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utive branch, may restrict foreign ownership of a
United States signatory if the Commission deter-
mines that not to do so would constitute a threat to
national security.
‘‘(2) NO SIGNATORIES REQUIRED.—The United
States Government shall not require signatories to
represent the United States in INTELSAT or
Inmarsat or in any successor entities after a pro-
competitive privatization is achieved consistent with
sections 621, 622, and 624.
‘‘(b) CLARIFICATION OF PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNI-
TIES OF COMSAT.—
‘‘(1) GENERALLY NOT IMMUNIZED.—Notwith-
standing any other law or executive agreement,
COMSAT shall not be entitled to any privileges or
immunities under the laws of the United States or
any State on the basis of its status as a signatory
of INTELSAT or Inmarsat.
‘‘(2) LIMITED IMMUNITY.—COMSAT and any
other company functioning as United States signa-
tory to INTELSAT or Inmarsat shall not be liable
for action taken by it in carrying out the specific,
written instruction of the United States issued in
connection with its relationships and activities with
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foreign governments, international entities, and the
intergovernmental satellite organizations.
‘‘(3) PROVISIONS
PROSPECTIVE.—Paragraph
(1) shall not apply with respect to liability for any
action taken by COMSAT before the date of enact-
ment of the Communications Satellite Competition
and Privatization Act of 1998.
‘‘(c) PARITY OF TREATMENT.—Notwithstanding any
other law or executive agreement, the Commission shall
have the authority to impose similar regulatory fees on
the United States signatory which it imposes on other en-
tities providing similar services.
‘‘SEC. 644. ELIMINATION OF PROCUREMENT PREFERENCES.
‘‘Nothing in this title or the Communications Act of
1934 shall be construed to authorize or require any pref-
erence, in Federal Government procurement of tele-
communications services, for the satellite space segment
provided by INTELSAT, Inmarsat, or any successor en-
tity or separated entity.
‘‘SEC. 645. USE OF ITU TECHNICAL COORDINATION.
‘‘The Commission and United States satellite compa-
nies shall utilize the International Telecommunication
Union 
procedures 
for 
technical 
coordination 
with
INTELSAT and its successor entities and separated enti-
ties, rather than INTELSAT procedures.
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‘‘SEC. 646. TERMINATION OF COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE
ACT OF 1962 PROVISIONS.
‘‘Effective on the dates specified, the following provi-
sions of this Act shall cease to be effective:
‘‘(1) Date of enactment of this title: Sections
101 and 102; paragraphs (1), (5) and (6) of section
201(a); section 301; section 303; section 502; and
paragraphs (2) and (4) of section 504(a).
‘‘(2) On the effective date of the Commission’s
order that establishes direct access to INTELSAT
space segment: Paragraphs (1), (3) through (5), and
(8) through (10) of section 201(c); and section 304.
‘‘(3) On the effective date of the Commission’s
order that establishes direct access to Inmarsat
space segment: Subsections (a) through (d) of sec-
tion 503.
‘‘(4) On the effective date of a Commission
order determining under section 601(b)(2) that
Inmarsat privatization is consistent with criteria in
sections 621 and 624: Section 504(b).
‘‘(5) On the effective date of a Commission
order determining under section 601(b)(2) that
INTELSAT privatization is consistent with criteria
in sections 621 and 622: Paragraphs (2) and (4) of
section 201(a); section 201(c)(2); subsection (a) of
section 403; and section 404.
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‘‘SEC. 647. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.
‘‘(a) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The President and the
Commission shall report to the Committees on Commerce
and International Relations of the House of Representa-
tives and the Committees on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation and Foreign Relations of the Senate with-
in 90 calendar days of the enactment of this title, and
not less than annually thereafter, on the progress made
to achieve the objectives and carry out the purposes and
provisions of this title. Such reports shall be made avail-
able immediately to the public.
‘‘(b) CONTENTS OF REPORTS.—The reports submit-
ted pursuant to subsection (a) shall include the following:
‘‘(1) Progress with respect to each objective
since the most recent preceding report.
