Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2007/06/06/E7-10724/maritime-communications
Timestamp: 2017-10-22 08:37:57
Document Index: 539844655

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 80', 'art 80', '§\u200920', '§\u200980', '§\u200980', '§\u200980', '§\u200980', '§\u200980', '§\u200980']

A Rule by the Federal Communications Commission on 06/06/2007
Effective July 6, 2007.
72 FR 31192
31192-31194 (3 pages)
FCC 07-87
E7-10724
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/E7-10724 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/E7-10724
In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) amends its rules to afford licensees of VHF Public Coast (VPC) stations and Automated Maritime Telecommunications System (AMTS) stations additional operational flexibility to provide service to units on land. Specifically, the Commission adopts rule changes to permit VPC and AMTS licensees to offer private correspondence service to units on land, i.e., private land mobile radio (PLMR) service, in addition to the public correspondence service they already are authorized to provide to units on land. These rule amendments will enable VPC and AMTS licensees to compete more effectively against other commercial mobile radio service providers; facilitate more efficient use of VPC and AMTS spectrum; and provide an additional means to meet growing demand for spectrum by PLMR licensees and end users, including public safety and critical infrastructure industry entities. The Commission also believes that the core purpose for which these frequencies have been allocated is to serve the communications needs of marine vessels, especially with respect to communications in support of the safety of life and property at sea and on inland waterways.
This is a summary of the Federal Communications Commission's Report and Order in WT Docket No. 04-257 (Report and Order), FCC 07-87, adopted on May 9, 2007, and released on May 10, 2007. The full text of this document is available for inspection and copying during normal business hours in the FCC Reference Center, 445 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554. The complete text may be purchased from the Commission's copy contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc., 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554. The full text may also be downloaded at: http://www.fcc.gov. Alternative formats are available to persons with disabilities by sending an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or by calling the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (tty).
1. The Report and Order addresses issues raised in the Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) in this WT Docket No. 04-257 proceeding. The Commission takes the following significant actions in the Report and Order: (i) Authorizes VPC and AMTS licensees to provide private correspondence service to units on land; (ii) specifies that AMTS stations providing private land mobile radio service do not have to be interconnected to the public switched telephone network, but retains that interconnection requirement for AMTS stations providing commercial mobile radio service; (iii) clarifies that VPC and AMTS licensees providing service to units on land must continue to ensure that maritime communications have priority, while also clarifying that a licensee's practice of dedicating separate channels for land mobile communications, on the one hand, and maritime communications, on the other, does not necessarily satisfy the maritime priority requirement although it may satisfy the requirement in certain circumstances; (iv) declines to permit VPC and AMTS licensees to provide service to units on land pursuant to regulations other than those in part 80, except pursuant to a waiver, and (v) declines to amend the part 80 rules to specify that VPC channels may be used for port operations and ship movement Start Printed Page 31193services, either in simplex or duplex mode.
2. The Report and Order does not contain any new or modified information collection requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Public Law 104-13. In addition, therefore, it does not contain any new or modified “information collection burden for small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees,” pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Public Law 107-198, see 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(4).
3. The Commission will send a copy of this Report and Order in a report to Congress and the Government Accountability Office pursuant to the Congressional Review Act, see 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).
4. As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended (RFA), an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) was incorporated in the NPRM in this proceeding. The Commission sought written public comment on the proposals in the NPRM, including comment on the IRFA. This present Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) conforms to the RFA.
5. The rules adopted in the Report and Order are intended to provide VHF public coast (VPC) station and Automated Maritime Telecommunications Service (AMTS) stations with the additional flexibility to offer non-interconnected private correspondence communications service to units on land.
6. No comments were submitted specifically in response to the IRFA. In addition, no commenter has opposed the rule amendments adopted herein based on their potential economic impact on small entities. These rule amendments do not impose any new requirements or compliance burdens on any affected entity, but rather benefit such entities by providing them with additional operational flexibility.
