from IGO privileges and immunities;
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1 ‘‘(4) the ownership structure of the affiliate and

2 the effect of IGO and other Signatory ownership;

3 ‘‘(5) the existence of clearly defined arm’s4 length conditions governing the affiliate-IGO rela5 tionship including separate officers, directors, em6 ployees, and accounting systems;

7 ‘‘(6) the existence of fair market valuing for

8 permissible business transactions between an IGO

9 and its affiliate that is verifiable by an independent

10 audit and consistent with normal commercial prac11 tice;

12 ‘‘(7) the existence of common marketing;

13 ‘‘(8) the availability of recourse to IGO assets

14 for credit or capital; and

15 ‘‘(9) whether an IGO registers or coordinates

16 spectrum or orbital locations on behalf of its affili17 ate.

18 ‘‘(c) SUNSET.—The provisions of this section shall

19 cease to have effect upon the certification by the President

20 pursuant to section 613(b).

21 ‘‘SEC. 613. CERTIFICATION.

22 ‘‘(a) APPLICATION.—Upon a final decision of the

23 INTELSAT Assembly of Parties creating the legal struc24 ture and characteristics of the privatized INTELSAT,

25 INTELSAT shall file a request with the President for cer-
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1 tification that the privatized INTELSAT’s entry into the

2 United States market for satellite services will not distort

3 competition in that market.

4 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION.—Upon application by

5 INTELSAT, the President shall make such determination

6 in accordance with the pro-competitive criteria in sub7 section (c), and shall take into consideration all other rel8 evant competitive factors, including factors related to

9 other competitors in the United States and global market

10 for satellite services.

11 ‘‘(c) CRITERIA.—In making a determination pursu12 ant to subsection (b), the President shall determine that

13 a privatized INTELSAT—

14 ‘‘(1) has no privileges or immunities limiting

15 legal accountability, commercial transparency or tax16 ation;

17 ‘‘(2) has submitted to the jurisdiction of com18 petition and independent regulatory authorities of a

19 nation that is a signatory to the World Trade Orga20 nization Agreement on Basic Telecommunications

21 and that has implemented or accepted the agree22 ment’s reference paper on regulatory principles;

23 ‘‘(3) can offer assurance of an arm’s-length re24 lationship in all respects between itself and any affil25 iate, including New Skies, and in particular with re-
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1 spect to technical, financial, and management con2 tracts;

3 ‘‘(4) can demonstrate that the valuation of as4 sets to be transferred post-privatization is in accord5 ance with generally accepted accounting principles;

6 ‘‘(5) has access to orbital locations and associ7 ated spectrum post-privatization in accordance with

8 the same regulatory processes applicable to other

9 commercial satellite systems;

10 ‘‘(6) conducts technical coordinations post-pri11 vatization under normal, established ITU proce12 dures;

13 ‘‘(7) has an ownership structure in the form of

14 a stock corporation or other similar and accepted

15 commercial mechanism, and a commitment to a

16 timely initial public offering has been established for

17 the sale or purchase of company shares;

18 ‘‘(8) does not enter into agreements or arrange19 ments to secure exclusive access to any national tele20 communications market; and

21 ‘‘(9) will have accomplished a privatization con22 sistent with the criteria listed in this subsection at

23 the earliest possible date, but not later than January

24 1, 2002.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 614. FCC REVIEW OF LICENSE APPLICATIONS.

2 ‘‘(a) APPLICATION.—If the President makes such a

3 certification pursuant to section 613, the following appli4 cations and Letters of Intent to provide satellite commu5 nications services by or via the privatized INTELSAT,

6 internationally or within the domestic United States, oth7 erwise permitted by law, may be filed with the Commission

8 provided that no instrument of authorization may be

9 granted prior to the implementation of the certified privat10 ization:

11 ‘‘(1) Applications for a satellite Earth station

12 or space station under title III of the Communica13 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 301 et seq.).

14 ‘‘(2) Letters of Intent to provide service in the

15 United States via non-U.S.-licensed space segment.

16 ‘‘(3) Applications under section 214 of the

17 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 214).