‘‘(2) Views of the Parties with respect to privat-
ization.
‘‘(3) Views of industry and consumers on pri-
vatization.
‘‘(4) Impact privatization has had on United
States industry, United States jobs, and United
States industry’s access to the global marketplace.
‘‘SEC. 648. CONSULTATION WITH CONGRESS.
‘‘The President’s designees and the Commission shall
consult with the Committees on Commerce and Inter-
national Relations of the House of Representatives and
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the Committees on Commerce, Science, and Transpor-
tation and Foreign Relations of the Senate prior to each
meeting of the INTELSAT or Inmarsat Assembly of Par-
ties, the INTELSAT Board of Governors, the Inmarsat
Council, or appropriate working group meetings.
‘‘SEC. 649. SATELLITE AUCTIONS.
‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
Commission shall not have the authority to assign by com-
petitive bidding orbital locations or spectrum used for the
provision of international or global satellite communica-
tions services. The President shall oppose in the Inter-
national Telecommunication Union and in other bilateral
and multilateral fora any assignment by competitive bid-
ding of orbital locations or spectrum used for the provision
of such services.
‘‘Subtitle D—Negotiations To
Pursue Privatization
‘‘SEC. 661. METHODS TO PURSUE PRIVATIZATION.
‘‘The President shall secure the pro-competitive
privatizations required by this title in a manner that meets
the criteria in subtitle B.
‘‘Subtitle E—Definitions
‘‘SEC. 681. DEFINITIONS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—As used in this title:
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‘‘(1) INTELSAT.—The term ‘INTELSAT’
means the International Telecommunications Sat-
ellite Organization established pursuant to the
Agreement Relating to the International Tele-
communications 
Satellite 
Organization
(INTELSAT).
‘‘(2) INMARSAT.—The term ‘Inmarsat’ means
the International Mobile Satellite Organization es-
tablished pursuant to the Convention on the Inter-
national Maritime Organization.
‘‘(3) SIGNATORIES.—The term ‘signatories’—
‘‘(A) in the case of INTELSAT, or
INTELSAT successors or separated entities,
means a Party, or the telecommunications en-
tity designated by a Party, that has signed the
Operating Agreement and for which such
Agreement has entered into force or to which
such Agreement has been provisionally applied;
and
‘‘(B) in the case of Inmarsat, or Inmarsat
successors or separated entities, means either a
Party to, or an entity that has been designated
by a Party to sign, the Operating Agreement.
‘‘(4) PARTY.—The term ‘Party’—
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‘‘(A) in the case of INTELSAT, means a
nation for which the INTELSAT agreement
has entered into force or been provisionally ap-
plied; and
‘‘(B) in the case of Inmarsat, means a na-
tion for which the Inmarsat convention has en-
tered into force.
‘‘(5) COMMISSION.—The term ‘Commission’
means the Federal Communications Commission.
‘‘(6) 
INTERNATIONAL
TELECOMMUNICATION
UNION.—The term ‘International Telecommuni-
cation Union’ means the intergovernmental organi-
zation that is a specialized agency of the United Na-
tions in which member countries cooperate for the
development of telecommunications, including adop-
tion of international regulations governing terrestrial
and space uses of the frequency spectrum as well as
use of the geostationary satellite orbit.
‘‘(7) SUCCESSOR ENTITY.—The term ‘successor
entity’—
‘‘(A) means any privatized entity created
from the privatization of INTELSAT or
Inmarsat or from the assets of INTELSAT or
Inmarsat; but
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‘‘(B) does not include any entity that is a
separated entity.
‘‘(8) SEPARATED
ENTITY.—The term ‘sepa-
rated entity’ means a privatized entity to whom a
portion of the assets owned by INTELSAT or
Inmarsat are transferred prior to full privatization
of INTELSAT or Inmarsat, including in particular
the entity whose structure was under discussion by
INTELSAT as of March 25, 1998, but excluding
ICO.
‘‘(9) ORBITAL LOCATION.—The term ‘orbital lo-
cation’ means the location for placement of a sat-
ellite on the geostationary orbital arc as defined in
the International Telecommunication Union Radio
Regulations.
