Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2005/06/08/05-11171/satellite-licensing-procedures
Timestamp: 2018-04-26 12:07:06
Document Index: 583450944

Matched Legal Cases: ['§\u200925', 'art 25', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', '§\u200925']

Effective July 8, 2005, except for the amendments to Sec. Sec. 25.134 and 25.212, which will take effect on September 30, 2005.
33373-33377 (5 pages)
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/05-11171 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/05-11171
In this document, the Commission adopts revisions to its antenna gain pattern rules, and adopts new rules for Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) networks and other networks using certain multiple access techniques.
Effective July 8, 2005, except for the amendments to §§ 25.134 and 25.212, which will take effect on September 30, 2005.
This summary of the Commission's Sixth Report and Order, IB Docket No. 00-248, FCC 05-62, adopted March 10, 2005, and released on March 15, 2005. The complete text of this Sixth Report and Order is available for inspection and copying during normal business hours in the FCC Reference Center (Room), 445 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554, and also may be purchased from the Commission's copy contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc., Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554. It is also available on the Commission's Web site at http://www.fcc.gov.
Paperwork Reduction Act Analysis: The actions taken in the Sixth Report and Order have been analyzed with respect to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Pub. L. 104-13, and have been found not to impose any new or modified reporting requirements or burdens on the public.
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis: As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended (RFA),[1] an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) was incorporated in the Notice of Proposed Rule Making (Notice) and the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Further Notice) in IB Docket No. 00-248.[2] The Commission sought written Start Printed Page 33374public comment on the proposals in the Notice and Further Notice, including comment on the IRFA. This Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) conforms to the RFA.[3]
Specifically, in this Sixth Report and Order, the Commission increases the starting point for the earth station antenna gain pattern envelope, from 1.0° to 1.5° off-axis in the C-band, and from 1.25° to 1.5° off-axis in the Ku-band. This will allow the Commission to increase the number of earth station applications eligible for routine treatment. The Commission also adopts new rules to clarify the requirements for very small aperture terminal (VSAT) networks using reservation protocols.
The RFA directs agencies to provide a description of, and, where feasible, an estimate of, the number of small entities that may be affected by the rules adopted herein.[4] The RFA generally defines the term “small entity “ as having the same meaning as the terms “small business,” “small organization,” and “small governmental jurisdiction.” [5] In addition, the term “small business” has the same meaning as the term “small business concern” under the Small Business Act.[6] A small business concern is one which: (1) Is independently owned and operated; (2) is not dominant in its field of operation; and (3) satisfies any additional criteria established by the Small Business Administration (SBA).[7]
The Communications Act of 1934, as amended, also contains a size standard for a “small cable operator,” which is “a cable operator that, directly or through an affiliate, serves in the aggregate fewer than one percent of all subscribers in the United States and is not affiliated with any entity or entities whose gross annual revenues in the aggregate exceed $250,000,000.” [13] The Commission has determined that there are 67,700,000 subscribers in the United States.[14] Therefore, an operator serving fewer than 677,000 subscribers shall be deemed a small operator, if its annual revenues, when combined with the total annual revenues of all of its affiliates, do not exceed $250 million in the aggregate.[15] Based on available data, we estimate that the number of cable operators serving 677,000 subscribers or less totals approximately 1,450.[16] We do not request or collect information on whether cable operators are affiliated with entities whose gross annual revenues exceed $250,000,000,[17] and therefore are unable to estimate accurately the number of cable system operators that would qualify as small cable operators under the definition in the Communications Act.
2. Satellite Telecommunications. The rules proposed in this Further Notice would affect providers of satellite telecommunications services, if adopted. Satellite telecommunications service providers include satellite operators and earth station operators. The Commission has not developed a definition of small entities applicable to satellite operators. Therefore, the applicable definition of small entity is generally the definition under the SBA rules applicable to Satellite Telecommunications.[18] This definition provides that a small entity is expressed as one with $12.5 million or less in Start Printed Page 33375annual receipts.[19] 1997 Census Bureau data indicate that, for 1997, 273 satellite communication firms had annual receipts of under $10 million. In addition, 24 firms had receipts for that year of $10 million to $24,999,990.[20]
None of the rules adopted in this Sixth Report and Order will affect small businesses differently from other non-routine earth station applicants. The revisions to the earth station antenna gain pattern envelope will make it easier for all earth station operators, including small businesses, to comply with the rule. The revisions to the VSAT rules do not create any new reporting or recordkeeping requirements.
