Notice2021-26373
Notice of 90-Day Period To Submit Affirmation of Operational Status of Identified Earth Station Antennas To Avoid Losing Incumbent Status or File To Remove Identified Antennas From IBFS if No Longer Operational
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Published
December 6, 2021
Issuing agencies
Federal Communications Commission
Abstract
In this document, the International Bureau (Bureau) provides the following notice to operators of certain incumbent FSS C-band earth station antennas recently reported to the Bureau by RSM US LLP (RSM), the C-band Relocation Coordinator, on behalf of incumbent C-band satellite operators: Failure to submit a filing to the Bureau by no later than 90 days after the release of the Bureau's Public Notice (i.e., by December 27, 2021) affirming the continued operation of the earth station antennas reported to the Bureau as inactive and the intent to participate in the C-band transition will result in a Bureau announcement that those authorizations identified as inactive in the Appendix attached to the Bureau's Public Notice have automatically terminated by operation of rule, and that those authorizations will be terminated in IBFS and removed from the incumbent earth station list. According to RSM, each antenna included in the Appendix to the Bureau's Public Notice was reported by their earth station operator to RSM or a satellite operator as no longer receiving service from a C-band satellite even though the FCC's International Bureau Filing System (IBFS) continues to include the antenna as active.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 231 (Monday, December 6, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 231 (Monday, December 6, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69031-69033]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-26373]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
[IB Docket No. 20-205; DA 21-1206; FRS 59888]
Notice of 90-Day Period To Submit Affirmation of Operational
Status of Identified Earth Station Antennas To Avoid Losing Incumbent
Status or File To Remove Identified Antennas From IBFS if No Longer
Operational
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In this document, the International Bureau (Bureau) provides
the following notice to operators of certain incumbent FSS C-band earth
station antennas recently reported to the Bureau by RSM US LLP (RSM),
the C-band Relocation Coordinator, on behalf of incumbent C-band
satellite operators: Failure to submit a filing to the Bureau by no
later than 90 days after the release of the Bureau's Public Notice
(i.e., by December 27, 2021) affirming the continued operation of the
earth station antennas reported to the Bureau as inactive and the
intent to participate in the C-band transition will result in a Bureau
announcement that those authorizations identified as inactive in the
Appendix attached to the Bureau's Public Notice have automatically
terminated by operation of rule, and that those authorizations will be
terminated in IBFS and removed from the incumbent earth station list.
According to RSM, each antenna included in the Appendix to the Bureau's
Public Notice was reported by their earth station operator to RSM or a
satellite operator as no longer receiving service from a C-band
satellite even though the FCC's International Bureau Filing System
(IBFS) continues to include the antenna as active.
DATES: Identified earth station operators must provide notice of
operational status by December 27, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kerry Murray, International Bureau,
Satellite Division, at (202) 418-0734, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#511a342323287f1c2423233028113732327f363e27"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7a311f08080354370f08081b033a1c1919541d150c">[email protected]</span></a> or
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#90d9d2d6c3d9ded6dfd0f6f3f3bef7ffe6"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="236a6165706a6d656c634540400d444c55">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's
document, DA 21-1206, released September 27, 2021. The full text of
this document, along with the Appendix identifying the specific earth
station antennas subject to automatic termination, is available for
public inspection and can be downloaded at <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/document/ib-identifies-inactive-c-band-incumbent-earth-station-antennas">https://www.fcc.gov/document/ib-identifies-inactive-c-band-incumbent-earth-station-antennas</a>
or by using the search function for Docket No. 20-205 on the
Commission's ECFS page at <a href="http://www.fcc.gov/ecfs">www.fcc.gov/ecfs</a>.