18 ‘‘(b) PUBLIC INTEREST DETERMINATION.—Except

19 as provided in subsection (c), nothing in this Act shall re20 strict or expand the Commission’s ability to make a public

21 interest determination concerning any application pertain22 ing to a privatized INTELSAT’s entry into the United

23 States market.

24 ‘‘(c) EFFECT OF PRESIDENTIAL CERTIFICATION ON

25 COMMISSION DELIBERATIONS.—The Commission shall be

26 bound by the President’s privatization certification made
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1 pursuant to section 613 for purposes of any license appli2 cation, including space segment and Earth station applica3 tions, pending before the Federal Communications Com4 mission which pertains to a privatized INTELSAT’s entry

5 into the United States market.

6 ‘‘SEC. 614. FAILURE TO PRIVATIZE IN A TIMELY MANNER.

7 ‘‘(a) REPORT.—In the event that INTELSAT fails

8 to fully privatize as provided in sections 611 and 612 by

9 January 1, 2002, the President shall—

10 (1) immediately commence deliberations to de11 termine what additional measures should be imple12 mented to ensure the rapid privatization of

13 INTELSAT;

14 (2) no later than March 31, 2002, issue a re15 port delineating such measures to the Committee on

16 Commerce of the House of Representatives, and

17 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor18 tation of the Senate; and

19 (3) withdraw as a Party from INTELSAT.

20 ‘‘(b) RESERVATION CLAUSE.—The President may de21 termine that, in consideration of progress made, it is in

22 the national interest of the United States to provide a rea23 sonable extension of time for completion of privatization.
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1 ‘‘Subtitle C—COMSAT Governance

2 and Operation

3 ‘‘SEC. 621. ELIMINATION OF PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—COMSAT shall not have any

5 privilege or immunity on the basis of its status as a signa6 tory or a representative of the Party to INTELSAT, ex7 cept that COMSAT retains its privileges and

8 immunities—

9 ‘‘(1) for those actions taken in its role as the

10 United States signatory to INTELSAT upon in11 struction of the United States Government;

12 ‘‘(2) for actions taken when acting as the

13 United States signatory in fulfilling obligations

14 under the INTELSAT Operating Agreement;

15 ‘‘(3) for INTELSAT signatory activities which

16 COMSAT does not support; and

17 ‘‘(4) in accordance with any other exceptions as

18 the President shall make in accordance with sub19 section (b).

20 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—The President, or the Presi21 dent’s designee, shall ensure that any action authorized

22 by the exception is consistent with the purposes of this

23 Act and COMSAT’s responsibilities as the United States

24 signatory.
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1 ‘‘(c) NO JOINT OR SEVERAL LIABILITY.—If COM2 SAT is found liable for any action taken in its status as

3 a signatory or a representative of the Party to

4 INTELSAT, any such liability shall be limited to the por5 tion of the judgment that corresponds to COMSAT’s per6 centage of the responsibility, as determined by the trier

7 of fact.

8 ‘‘(d) PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF ELIMINATION.—The

9 elimination of privileges and immunities contained in this

10 section shall apply only to actions or decisions taken by

11 COMSAT after the date of enactment of this section.

12 ‘‘SEC 622. ABROGATION OF CONTRACTS PROHIBITED.

13 ‘‘Nothing in this Act or the Communications Act of

14 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) shall be construed to modify

15 or invalidate any contract or agreement involving COM16 SAT, INTELSAT, or any terms or conditions of such

17 agreement in force on the date of enactment of the Open18 market Reorganization for the Betterment of Inter19 national Telecommunications Act, or to give the Commis20 sion authority, by rule-making or any other means, to in21 validate any such contract or agreement, or any terms and

22 conditions of such contract or agreement.

23 ‘‘SEC. 623. PERMITTED COMSAT INVESTMENT.

24 ‘‘Nothing in this Act shall be construed as precluding

25 COMSAT from investing in or owning satellites or other
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1 facilities independent from INTELSAT, or from providing

2 services through reselling capacity over the facilities of

3 satellite systems independent from INTELSAT. This sec4 tion shall not be construed as restricting the types of con5 tracts which can be executed or services which may be pro6 vided by COMSAT over the independent satellites or facili7 ties described in this subsection.

