Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 75 / Friday, April 18, 1997 / Proposed Rules 19095

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[FR Doc. 97–10110 Filed 4–17–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 25

[IB Docket No. 95–91; GEN Docket No. 90–

357; FCC 97–70]

Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Further notice of proposed

rulemaking.

SUMMARY: After carefully reviewing the

comments and information the

Commission received following

issuance of the Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking, the Commission issued

this Further Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking (FNPRM) to seek comment

on its proposal to permit deployment of

satellite Digital Audio Radio Service

(‘‘DARS’’) terrestrial repeaters, or ‘‘gapfillers’’, on an as-needed basis by

satellite DARS licensees to meet their

service requirements. The intended

effect of the Commission’s action in

issuing the NPRM is to seek comment

on whether to adopt the Commission’s

proposed rules for terrestrial repeaters

which are based upon proposals

suggested by comments from CD Radio.

The Commission also seeks comment on

its tentative conclusion to prohibit the

use of terrestrial repeaters to transmit

locally originated programming which

would be inconsistent with the

allocation of the DARS spectrum.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on

or before May 2, 1997. Reply comments

must be submitted on or before May 23,

1997.

ADDRESSES: Office of the Secretary,

Federal Communications Commission,

1919 M Street, N.W., Room 222,

Washington, D.C. 20554.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Rosalee Chiara at (202) 418–0754 or Ron

Repasi at (202) 418–0768 with the

International Bureau, or Amy Zoslov or

Christina Eads Clearwater at (202) 418–

0660 with the Auctions Division of the

Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a

summary of the Further Notice of

Proposed Rulemaking in the Report and

Order and Memorandum Opinion and

Order and Further Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking, 62 FR 11083 (March 11,

1997), IB Docket No. 95–91; GEN Docket

No. 90–357; RM No. 8610; PP–24; PP–

86; and PP–87, FCC 97–70 (adopted and

released March 3, 1997). The complete

text of the Report and Order and

Memorandum Opinion and Order and

Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

is available for inspection and copying

during normal business hours in the

FCC Reference Center (Room 239), 1919

M Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. and

also may be purchased from the

Commission’s copy contractor,

International Transcription Services

(202) 857–3800, 2100 M Street, N.W.,

Suite 140, Washington, D.C. 20037.

Synopsis of the Further Notice of

Proposed Rulemaking in the Report

and Order and Memorandum Opinion

and Order and Further Notice of

Proposed Rulemaking

Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

on Terrestrial Repeaters

1. As discussed in the Report and

Order and Memorandum Opinion and

Order and Further Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking, the Commission is not

mandating a specific service link margin

that satellite DARS operators must

provide in a given geographic area, such

as urban areas. It is important, however,

for the satellite DARS systems to

maintain sufficient service link margin

to reproduce the original information

transmitted by the satellite. In the

NPRM, 60 FR 35166 (July 6, 1995), the

Commission noted that some satellite

DARS applicants intend to implement,

as necessary, terrestrial repeaters, or

‘‘gap-fillers’’, in urban canyons and

other areas where it may be difficult to

receive DARS signals transmitted by a

satellite. These terrestrial gap-fillers

would re-transmit the information from

the satellite to overcome the effects of

signal blockage and multipath

interference. Since the Commission had

no information in the record on the

specifics of operation of these terrestrial

gap-fillers, it sought comment on their

operation to determine what rules

should govern their use.

2. Some commenters expressed

concern about use of terrestrial repeaters

to complement satellite DARS. Tichenor

Media Systems, for example, contends

that satellite DARS should not be

permitted to originate local

programming through the use of

terrestrial repeaters. Similarly, NAB and

WFAN express concern that the use of

terrestrial gap fillers would transform

satellite DARS into a terrestrial based

service. Indeed, in the NPRM the

Commission proposed to prohibit the

operation of terrestrial gap-fillers except

in conjunction with an operating

satellite DARS system to ensure its

complementary nature and so that there

would be no transformation of satellite

DARS into an independent terrestrial

DARS network.

3. Satellite DARS applicants provided

additional information on how

terrestrial gap-fillers will be used with

their satellite DARS systems. The

commenters agree that terrestrial

repeaters would be used to improve

satellite DARS service in the authorized

satellite coverage areas only and on the

same frequencies, and that they would

not be used to extend the satellite

coverage area or be used to originate

programming. CD Radio and DSBC

maintain that terrestrial gap-fillers will

only be complementary to the satellite

DARS systems because they will operate

on the same frequency as the satellite

transmission and only re-transmit the

signals of operating satellite DARS

space stations to improve service link

margin in difficult propagation

environments, especially in urban areas.

Additional spectrum is therefore

unnecessary for satellite DARS gapfillers. Primosphere asserts further that

no commercial inserts or local

programming would be permitted over

terrestrial gap-fillers. Furthermore,

terrestrial gap-fillers will not extend

satellite DARS coverage outside of the

systems’ already authorized service

area. AMRC asserts that they will be

used only to fill in coverage gaps within

the authorized service area caused by

various signal obstructions. Terrestrial

gap-fillers will also be transparent to the

end users because the receiver will

automatically select the stronger of the

satellite or repeater signal.

4. Several commenters suggest that

regulation of terrestrial gap-fillers be as

unrestrictive as possible. CD Radio

favors rules to permit flexible

deployment of terrestrial gap fillers

without prior Commission approval or

notification. Primosphere contends that

it will be important for the Commission

to provide a flexible scheme to

implement terrestrial gap-fillers without

the necessity to seek separate licenses.

DSBC notes that the use of terrestrial

gap-fillers for satellite DARS comports

with the Commission’s authorization of

‘‘boosters’’ as defined in Part 22 of the

Commission’s rules. The comments of

all applicants appear to be reflected in

a proposal by CD Radio, seen for the

first time in its Comments to the NPRM.