Background. Under the Commission's 3.7 GHz Band Report and Order,
RSM is responsible for coordinating with the five incumbent C-band
satellite operators--Eutelsat, Intelsat, SES, StarOne, and Telesat--to
ensure that all incumbent earth stations are accounted for in the
transition.\1\ The overwhelming majority of incumbent earth stations
have been claimed by the satellite operator(s) from which they receive
service, included in their transition plans to the Commission, and will
be transitioned to the upper 200 megahertz of the band.\2\ In other
cases, RSM, as the C-band Relocation Coordinator, has conducted
outreach and research to determine whether the earth station is still
active and, if so, from which satellite(s) the earth station receives
its service.\3\ In the course of their outreach, the satellite
operators and RSM have identified certain antennas as inactive. The
inactive status of some of these antennas has been confirmed when the
relevant earth station operators filed with the Bureau to close out
those antennas in IBFS. For the rest of these inactive antennas, their
earth station operators reported to the satellite operators (according
to RSM) that these antennas were no longer being used (even though in
these cases their earth station operators failed to make the
[[Page 69032]]
requisite discontinuance filings with the FCC in order to close out
those antennas in IBFS). RSM has advised the Commission that it and the
incumbent satellite operators regularly share the results of their
respective outreach efforts to better coordinate the transition of
incumbent earth stations.
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\1\ See Expanding Flexible Use of the 3.7 to 4.2 GHz Band,
Report and Order and Order of Proposed Modification, 35 FCC Rcd
2343, 2391, paras. 116-23 (2020) (3.7 GHz Band Report and Order).
\2\ 47 CFR 27.1412(d) (transition plan requirements). The
satellite operators also file quarterly status reports in GN Docket
No. 20-173. 47 CFR 27.1412(f).
\3\ 3.7 GHz Band Report and Order, 35 FCC Rcd 2343, 2460, para.
313.
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On January 19, 2021, the Bureau released a Public Notice that
provided notice to those incumbent earth station operators that RSM
reported in a January 14, 2021 filing as inactive, that such earth
station operators had 90 days, until April 19, 2021, to respond in the
Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) or their registrations would be
automatically terminated and they would be removed from the incumbent
earth station list.\4\ The Public Notice released on January 19, 2021
also provided such 90-day notice to a small group of ``unresponsive''
(or, in terms used in the January 14 RSM filing from which these
operators were drawn, ``unable to reach'') incumbent earth station
operators about their antennas. Such ``unresponsive'' stations were all
incumbent earth stations that (a) had not been claimed by any of the
five incumbent C-band satellite operators and, therefore, were not
included in any of the satellite operator Transition Plans, and (b) had
failed to respond to any outreach efforts from the very beginning of
those efforts. The registrations of earth stations that failed to
respond have been terminated in IBFS and those registrations have been
removed from the incumbent earth station list.\5\
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\4\ See International Bureau Identifies Inactive C-Band
Incumbent Earth Station Antennas and Unresponsive C-Band Incumbent
Earth Station Operators, Public Notice, DA 21-81 (rel. Jan. 19,
2021).
\5\ See International Bureau Releases Updated List of Incumbent
Earth Stations in the 3.7-4.2 GHz Band in the Contiguous United
States, Public Notice, DA 21-731, IB Docket No. 20-205 (rel. June
22, 2021) (June 22, 2021, Incumbent Earth Station List) for the
current incumbent earth station list and an explanation of the
criteria applied to be included on the list.
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On July 14, 2021, RSM submitted a letter identifying an additional
group of individual earth station antennas as no longer operational at
the location provided in the latest incumbent earth station list, even
though these antennas continue to be listed in IBFS. On July 23, 2021,
the Bureau released a Public Notice that provided notice to those
incumbent earth station operators that RSM reported as inactive that
such earth station operators had 90 days, until October 21, 2021, to
respond in the Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) or their
registrations would be automatically terminated and they would be
removed from the incumbent earth station list.\6\ The Public Notice
released on July 23, 2021 also provided such 90-day notice to a small
group of ``unresponsive'' (or, in terms used in the January 14 RSM
filing from which these operators were drawn, ``unable to reach'')
incumbent earth station operators about their antennas. Such
``unresponsive'' stations were all incumbent earth stations that (a)
had not been claimed by any of the five incumbent C-band satellite
operators and, therefore, were not included in any of the satellite
operator Transition Plans, and (b) had failed to respond to any
outreach efforts from the very beginning of those efforts. The
registrations of earth stations that failed to respond have been
terminated in IBFS and those registrations have been removed from the
incumbent earth station list.
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\6\ See International Bureau Identifies Inactive C-Band
Incumbent Earth Station Antennas and Unresponsive C-Band Incumbent
Earth Station Operators, Public Notice, DA 21-81 (rel. Jan. 19,
2021).
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On September 27, 2021, RSM submitted a letter identifying an
additional group of individual earth station antennas as no longer
operational at the location provided in the latest incumbent earth
station list, even though these antennas continue to be listed in IBFS.