8 ‘‘Subtitle D—General Provisions

9 ‘‘SEC. 631. PROMOTION OF EFFICIENT USE OF ORBITAL

10 SLOTS AND SPECTRUM.

11 ‘‘All satellite system operators authorized to access

12 the United States market shall make efficient and timely

13 use of orbital and spectrum resources in order to ensure

14 that these resources are not warehoused to the detriment

15 of other new or existing satellite system operators. Where

16 these assurances cannot be provided, satellite system oper17 ators shall relinquish their rights to these resources.

18 ‘‘SEC. 632. PROHIBITION ON PROCUREMENT PREF19 ERENCES.

20 ‘‘Nothing in this title or the Communications Act of

21 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) shall be construed to author22 ize or require any preference in Federal Government pro23 curement of telecommunications services, for the satellite

24 space segment provided by INTELSAT, nor shall any25 thing in this title or the Communications Act of 1934 be
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1 construed to result in a bias against the use of

2 INTELSAT through existing or future contract awards.

3 ‘‘SEC. 633. SATELLITE AUCTIONS.

4 ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the

5 Commission shall not assign by competitive bidding orbital

6 locations or spectrum used for the provision of inter7 national or global satellite communications services. The

8 President shall oppose in the International Telecommuni9 cations Union and in other bilateral and multilateral fora

10 any assignment by competitive bidding of orbital locations

11 or spectrum used for the provision of such services.

12 ‘‘SEC. 634. RELATIONSHIPS TO OTHER LAWS.

13 ‘‘Whenever the application of the provisions of this

14 Act is inconsistent with the provisions of the Communica15 tions Act of 1934, the provisions of this Act shall govern.

16 ‘‘Subtitle E—Definitions

17 ‘‘SEC. 641. DEFINITIONS.

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In this title:

19 ‘‘(1) INTELSAT.—The term ‘INTELSAT’

20 means the International Telecommunications Sat21 ellite Organization established pursuant to the

22 Agreement Relating to the International Tele23 communications Satellite Organization

24 (INTELSAT).
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1 ‘‘(2) COMSAT.—The term ‘COMSAT’ means

2 the corporation established pursuant to title III of

3 this Act.

4 ‘‘(3) SIGNATORY.—The term ‘signatory’ means

5 a Party, or the telecommunications entity designed

6 by a Party, that has signed the Operating Agree7 ment and for which such Agreement has entered

8 into force or to which such Agreement has been pro9 visionally applied.

10 ‘‘(4) PARTY.—The term ‘Party’ means, in the

11 case of INTELSAT, a nation for which the

12 INTELSAT agreement has entered into force or

13 been provisionally applied.

14 ‘‘(5) COMMISSION.—The term ‘Commission’

15 means the Federal Communications Commission.

16 ‘‘(6) INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION

17 UNION.—The term ‘International Telecommuni18 cation Union’ (ITU) means the intergovernmental

19 organization that is a specialized agency of the

20 United Nations in which member countries cooper21 ate for the development of telecommunications, in22 cluding adoption of international regulations govern23 ing terrestrial and space uses of the frequency spec24 trum as well as use of the geostationary orbital arc.
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1 ‘‘(7) PRIVATIZED INTELSAT.—The term

2 ‘privatized INTELSAT’ means any entity created

3 from the privatization of INTELSAT from the as4 sets of INTELSAT.

5 ‘‘(8) ORBITAL LOCATION.—The term ‘orbital lo6 cation’ means the location for placement of a sat7 ellite in geostationary orbits as defined in the Inter8 national Telecommunication Union Radio Regula9 tions.

10 ‘‘(9) SPACE SEGMENT.—The term ‘space seg11 ment’ means the satellites, and the tracking, telem12 etry, command, control, monitoring and related fa13 cilities and equipment used to support the operation

14 of satellites owned or leased by INTELSAT.

15 ‘‘(10) INTELSAT AGREEMENT.—The term

16 ‘INTELSAT agreement’ means the agreement relat17 ing to the International Telecommunications Sat18 ellite Organization (‘INTELSAT’), including all of

19 its annexes (TIAS 7532, 23 UST 3813).

