26188 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 91 /Tuesday, May 12, 1998 / Notices

1Pursuant to the recently completed auction of

licenses for the upper 200 channels of the SMR

Service in the 800 MHz band, on March 9, 1998,

Southern was conditionally granted licenses for

frequency block A in BEAs 74, 75, and 78–82. See

FCC Announces the Corrected Conditional Grant of

800 MHz SMR Licenses, Public Notice No. DA 98–

482 (released March 10, 1998).

4. Consideration of Consensus Views,

Proposals, or Option Papers

5. Future Meetings

6. Other Business.

Federal Communications Commission.

Magalie Roman Salas,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–12607 Filed 5–11–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

Sunshine Act Meeting

May 7, 1998.

OPEN COMMISSION MEETING: Thursday,

May 14, 1998.

The Federal Communications

Commission will hold an Open Meeting

on the subjects listed below on

Thursday, May 14, 1998, which is

scheduled to commence at 9:30 a.m. in

Room 856, at 1919 M Street, N.W.,

Washington, D.C.

Item No. Bureau Subject

1 ........................ Common Carrier .......................... Title: Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals

with Hearing and Speech Disabilities.

Summary: The Commission will consider action to amend its rules governing Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS).

2 ........................ Wireless Telecommunications .... Title: Implementation of Section 6002(b) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of

1993; Annual Report of Analysis of Competitive Market Conditions With Respect to

Commercial Mobile Services.

Summary: The Commission will consider a Report fulfilling the requirement of 47 U.S.C.

Section 332(c)(1)(c) (the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, Pub. L. No. 103–

66, Title VI, Section 6002(b)), which directs the Commission to annually report on the

state of competition with respect to commercial mobile radio services.

3 ........................ Office of Engineering and Technology; Common Carrier and

International.

Title: 1998 Biennial Regulatory Review—Amendment of Part 2 of the Commission’s Rules

to Further Streamline the Equipment Authorization Process for Radio Frequency Equipment and to Implement Mutual Recognition Agreements; Amendment of part 68 of the

Commission’s Rules to Modify the Equipment Authorization Process for Telephone Terminal Equipment and to Implement Mutual Recognition Agreements; and Amendment of

Part 25 of the Commission’s Rules to Begin Implementation of the Global Mobile Personal Communications for Satellite (GMPCS) Arrangements.

Summary: The Commission will consider proposed rules to 1) further streamline the

equipment authorization process for radio frequency and telephone terminal equipment;

2) implement a Mutual Recognition agreement with the European Community and allow

for similar agreements with other foreign governmental parties; and 3) set standards for

the approval of equipment used in the Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS) service.

Additional information concerning

this meeting may be obtained from

Maureen Peratino or David Fiske, Office

of Public Affairs, telephone number

(202) 418–0500; TTY (202) 418–2555.

Copies of materials adopted at this

meeting can be purchased from the

FCC’s duplicating contractor,

International Transcription Services,

Inc. (ITS, Inc.) at (202) 857–3800; fax

(202) 857–3805 and 857–3184; or TTY

(202) 293–8810. These copies are

available in paper format and alternative

media, including large print/type;

digital disk; and audio tape. ITS may be

reached by e-mail;

itslinc@ix.netcom.com. Their Internet

address is http://www.itsi.com.

This meeting can be viewed over

George Mason University’s Capitol

Connection. For information on this

service call (703) 993–3100. The audio

portion of the meeting will be broadcast

live on the Internet via the FCC’s

Internet audio broadcast page at

<http://www.fcc.gov/realaudio/>. The

meeting can also be heard via telephone,

for a fee, from National Narrowcast

Network, telephone (202) 966–2211 or

fax (202) 966–1770; and from

Conference Call USA (available only

outside the Washington, D.C.

metropolitan area), telephone 1–800–

962–0044. Audio and video tapes of this

meeting can be purchased from Infocus,

341 Victory Drive, Herndon, VA 20170,

telephone (703) 834–0100; fax number

(703) 834–0111.