The September 27 RSM filing, with its attachment, can be found in ECFS.
RSM explains that it compiled this group of antennas--which were not
included in the Public Notice released on July 21, 2021--from
affirmative representations made to RSM or the satellite operators by
the antennas' earth station operators. We have attached to DA 21-1206
an Appendix listing this group of antennas.
We hereby presume, on a rebuttable basis, that earth station
antennas included in the Appendix attached to DA 21-1206 are no longer
operational. Section 25.161(c) of the Commission's rules provides that
an earth station authorization is automatically terminated if the
station is not operational for more than 90 days.\7\ We also note that
the Commission's rules require earth station operators to take the
steps necessary to remove non-operational antennas from the active
records in the IBFS.\8\ Moreover, under the Commission's rules,
antennas must continue to be operational to qualify for incumbent
status.\9\
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\7\ 47 CFR 25.161(c). The Bureau has delegated authority to
enforce the Part 25 rules. 47 CFR 0.261(a)(15).
\8\ 47 CFR 25.115(b)(8).
\9\ 47 CFR 25.138(c)(1).
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Incumbent earth station operators who need to affirm the continued
operation of the identified earth station antennas. We direct earth
station operators with incumbent earth station antennas that appear on
the inactive list appended to DA 21-1206 to make either of two filings
no later than 90 days after release of this Notice (i.e., by December
27, 2021): (1) file to remove those antennas from IBFS as no longer
operational as required by Commission rule and optionally make a filing
in ECFS IB Docket No. 20-205 confirming the extent to which they are
surrendering or removing antennas in IBFS, or (2) file in ECFS IB
Docket No. 20-205 affirming that those antennas are still operational.
An earth station operator may contact Bureau staff at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#4a03080c1903040c050a2c2929642d253c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f7beb5b1a4beb9b1b8b7919494d9909881">[email protected]</span></a>
if it has questions about the above or if it needs instructions on how
to surrender entire Callsigns in IBFS or how to remove an inactive
earth station antenna from a Callsign that includes other operational
earth station antennas.
Earth station operators with earth station antenna(s) on the
inactive list in the Appendix to DA 21-1206 that do not respond by
December 27, 2021, affirming the continued operation of the identified
earth station antennas will be deemed to have had the authorizations
for those antennas automatically terminated by rule. Those
authorizations will be terminated in IBFS, i.e., the IBFS records for
those antennas will be shown with a terminated status. Such terminated
earth stations will also be removed from the incumbent earth station
list and will not be entitled to protection from interference from the
network deployments of new wireless licenses or be eligible for
reimbursement of any transition costs, including the cost of any
filters, that those earth stations may decide to incur. Of course,
notwithstanding an affirmation of continued operation, the Bureau
retains the authority to eliminate an earth station antenna's incumbent
status if the Bureau receives additional evidence that the antenna has
failed to satisfy applicable requirements for maintaining operation.
Incumbent earth station operators who need to provide additional
information to avoid harmful interference. As a reminder, while not
subject to 90-days' notice, certain earth station operators that have
not provided the necessary information to the Relocation Coordinator or
satellite operators may not be successfully transitioned before
terrestrial wireless licensees initiate service in the band. In
particular, RSM identified in its July 14,
[[Page 69033]]
2021 filing a limited number of incumbent earth station operators with
which it was able to establish contact but has not been able to get
enough information from the earth station operator for it to be
included in a satellite operator transition plan or for RSM to conclude
that the earth station is in fact participating in the transition
process. With two exceptions,\10\ further outreach by RSM with these
earth station operators has not been successful.
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\10\ RSM reports that, since its July 14 filing, the Archdiocese
of San Antonio and Williamsburg's Radio Station, Inc. have been
included in a space station operator transition plan. September 24
RSM filing, at note 3.
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Unless those earth station operators provide the necessary
information, they will risk losing their rights to receive relocation
assistance prior to the initiation of service in the band by the
incoming terrestrial wireless licensees, as well as any rights to
operate in the lower C-band at their current locations free of harmful
interference that may occur as these licensees deploy their networks.
Federal Communications Commission.
Denise Coca,
Chief, Telecommunications Analysis Division, International Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2021-26373 Filed 12-3-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P
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