8. The adopted rules would affect licensees using AMTS and VPC spectrum. In the Third Report and Order in PR Docket No. 92-257, the Commission defined the term “small entity” specifically applicable to public coast station licensees as any entity employing less than 1,500 persons, based on the definition under the Small Business Administration rules applicable to radiotelephone service providers. See Amendment of the Commission's Rules Concerning Maritime Communications, Third Report and Order and Memorandum Opinion and Order, PR Docket No. 92-257, 13 FCC Rcd 19853, 19893 (1998) (citing 13 CFR 121.201, Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Code 4812). Below, we provide the economic census category and data for wireless entities, which encompasses public coast stations.
9. Wireless Service Providers. The SBA has developed a small business size standard for wireless firms within the two broad economic census categories of “Paging” and “Cellular and Other Wireless Telecommunications.” Under both categories, the SBA deems a wireless business to be small if it has 1,500 or fewer employees. For the census category of Paging, Census Bureau data for 2002 show that there were 807 firms in this category that operated for the entire year. Of this total, 804 firms had employment of 999 or fewer employees, and three firms had employment of 1,000 employees or more. Thus, under this category and associated small business size standard, the majority of firms can be considered small. For the census category of Cellular and Other Wireless Telecommunications, Census Bureau data for 2002 show that there were 1,397 firms in this category that operated for the entire year. Of this total, 1,378 firms had employment of 999 or fewer employees, and 19 firms had employment of 1,000 employees or more. Thus, under this second category and size standard, the majority of firms can, again, be considered small.
10. The Report and Order does not impose any reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance requirements on small entities.
12. The rules adopted in the Report and Order will not have any adverse economic impact on small entities. To the contrary, they remove existing regulatory restrictions on the affected entities.
13. The Commission will send a copy of this Report and Order in WT Docket No. 04-257, including the Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, in a report to be sent to Congress pursuant to the Congressional Review Act. In addition, the Commission will send a copy of the Report and Order, including the Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the SBA. A copy of the Report and Order and the Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (or summaries thereof) will also be published in the Federal Register.
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal Communications
2. Amend § 20.9 by revising paragraphs (b) introductory text and (b)(1) to read as follows:
(b) Licensees of a Personal Communications Service or applicants for a Personal Communications Service license, and VHF Public Coast Station geographic area licensees or applicants, and Automated Maritime Telecommunications System (AMTS) licensees or applicants, proposing to use any Personal Communications Service, VHF Public Coast Station, or AMTS spectrum to offer service on a private mobile radio service basis must overcome the presumption that Personal Communications Service, VHF Public Coast, and AMTS Stations are commercial mobile radio services.
4. Amend § 80.5 by revising the definition of “Automated maritime telecommunications system” to read as follows:
Automated maritime telecommunications system (AMTS). An automatic maritime communications system.
5. Amend § 80.123 by revising the introductory text to read as follows:
6. Amend § 80.371 by revising the introductory text of paragraph (c)(1)(i) to read as follows:
(1) (i) The frequency pairs listed in this paragraph are available for assignment to public coast stations for communications with ship stations and units on land.
7. Amend § 80.475 by revising paragraph (c) and adding a new paragraph (d) to read as follows:
(c) An AMTS system may provide private mobile radio service in addition to or instead of public correspondence service. However, such communications may be provided only to stations whose licensees make cooperative arrangements with the AMTS coast station licensees. In emergency and distress situations, services must be provided to ship stations without prior arrangements.
(d) AMTS systems providing private mobile radio service instead of, or in addition to, public correspondence service are not required to be interconnected to the public switched network when providing such private mobile radio service. AMTS systems providing public correspondence service must be interconnected to the public switched network, but the licensee may also offer non-interconnected services.
8. Amend § 80.479 by revising paragraph (a) to read as follows:
§ 80.479
Assignment and use of frequencies for AMTS.
(a) The frequencies assignable to AMTS stations are listed in subpart H of this subpart.
[FR Doc. E7-10724 Filed 6-5-07; 8:45 am]