Federal Communications Commission.

Magalie Roman Salas,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–12758 Filed 5–8–98; 3:13 pm]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–M

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

[DA 98–808]

Waiver of Business and Industrial/

Land Transportation Channel

Construction Requirements

1. On February 20, 1998, Southern

Company (Southern) filed a Request for

Waiver of Section 90.629 of the

Commission’s Rules to further extend

the extended implementation period for

its Business and Industrial Land

Transportation (I/LT) Category channels

that Southern has converted to

commercial use. Southern, an electric

utility holding company, operates an

800 MHz Specialized Mobile Radio

(SMR) system on Business and I/LT

channels, and on a small number of

SMR and General Category channels.1

The channels were licensed between

1992 and 1994, and Southern received

a five-year extended implementation

period. In 1995, Southern, apparently by

means of intercategory sharing,

converted the Business and I/LT

channels to commercial use. It has

constructed and placed in operation all

of the base stations, and sixty-five

percent of the channels, for which it is

licensed. Southern seeks to extend the

implementation period for its Business

and I/LT channels, which expires on

May 20, 1999, for an additional five

years or until the Commission auctions

those channels, whichever is sooner.

2. In its Request for Waiver, Southern

asserts that a further extension of the

implementation period is necessary

because the current implementation

period is unduly burdensome, frustrates

the purpose of our rules, and is contrary
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 91 /Tuesday, May 12, 1998 / Notices 26189

2The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau has

pending before it a number of applications filed by

single users for large numbers of 800 MHz I/LT and

Business channels. The applicants’ individual

communications requirements do not appear

sufficient to require such large numbers of

channels. The Bureau continues to maintain these

applications in pending status until the Act is fully

implemented.

to the public interest. Southern’s

system, which has a service area of over

120,000 square miles in the

southeastern United States, provides

internal communications for Southern’s

operating companies and provides

service to a large external customer

base, including public utilities, federal,

state, and local governments, and

emergency management agencies, such

as sheriffs’ departments and ambulance

services. The system provides voice

dispatch service, full-duplex telephone

interconnection, short message service

(similar to alphanumeric paging), and

data transmission capabilities. Southern

states that the continued operation of its

system is necessary to maintain

competition in the urban dispatch

service market, and to maintain

dispatch and telephone interconnection

service in rural areas. It also states that

it is at a severe disadvantage with

respect to other Commercial Mobile

Radio Service (CMRS) providers

because the subsequently-adopted

CMRS construction requirement based

on channel usage and population

coverage is more flexible than the

requirement for Business and I/LT

channels.

3. We also note that on April 22, 1998,

the Land Mobile Communications

Council filed a Petition for Rule Making

regarding the allocation of spectrum for

the Private Mobile Radio Services. We

anticipate that the Commission will

resolve the matters raised therein in

another proceeding, but we invite

comments on how the LMCC Petition

and the Southern waiver request relate

to issues the Commission is likely to

consider with regard to implementation

of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (the

Act). The Act, which mandates that

most mutually exclusive license

applications be resolved by competitive

bidding, gives rise to such issues as

whether geographic area licensing for

Business and I/LT channels serves the

public interest, how to define bidder

eligibility for auctions held to award

mutually exclusive licenses for these

channels, how to define the class of

land mobile licensee that is exempt

from licensing by auction, and whether

the existence of the Southern Request

for Waiver and a number of other

applications requesting large numbers of

channels in the I/LT and Business

Categories should be considered when

developing rules for future licensing of

these channels.2

4. Interested parties may file

comments on Southern’s Request for

Waiver on or before May 28, 1998.

