13636 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 49 / Tuesday, March 14, 1995 / Rules and Regulations

[FR Doc. 95–6160 Filed 3–13–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

47 CFR Parts 1 and 5

[ET Docket No. 93–266; FCC 95–80]

Pioneer’s Preference Rules

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: By this Second Report and

Order, the Commission modifies certain

rules regarding its pioneer’s preference

program. This action is intended to

increase the efficiency of the program by

making it better comport with

competitive bidding authority and the

Commission’s experience administering

it.

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 13, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Rodney Small, Office of Engineering

and Technology, (202) 776–1622.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a

summary of the Commission’s Second

Report and Order, adopted February 28,

1995, and released March 1, 1995. The

full text of this Commission decision is

available for inspection and copying

during regular business hours in the

FCC Reference Center (Room 239), 1919

M Street, NW., Washington, DC. The

complete text of this decision also may

be purchased from the Commission’s

duplication contractor, International

Transcription Service, Inc., (202) 857–

3800, 2100 M Street, NW., Suite 140,

Washington, DC 20037.

Summary of Second Report and Order

1. In the Notice of Proposed Rule

Making (Notice) in this proceeding, 58

FR 57578 (October 26, 1993), the

Commission sought comment on

whether and how the pioneer’s

preference rules could be amended to

take into account competitive bidding

and its experience administering them,

or whether these rules should be

repealed. In the Notice, the Commission

proposed to eliminate the current

policies of issuing public notices

specifying pioneer’s preference filing

deadlines, considering raw

experimental license material that

relates to preference requests, and

making initial determinations on

preference requests. The Commission

also proposed to limit acceptance of

preference requests to services that use

new technologies and proposed that

preference requests be filed prior to a

notice of inquiry (NOI) in a proceeding

that addresses a new service or

technology, if such a document is issued

in advance of a notice of proposed

rulemaking (NPRM), rather than the

current policy of allowing requests to be

filed after an NOI but prior to an NPRM.

In the First Report and Order, 59 FR

8413 (February 22, 1994), the

Commission determined that it would

not apply amendments to its rules to

three proceedings in which tentative

pioneer’s preference decisions had been

issued.

2. In the Second Report and Order,

the Commission determined that the

pioneer’s preference program should be

retained, but it decided to eliminate its

current policies of issuing public

notices specifying filing deadlines,

considering raw experimental license

material that relates to preference

requests, and making initial

determinations on preference requests.

These requirements were originally

imposed to ensure a complete record in

all pioneer’s preference proceedings, but

the Commission said that eliminating

them would result in a more efficient

process with no detriment to the public.

The Commission also adopted its

proposal to require that preference

requests be filed prior to an NOI, if such

a document is issued in advance of an

NPRM. The Commission stated that

deferring the filing deadline to the

NPRM stage in cases in which an NOI

has been issued may encourage

speculative preference requests. Finally,

in response to comments to the Notice,

the Commission required that any

preference grant be conditioned on use

of the technology and system for which

the preference was awarded.

3. The Commission did not adopt its

proposal to limit acceptance of pioneer’s

preference requests to services that use

new technologies. It said that while a

pioneer’s preference should not be

awarded simply for transferring

technologies from existing services in

one band to similar services in another

band, a significant enhancement of an

existing service, under some

circumstances, could be achieved by

combining existing technologies in new

and innovative ways. The Commission

also noted that the recently-enacted

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

(GATT) legislation provides that

preferences be awarded for significant

contributions to the development of a

new service or to the development of

new technologies that substantially

enhance an existing service.