5. The Commission did not set forth

a specific proposal for authorizing

terrestrial repeaters in the NPRM. The

Commission now seeks comment on the

proposal to permit deployment of

satellite DARS gap-fillers, on an asneeded basis by satellite DARS licensees

to meet their service requirements. To

accomplish the following important

objectives, the Commission seeks
19096 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 75 / Friday, April 18, 1997 / Proposed Rules

comment on whether to adopt rules for

terrestrial repeaters based on CD Radio’s

proposals, as set forth in Appendix C to

the Report and Order and Memorandum

Opinion and Order and Further Notice

of Proposed Rulemaking. The

Commission agrees that it would be

burdensome for both the Commission

and the licensees if licensees were to

seek separate authorization for each

terrestrial repeater. To this end, the

Commission seeks comment on whether

to adopt a regulatory structure for

satellite DARS terrestrial repeaters

similar to the blanket authorizations

used for mobile earth stations of other

services. At the same time, the

Commission must consider and address

any potential impact that the operation

of these repeaters would have on

services of adjacent countries, any

potential effects of radio frequency

emissions to the public, and must

determine how to ensure any use of

terrestrial repeaters is complementary to

the DARS service and is only for

retransmission of signals received from

the satellite. The Commission also seeks

comment on its tentative conclusion to

prohibit the use of terrestrial repeaters

to transmit locally originated

programming which would be

inconsistent with the allocation of this

spectrum.

6. The Commission certifies that the

proposed rules relating to the

authorization of terrestrial repeaters will

not have a significant economic impact

on a substantial number of small

entities. These rules, if adopted, would

permit but not require the use of such

repeaters to assist in providing higher

quality service and should not

significantly increase the cost of the

systems.

7. The Paperwork Reduction Act does

not apply to the rules adopted herein as

such rules apply to less than ten

persons.

8. This is a non-restricted notice and

comment rulemaking proceeding. Ex

parte presentations are permitted,

except during the Sunshine Agenda

period, provided they are disclosed as

provided in Commission rules. See

generally 47 CFR Sections 1.202, 1.203,

and 1.1206(a).

9. Pursuant to applicable procedures

set forth in sections 1.415 and 1.419 of

the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR 1.415

and 1.419, interested parties may file

comments on or before May 2, 1997 and

reply comments on or before May 23,

1997. To file formally in this

proceeding, you must file an original

and five copies of all comments, reply

comments, and supporting comments. If

you want each Commissioner to receive

a personal copy of your comments, you

must file an original plus nine copies.

You should send comments and reply

comments to Office of the Secretary,

Federal Communications Commission,

Washington, D.C. 20554. Comments and

reply comments will be available for

public inspection during regular

business hours in the FCC Reference

Center of the Federal Communications

Commission, Room 239, 1919 M Street,

N.W., Washington, D.C. 20554.

10. This action is taken pursuant to

Sections 1, 4(i), 4(j), 7, 303(r) and 309(j)

of the Communications Act of 1934, as

amended, 47 U.S.C. §§ 151, 154(i),

154(j), 157, 303(r) and 309(j).

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 25

Communications common carriers,

Communications equipment, Radio,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements, Satellites.

Federal Communications Commission.

William F. Caton,

Acting Secretary.

Proposed Rule Changes

For the reasons stated in the

preamble, the Commission proposes to

amend 47 CFR part 25 as follows:

PART 25—SATELLITE

COMMUNICATIONS

1. The authority citation for Part 25

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 701–744, Sec. 4, as

amended; 47 U.S.C. 154. Interprets or applies

sec. 303, 47 U.S.C. 303. 47 U.S.C. sections

154, 301–303, 307, 309, and 332, unless

otherwise noted.

2. A new paragraph (e) to § 25.144 is

added to read as follows:

§ 25.144 Licensing provisions for the 2.3

GHz satellite digital audio radio service.

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(e) Licensing of satellite DARS

complementary terrestrial repeaters.

Satellite DARS licensees may construct

and operate terrestrial transmitters to

retransmit signals received from their

operating DARS satellite(s) on the

exclusive frequency assignment of the

licensee and for use of the same

bandwidth as the satellite space

station(s). Terrestrial gap-fillers shall

not be used to originate programming or

transmit signals other than those

received from the authorized DARS

satellite. Nor shall terrestrial gap fillers

be used to extend satellite DARS

coverage outside of the satellite systems’

authorized service area. Terrestrial gapfillers may be implemented by a satellite

DARS licensee only after obtaining prior

Commission authorization and the

licensee demonstrates the following:

(1) International coordination.

Satellite DARS licensee must

demonstrate that its repeating

transmitter is located at a distance

sufficiently away from the Canadian and

Mexican borders or otherwise obtain

prior coordination with adjacent

country co-frequency systems;

(2) Antenna structure clearance

required. Satellite DARS licensees shall

demonstrate that its repeating

transmitter construction or alteration

will comply with the requirements of

§ 17.4 of this Chapter;

(3) Environmental. Satellite DARS

licensee shall demonstrate that its

repeating transmitter(s) comply with the

Commission’s Rules for environmental

effects as defined by §§ 1.1301 through

1.1319 of this Chapter.

3. The definition of satellite digital

audio radio service in § 25.201 is

revised to read as follows :

§ 25.201 Definitions

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Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service

(‘‘satellite DARS’’). A

radiocommunication service in which

audio programming is digitally

transmitted by one or more space

stations directly to fixed, mobile, and/or

portable stations, and which may

involve complementary repeating

terrestrial transmitters.

[FR Doc. 97–9728 Filed 4–17–97; 8:45 am]

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