Parties interested in submitting reply

comments must do so on or before June

12, 1998. All comments should

reference Southern’s Request for Waiver

with the designated DA number, and

should be filed with the Office of the

Secretary, Federal Communications

Commission, 1919 M St., N.W., Room

222, Washington, D.C. 20554. A copy of

each filing should be sent to

International Transcription Services,

Inc. (ITS), 1231 20th St., N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20036, (202) 857–

3800, and to Scot Stone, Federal

Communications Commission, Wireless

Telecommunications Bureau, Public

Safety and Private Wireless Division,

2025 M St., N.W., Room 8010G, (202)

418–0680 or via e-mail to

sstone@fcc.gov.

5. The full text of the Request for

Waiver, comments, and reply comments

are available for public inspection and

duplication during regular business

hours in the Public Safety and Private

Wireless Division of the Wireless

Telecommunications Bureau, Federal

Communications Commission, 2025 M

St., N.W., Room 8010, Washington, D.C.

20554. Copies also may be obtained

from ITS, 1231 20th St., N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20036, (202) 857–

3800.

6. For further information, contact

Scot Stone of the Public Safety and

Private Wireless Division of the

Wireless Telecommunications Bureau at

(202) 418–0680 or via e-mail to

sstone@fcc.gov.

Federal Communications Commission.

Rosalind Allen,

Deputy Chief, Wireless Telecommunications

Bureau.

[FR Doc. 98–12606 Filed 5–11–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION

Notice of Agreement(s) Filed

The Commission hereby gives notice

of the filing of the following

agreement(s) under the Shipping Act of

1984.

Interested parties can review or obtain

copies of agreements at the Washington,

DC offices of the Commission, 800

North Capitol Street, N.W., Room 962.

Interested parties may submit comments

on an agreement to the Secretary,

Federal Maritime Commission,

Washington, DC 20573, within 10 days

of the date this notice appears in the

Federal Register.

Agreement No.: 217–011620.

Title: Hapag-Lloyd/P&O Nedlloyd Slot

Exchange Agreement.

Parties:

Hapag-Lloyd Container Linie GmbH

(‘‘Hapag’’)

Treated as a single party, referred to

as (‘‘PONL’’) P&O Nedlloyd

Limited, P&O Nedlloyd B.V.

Synopsis: The proposed Agreement

authorizes PONL and Hapag to

exchange slots on vessels owned,

operated or utilized by them in the trade

between North Europe and the U.S.

Atlantic and gulf Coasts, and to engage

in a limited range of related cooperative

arrangements in the trade. The parties

have requested a shortened review

period.

Agreement No.: 217–011621.

Title: Hapag-Lloyd/P&O Nedlloyd/

Sea-Land Space Charter Agreement.

Parties:

Hapag-Lloyd Container Linie GmbH

(‘‘Hapag’’)

Treated as a single party, referred to

as (‘‘PONL’’) P&O Nedlloyd

Limited, P&O Nedlloyd B.V.

Sea-Land Service, Inc. (‘‘Sea-Land’’)

Synopsis: The proposed Agreement

authorizes PONL and Sea-Land to

charter space to Hapag and authorizes

the parties to enter into a limited range

of related cooperative arrangements in

the trade between North Europe and the

U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. The

parties have requested a shortened

review period.

Agreement No.: 224–200870–001.

Title: Port of Oakland/Marine

Terminals Corporation Management

Agreement.

Parties:

Port of Oakland

Marine Terminals Corporation

(‘‘MTC’’).

Synopsis: The proposed Agreement

reduces the annual crane guarantee by

750 hours in MTC’s Management

Agreement with the Port for the Port’s

Seventh Street Marine Container

Terminal. It also provides that the use

of Crane No. X–423 by MTC shall not

count towards MTC’s annual crane

guarantee, and that MTC may use Crane

No. X–423 until such time as the Port

elects to remove it from the facilities.

Agreement No.: 224–201051.

Title: Atlantic Coast Public Marine

Terminal Discussion Agreement.

Parties:

Georgia Ports Authority

Maryland Port Administration

North Carolina State Ports Authority