4. Additionally, the Commission

decided that in services in which

licenses are assigned by competitive

bidding, any parties receiving pioneer’s

preferences will be required to pay for

their licenses in accord with the

payment formula specified in the GATT

legislation. The GATT legislation

mandates that recipients of preferences

in service in which licenses are awarded

by competitive bidding and whose

requests were accepted for filing after

September 1, 1994, pay in a lump sum

or in installment payments over a

period of not more than five years 85

percent of the average price paid for

comparable licenses. The Commission

said that it will also use this formula for

any future grants of pioneer’s preference

requests accepted for filing on or before

September 1, 1994 and—in accord with

the GATT legislation—will determine

comparable licenses on a case-by-case

basis.

5. Accordingly, it is ordered That

Parts 1 and 5 of the Commission’s Rules

are amended as specified below,

effective 30 days after publication in the

Federal Register. This action is taken

pursuant to Sections 4(i), 7(a), 303(c),

303(f), 303(g), 303(r), and 309(j) of the

Communications Act of 1934, as

amended, 47 U.S.C. Sections 154(i),

157(a), 303(c), 303(f), 303(g), 303(r), and

309(j).

List of Subjects

47 CFR Part 1

Administrative practice and

procedure.

47 CFR Part 5

Radio.

Federal Communications Commission.

William F. Caton,

Acting Secretary.

Amendatory Text

Parts 1 and 5 of chapter I of title 47

of the Code of Federal Regulations are

amended as follows:

PART 1—PRACTICE AND

PROCEDURE

1. The authority citation for part 1

continues to read as follows:

Authority: Secs. 4, 303, 48 Stat. 1066,

1082, as amended; 47 U.S.C. 154, 303.

Implement 5 U.S.C. 552 and 21 U.S.C. 853a,

unless otherwise noted.

2. Section 1.402 of this chapter is

amended by revising paragraphs (c), (d),

(e), and (g), redesignating paragraph (f)

as new paragraph (h), and adding new

paragraph (f) to read as follows:

§ 1.402 Pioneer’s preference.

* * * * *

(c) Pioneer’s preference requests

relating to a specific new spectrumbased service or technology will not be
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 49 / Tuesday, March 14, 1995 / Rules and Regulations 13637

accepted after the Commission’s

Sunshine Notice is issued announcing

initiation, by either a notice of inquiry

or notice of proposed rule making that

will be considered by the Commission

at a public meeting, of a proceeding

pertaining to that service or technology.

Alternatively, if the Commission

initiates a new proceeding pertaining to

a specific new spectrum-based service

or technology by notation, pioneer’s

preference requests will not be accepted

after such notice is submitted to the

Commission for vote.

(d) Pioneer’s preference requests

complying with the requirements and

procedures in paragraphs (a) through (c)

of this section will be accepted for filing

and listed by file number in a notice of

proposed rule making addressing the

new service or technology proposed in

the request, if such a notice of proposed

rule making is adopted. A final

determination on a request for pioneer’s

preference and its scope will normally

be made in a report and order adopting

new rules for the service or technology

proposed in the request, if such rules

are adopted. If awarded, the pioneer’s

preference will provide that the

preference applicant’s application for a

construction permit or license will not

be subject to mutually exclusive

applications. If granted, the construction

permit or license will be subject to the

conditions in paragraphs (f) and (g) of

this section.

(e) Any interested person may file a

statement in support of or in opposition

to a request for pioneer’s preference

listed in a notice of proposed rule

making, and a reply to such statements,

subject to filing deadlines that shall be

published in the notice of proposed rule

making. Statements on the merits of

pioneer’s preference requests must be

filed separate from, and not part of, any

comments on the rules proposed in the

notice of proposed rule making.

Statements on pioneer’s preference

requests will not be accepted prior to

issuance of the notice of proposed rule

making.

(f) As a condition of its license grant,

a pioneer’s preference grantee will be

required to construct a system that

substantially uses the design and

technologies upon which its pioneer’s

preference award is based within a

reasonable time, as determined by the

Commission, after receiving its license.

Failure to comply with this provision

will result in revocation of the pioneer

grantee’s license, and transfer of the

license will be prohibited until this

requirement is met.