The RFA requires an agency to describe any significant alternatives that it has considered in reaching its proposed approach, which may include the following four alternatives: (1) The establishment of differing compliance or reporting requirements or timetables that take into account the resources available to small entities; (2) the clarification, consolidation, or simplification of compliance or reporting requirements under the rule for small entities; (3) the use of performance, rather than design, standards; and (4) an exemption from coverage of the rule, or any part thereof, for small entities.[29]
This Sixth Report and Order adopts revisions to the earth station antenna gain pattern envelope that will increase the number of earth station applications that can be treated routinely, thereby enabling the Commission to act on those earth station applications more quickly. The Commission specifically considered and rejected an alternative proposal to such earth station operators to include in their applications a complex technical demonstration that their earth stations will comply with a new regulatory standard called the “minimum acceptable pointing error.” Requiring these technical demonstrations would have increased the burdens placed on these earth station operators, including those that are small entities. Thus, rejection of that proposal benefits these earth station applicants, including small entities.
The Commission will send a copy of the Sixth Report and Order, including this FRFA, in a report to be sent to Congress pursuant to the Congressional Review Act, see 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A). In addition, the Commission will send a copy of the Sixth Report and Order, including FRFA, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration. A copy of the Sixth Report and Order and FRFA (or summaries thereof) will also be published in the Federal Register. See 5 U.S.C. 604(b).
Summary of Report and Order: The Commission has decided to begin the antenna gain pattern envelope at 1.5° off-axis within the GSO orbital arc for C-band and Ku-band earth stations, and 3.0° off-axis outside the GSO orbital arc for Ku-band earth stations. It also decided that the provisions proposed in the Further Notice to help reduce pointing error are not needed, but instead requires VSAT network operators to design their networks to stop transmissions when synchronization fails. Finally, the Commission increased the Commission's backlobe requirements to 0 dBi for off-axis angles greater than 85°, for earth stations operating in the Ku-band or portions of the Ka-band that are not shared with other services.
Except for the new synchronization requirement, these requirements will not take effect until after resolution of the off-axis EIRP issues discussed in the Third Further Notice in this proceeding. In the event that the Commission adopts Start Printed Page 33376off-axis EIRP envelopes for FSS earth stations, it will base those envelopes on the revised antenna gain pattern requirements adopted in this Order. In the event that the Commission decides not to adopt off-axis EIRP envelopes for FSS earth stations, parties are invited to propose new minimum routine antenna sizes based on these revised antenna gain pattern requirements. Such proposals should be supported by an adequate technical analyses. In particular, parties are requested to explain the method or methods they use to replicate or estimate the antenna gain patterns generated by earth station antennas of different sizes.
In this Sixth Report and Order, the Commission also adopts rules to govern Ku-band and C-band VSAT systems using time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA) and code division multiple access (CDMA). The new rules do not require any adjustment to the power levels of VSAT systems using TDMA or FDMA, but require a power decrease for VSAT systems using CDMA. The required power decrease is based on the number of simultaneously transmitting earth stations. These requirements will also apply to Single Channel per Carrier (SCPC) transmissions. VSAT networks licensed before the adoption date of this Sixth Report and Order will not be subject to the new rules.
Accordingly, it is ordered, pursuant to sections 4(i), 7(a), 303(c), 303(f), 303(g), and 303(r) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(i), 157(a), 303(c), 303(f), 303(g), 303(r), that this Sixth Report and Order in IB Docket No. 00-248 is hereby adopted.
It is further ordered that part 25 of the Commission's rules is amended as set forth in Appendix B. An announcement of the effective date of these rule revisions will be published in the Federal Register.
2. Amend § 25.134 by revising paragraph (a)(1) and adding paragraphs (g) and (h), to read as follows:
(a)(1) VSAT networks operating in the 12/14 GHz bands. All applications for digital VSAT networks granted on or before September 15, 2005, with a maximum outbound downlink EIRP density of +10.0 dBW/4 kHz per carrier and earth station antennas with maximum input power density of -14 dBW/4 kHz will be processed routinely. All applications for analog VSAT networks with maximum outbound downlink power densities of +17.0 dBW/4 kHz per carrier and maximum antenna input power densities of -8.0 dBW/4 kHz shall be processed routinely in accordance with Declaratory Order in the Matter of Routine Licensing of Earth Stations in the 6 GHz and 14 GHz Bands Using Antennas Less than 9 Meters and 5 Meters in Diameter, Respectively, for Both Full Transponder and Narrowband Transmissions, 2 FCC Rcd 2149 (1987) (Declaratory Order).
(g) Starting March 10, 2005, all applications for VSAT service in the 12/14 GHz band that meet the following requirements will be routinely processed: (1) The maximum transmitter power spectral density of a digital modulated carrier into any GSO FSS earth station antenna shall not exceed −14.0 − 10log(N) dB(W/4 kHz). For a VSAT network using frequency division multiple access (FDMA) or time division multiple access (TDMA) technique, N is equal to one. For a VSAT network using code division multiple access (CDMA) technique, N is the maximum number of co-frequency simultaneously transmitting earth stations in the same satellite receiving beam.
(2) The maximum GSO FSS satellite EIRP spectral density of the digital modulated emission shall not exceed 10 dB (W/4kHz) for all methods of modulation and accessing techniques.