‘‘(10) SPACE SEGMENT.—The term ‘space seg-
ment’ means the satellites, and the tracking, telem-
etry, command, control, monitoring and related fa-
cilities and equipment used to support the operation
of satellites owned or leased by INTELSAT,
Inmarsat, or a separated entity or successor entity.
‘‘(11) NON-CORE
SERVICES.—The term ‘non-
core services’ means, with respect to INTELSAT
provision, services other than public-switched net-
work voice telephony and occasional-use television,
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and with respect to Inmarsat provision, services
other than global maritime distress and safety serv-
ices or other existing maritime or aeronautical serv-
ices for which there are not alternative providers.
‘‘(12) ADDITIONAL SERVICES.—The term ‘addi-
tional services’ means Internet services, high-speed
data, interactive services, non-maritime or non-aero-
nautical mobile services, Direct to Home (DTH) or
Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) video services, or
Ka-band services.
‘‘(13) INTELSAT 
AGREEMENT.—The term
‘INTELSAT Agreement’ means the Agreement Re-
lating to the International Telecommunications Sat-
ellite Organization (‘INTELSAT’), including all its
annexes (TIAS 7532, 23 UST 3813).
‘‘(14) HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT.—The term
‘Headquarters Agreement’ means the International
Telecommunication Satellite Organization Head-
quarters Agreement (November 24, 1976) (TIAS
8542, 28 UST 2248).
‘‘(15) OPERATING
AGREEMENT.—The term
‘Operating Agreement’ means—
‘‘(A) in the case of INTELSAT, the agree-
ment, including its annex but excluding all ti-
tles of articles, opened for signature at Wash-
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ington on August 20, 1971, by Governments or
telecommunications entities designated by Gov-
ernments in accordance with the provisions of
the Agreement; and
‘‘(B) in the case of Inmarsat, the Operat-
ing Agreement on the International Maritime
Satellite Organization, including its annexes.
‘‘(16) 
INMARSAT
CONVENTION.—The 
term
‘Inmarsat Convention’ means the Convention on the
International 
Maritime 
Satellite 
Organization
(Inmarsat) (TIAS 9605, 31 UST 1).
‘‘(17) NATIONAL
CORPORATION.—The term
‘national corporation’ means a corporation the own-
ership of which is held through publicly traded secu-
rities, and that is incorporated under, and subject
to, the laws of a national, state, or territorial gov-
ernment.
‘‘(18) COMSAT.—The term ‘COMSAT’ means
the corporation established pursuant to title III of
the Communications Satellite Act of 1962 (47
U.S.C. 731 et seq.)
‘‘(19) ICO.—The term ‘ICO’ means the com-
pany known, as of the date of enactment of this
title, as ICO Global Communications, Inc.
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‘‘(20) REPLACEMENT
SATELLITE.—The term
‘replacement satellite’ means a satellite that replaces
a satellite that fails prior to the end of the duration
of contracts for services provided over such satellite
and that takes the place of a satellite designated for
the provision of public-switched network and occa-
sional-use television services under contracts exe-
cuted prior to March 25, 1998 (but not including
K–TV or similar satellites). A satellite is only con-
sidered a replacement satellite to the extent such
contracts are equal to or less than the design life of
the satellite.
‘‘(21) GLOBAL MARITIME DISTRESS AND SAFE-
TY SERVICES OR GMDSS.—The term ‘global mari-
time distress and safety services’ or ‘GMDSS’ means
the automated ship-to-shore distress alerting system
which uses satellite and advanced terrestrial systems
for international distress communications and pro-
moting maritime safety in general. The GMDSS per-
mits the worldwide alerting of vessels, coordinated
search and rescue operations, and dissemination of
maritime safety information.
‘‘(b) COMMON TERMINOLOGY.—Except as otherwise
provided in subsection (a), terms used in this title that
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are defined in section 3 of the Communications Act of
1934 have the meanings provided in such section.’’.
Passed the House of Representatives May 6, 1998.
Attest:
Clerk.