(g) In services in which licenses are

assigned by competitive bidding, any

parties receiving pioneer’s preferences

will be required to pay for their licenses

in accord with the payment formula

specified in the General Agreement on

Tariffs and Trade legislation, Public

Law 103–465. This formula requires that

pioneers pay in a lump sum or in

installment payments over a period of

not more than five years 85 percent of

the average price paid for comparable

licenses. Comparable licenses will be

determined by the Commission on a

case-by-case basis.

* * * * *

3. Section 1.403 is revised to read as

follows:

§ 1.403 Notice and availability.

All petitions for rule making (other

than petitions to amend the FM,

Television, and Air-Ground Tables of

Assignments) meeting the requirements

of § 1.401 will be given a file number

and, promptly thereafter, a ‘‘Public

Notice’’ will be issued (by means of a

Commission release entitled ‘‘Petitions

for Rule Making Filed’’) as to the

petition, file number, nature of the

proposal, and date of filing. Petitions for

rule making are available at the

Commission’s Dockets Reference Center

(1919 M Street NW., Room 239,

Washington, DC).

PART 5—EXPERIMENTAL RADIO

SERVICES (OTHER THAN

BROADCAST)

1. The authority citation for part 5

continues to read as follows:

Authority: Secs. 4, 303, 48 Stat. 1066,

1082, as amended; 47 U.S.C. 154, 303.

Interpret or apply sec. 301, 48 Stat. 1081, as

amended; 47 U.S.C. 301.

2. Section 5.207 is revised to read as

follows:

§ 5.207 Experiments performed in

conjunction with pioneer’s preference

applications.

An applicant for a pioneer’s

preference pursuant to § 1.402 of this

chapter may file an experimental license

application for a limited geographical

area, generally including no more than

one Metropolitan Statistical Area. In

order to be eligible for a preference at

the time of a report and order in a

proceeding addressing a new service or

technology, the experimental applicant

must demonstrate the technical

feasibility of its proposal by

summarizing its experimental results in

its preference application, unless it

instead submits an acceptable showing

of technical feasibility. If a pioneer’s

preference applicant wishes the

Commission to consider in conjunction

with the application experimental

material filed subsequent to the

application, the applicant must

summarize this material and submit the

summary to the Commission prior to the

Sunshine Notice announcing that a

report and order pertaining to the new

service or technology will be considered

by the Commission at a public meeting,

or—if a report and order is considered

by notation—prior to submission of the

report and order to the Commission for

vote. All experimental material must be

summarized and its relevance to the

pioneer’s preference application

explained in order for it to be

considered by the Commission.

[FR Doc. 95–6081 Filed 3–13–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–M

47 CFR Part 61

[CC Docket No. 90–132; FCC 95–2]

Competition in the Interstate

Interexchange Marketplace

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: In this Memorandum Opinion

and Order, the Commission responded

to petitions for reconsideration filed in

response to the Interexchange Order

addressing the remaining issues raised

on reconsideration. The Interexchange

Order examined the state of competition

in the interstate interexchange

marketplace. At that time, the

Commission concluded that most

business services were subject to

substantial competition, and therefore

lifted or streamlined certain regulatory

restrictions on AT&T and other

Interexchange Carriers (IXCs). In this

Memorandum Opinion and Order, the

Commission generally affirmed the

various regulatory reforms adopted in

the Interexchange Order, with certain

minor clarifications and modifications.

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 13, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kevin Werbach at (202) 418–1580,

Policy and Program Planning Division,

Common Carrier Bureau.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a

summary of the Commission’s

Memorandum Opinion and Order on

Reconsideration adopted January 3,

1995, and release February 17, 1995.

The full text of this decision is available

for inspection and copying during

normal business hours in the FCC

Dockets Branch (Room 239), 1919 M

Street NW., Washington, DC. The

complete text of this decision may also

be purchased from the Commission’s

copy contractor, International

Transcription Services, Inc., 2100 M