(3) The maximum transmitter power spectral density of an analog carrier into any GSO FSS earth station antenna shall not exceed −8.0 dB(W/4kHz) and the maximum GSO FSS satellite EIRP spectral density shall not exceed +17.0 dB(W/4kHz).
(h) VSAT operators licensed pursuant to this section are prohibited from using remote earth stations in their networks that are not designed to stop transmissions from their remote earth stations when synchronization with the target satellite fails.
3. In § 25.212, revise paragraph (d) to read as follows:
(d)(1) For earth stations licensed before March 10, 2005 in the 5925-6425 MHz band, an earth station with an equivalent diameter of 4.5 meters or greater may be routinely licensed for transmission of SCPC services if the maximum power densities into the antenna do not exceed +0.5 dBW/4 kHz for analog SCPC carriers with bandwidths up to 200 kHz, and do not exceed −2.7 dBW/4 kHz for narrow and/or wideband digital SCPC carriers.
(2) For earth stations licensed after March 10, 2005 in the 5925-6425 MHz band, an earth station with an equivalent diameter of 4.5 meters or greater may be routinely licensed for transmission of SCPC services if the maximum power densities into the antenna do not exceed +0.5 dBW/4 kHz for analog SCPC carriers with bandwidths up to 200 kHz, and do not exceed −2.7 − 10log(N) dBW/4 kHz for narrow and/or wideband digital SCPC carriers. For digital SCPC using frequency division multiple access (FDMA) or time division multiple access (TDMA) technique, N is equal to one. For digital SCPC using code division multiple access (CDMA) technique, N is the maximum number of co-frequency simultaneously transmitting earth stations in the same satellite receiving beam.
(3) Antennas with an equivalent diameter smaller than 4.5 meters in the 5925-6425 MHz band are subject to the provisions of § 25.220 of this chapter, which may include power reduction requirements.
4. In § 25.221, revise paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(2), and (a)(4) to read as follows:
Blanket Licensing provisions for Earth Stations on Vessels (ESV) receiving in the 3700-4200 MHz (space-to-Earth) frequency band and transmitting in the 5925-6425 MHz (Earth-to-space) frequency band, operating with Geostationary Satellites in the Fixed-Satellite Service.
(1) The off-axis EIRP spectral density for co-polarized signals, emitted from the ESV, in the plane of the geostationary satellite orbit as it appears at the particular earth station location (i.e., the plane determined by the focal point of the antenna and the line tangent to the arc of the geostationary satellite orbit at the position of the target satellite), shall not exceed the following values:
26.3 − 25log(θ) − 10log(N) dBW/4kHz for 1.0° ≤ θ ≤ 7.0°
5.3 − 10log(N)dBW/4kHz for 7.0° < θ ≤ 9.2°
29.3 − 25log(θ) − 10log(N) dBW/4kHz for 9.2° < θ ≤ 48°
−12.7 − 10log(N) dBW/4kHz for 48° < θ ≤ 180°
where θ is the angle in degrees from the axis of the main lobe. For an ESV network using frequency division multiple access (FDMA) or time division multiple access (TDMA) technique, N is equal to one. For an ESV network using code division multiple access (CDMA) technique, N is the maximum number of co-frequency simultaneously transmitting earth stations in the same satellite receiving beam.
(2) In all other directions, the off-axis EIRP spectral density for co-polarized signals emitted from the ESV shall not exceed the following values:
29.3 − 25log(θ) − 10log(N) dBW/4kHz for 1.0° ≤ θ ≤ 48°
(4) In all directions, the off-axis EIRP spectral density for cross-polarized signals emitted from the ESV shall not exceed the following values:
16.3 − 25log(θ) − 10log(N) dBW/4kHz for 1.8° ≤ θ ≤ 7.0°
−4.7 − 10log(N) dBW/4kHz for 7.0° < θ ≤ 9.2°
5. In § 25.222, revise paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(2), and (a)(4) to read as follows:
(1) The off-axis EIRP spectral density for co-polarized signals, emitted from the ESV in the plane of the geostationary satellite orbit as it appears at the particular earth station location (i.e., the plane determined by the focal point of the antenna and the line tangent to the arc of the geostationary satellite orbit at the position of the target satellite), shall not exceed the following values:
15 − 25log(θ) − 10log(N) dBW/4kHz for 1.25° ≤ θ ≤ 7.0°
−6 − 10 log(N) dBW/4kHz for 7.0° < θ ≤ 9.2°
18 − 25log(θ) − 10log(N) dBW/4kHz for 9.2° < θ ≤ 48°
−24 − 10log(N) dBW/4kHz for 48° < θ ≤ 180°
18 − 25log(θ) − 10log(N) dBW/4kHz for 1.25° ≤ θ ≤ 48°
5 − 25log(θ) − 10log(N) dBW/4kHz for 1.8° ≤ θ ≤ 7°
−16 − 10log(N) dBW/4kHz for 7° ≤ θ ≤ 9.2°
[FR Doc. 05-11171 Filed 6-7-05; 8:45 am]