20 ‘‘(11) OPERATING AGREEMENT.—The term ‘op21 erating agreement’ means, in the case of

22 INTELSAT, the agreement, including its annex but

23 excluding all titles of articles, opened for signature

24 at Washington on August 20, 1971, by Governments

25 or telecommunications entities designated by Gov-
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1 ernments in accordance with the provisions of The

2 Agreement.

3 ‘‘(12) HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT.—The term

4 ‘headquarters agreement’ means the binding inter5 national agreement, dated November 24, 1976, be6 tween the United States and INTELSAT covering

7 privileges, exemptions, and immunities with respect

8 to the location of INTELSAT’s headquarters in

9 Washington, D.C.

10 ‘‘(13) DIRECT-TO-HOME SATELLITE SERV11 ICES.—The term ‘direct-to-home satellite services’

12 means the distribution or broadcasting of program13 ming or services by satellite directly to the subscrib14 er’s premises without the use of ground receiving or

15 distribution equipment, except at the subscriber’s

16 premises or in the uplink process to the satellite.

17 ‘‘(14) SATELLITE DIGITAL AUDIO RADIO SERV18 ICE.—The term ‘satellite digital audio radio service’

19 means a radiocommunication service in which audio

20 programming is digitally transmitted by one or more

21 space stations directly to fixed, mobile, or portable

22 earth stations, and which may involve complemen23 tary repeating terrestrial transmitters, telemetry,

24 tracking and control facilities.
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1 ‘‘(15) DIRECT BROADCAST SATELLITE SERV2 ICE.—The term ‘direct broadcast satellite service’

3 means a radiocommunication service in which sig4 nals transmitted or retransmitted by space stations

5 are intended for direct reception by the general pub6 lic. In the Direct Broadcast Satellite Service the

7 term ‘direct reception’ shall encompass both individ8 ual reception and community reception.

9 ‘‘(16) EXISTING AUTHORIZED SERVICES.—All

10 services authorized to be provided by COMSAT via

11 the INTELSAT system as of January 1, 1999.

12 ‘‘(17) IGO.—The term ‘IGO’ means the Inter13 governmental Satellite organizations, INTELSAT

14 and INMARSAT.

15 ‘‘(18) IGO AFFILIATE.—The term ‘IGO affili16 ate’ means any entity in which an IGO owns an eq17 uity interest of 10 percent or more.

18 ‘‘(b) COMMON TERMS.—Except as otherwise provided

19 in subsection (a), terms used in this title that are defined

20 in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

21 U.S.C. 153) have the meaning provided in such section.’’.

22 SEC. 5. REPEAL OF OWNERSHIP AND STRUCTURAL PROVI23 SIONS.

24 Effective as of the date of the enactment of this Act,

25 the following provisions of the Communications Satellite
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1 Act of 1962 (47 U.S.C. 701 et seq.) shall cease to be effec2 tive:

3 (1) Subsections (a) and (b) of section 201.

4 (2) Paragraphs (1) through (10) of section

5 201(c).

6 (3) Sections 302, 303, and 304.

7 (4) Section 305(c).

8 (5) Section 402.

9 (6) Section 403(a).

10 (7) Section 404.

11 SEC. 6. INTERNATIONAL MARITIME SATELLITE TELE12 COMMUNICATIONS ACT AMENDMENTS.

13 (a) CONTINUING PROVISION OF GLOBAL SATELLITE

14 SAFETY SERVICES AFTER PRIVATIZATION OF BUSINESS

15 OPERATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL MOBILE SATELLITE

16 ORGANIZATION.—

17 (1) AUTHORITY.—The International Maritime

18 Satellite Telecommunications Act (47 U.S.C. 751 et

19 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

20 ‘‘SEC. 506. GLOBAL SATELLITE SAFETY SERVICES AFTER

21 PRIVATIZATION OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS

22 OF INMARSAT.

23 ‘‘In order to ensure the continued provision of global

24 maritime distress and safety satellite telecommunications

25 services after privatization of the business operations of
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1 INMARSAT, the President may maintain on behalf of the

2 United States membership in the International Mobile

3 Satellite Organization.’’.

4 (b) REPEAL OF SUPERSEDED AUTHORITY.—

5 (1) REPEAL.—That Act is further amended by

6 striking sections 502, 503, 504, and 505 (47 U.S.C.

7 751, 752, 753, and 757).

8 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made

9 by paragraph (1) shall take effect on the date on

10 which the International Mobile Satellite Organiza11 tion ceases to operate directly a global mobile sat12 ellite system.

Æ