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, 69031-69033 [2021-26373]
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 231 / Monday, December 6, 2021 / Notices
Estimated Time per Response: 55
hours.
Frequency of Response: Annual
reporting requirement.
Obligation to Respond: Voluntary.
Statutory authority for this information
collection is contained in National
Suicide Hotline Designation Act of
2020, Public Law 116–172, 134 Stat. 832
(2020) (988 Act).
Total Annual Burden: 34,650 hours.
Total Annual Cost: No Cost.
Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No
impact(s).
Nature and Extent of Confidentiality:
The Commission will consider the
potential confidentiality of any
information submitted, particularly
where public release of such
information could raise security
concerns (e.g., granular location
information). Respondents may request
materials or information submitted to
the Commission or to the Administrator
be withheld from public inspection
under 47 CFR 0.459 of the
Commission’s rules.
Needs and Uses: This information
collection enables the Federal
Communications Commission
(Commission) to fulfill its continuing
obligations under the National Suicide
Hotline Designation Act of 2020, Pub. L.
116–172, 134 stat. 832 (2020) (988 Act),
to submit an annual ‘‘Fee
Accountability Report’’ to the
Committees on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation and Appropriations of
the Senate, and the Committees on
Energy and Commerce and
Appropriations of the House of
Representatives, detailing ‘‘the status in
each State, political subdivision of a
State, Indian Tribe, or village or regional
corporation serving’’ an Alaska Native
Claims Settlement Act region, of the
collection and distribution of fees or
charges for ‘‘the support or
implementation of 9–8–8 services,’’
including ‘‘findings on the amount of
revenues obligated or expended by each
[state, political entity, and subdivision]
for any purpose other than the purpose
for which any such fees or charges are
specified.’’ (988 Act, 134 stat. at 833–
34.)
The Commission will collect
information for the preparation of the
annual Fee Accountability Report
through a survey, to be distributed via
electronic mail, that appropriate
officials of States and political
subdivisions thereof, Indian Tribes, and
village or regional corporations serving
a region established pursuant to the
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, as
amended (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) can
use to submit data pertaining to the
collection and distribution of revenues
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20:32 Dec 03, 2021
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from fees and charges for the support or
implementation of 988 services,
including the use of such collected fees
and charges for any purpose other than
for the support or implementation of
988 services. In addition, consistent
with the definition of ‘‘State’’ set forth
in 47 U.S.C. 153(40) of the
Communications Act, the Commission
will collect this information from states
as well as the District of Columbia and
the inhabited U.S. Territories and
possessions.
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021–26346 Filed 12–3–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712–01–P
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
Federal Communications
Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
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 Cband 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 Cband satellite even though the FCC’s
International Bureau Filing System
SUMMARY:
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69031
(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,
Kerry.Murray@fcc.gov or IBFSINFO@
fcc.gov.
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
https://www.fcc.gov/document/ibidentifies-inactive-c-band-incumbentearth-station-antennas or by using the
search function for Docket No. 20–205
on the Commission’s ECFS page at
www.fcc.gov/ecfs.
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
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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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 231 / Monday, December 6, 2021 / Notices
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
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.
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
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
4 See International Bureau Identifies Inactive CBand 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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20:32 Dec 03, 2021
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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.
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 nonoperational 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
6 See International Bureau Identifies Inactive CBand Incumbent Earth Station Antennas and
Unresponsive C-Band Incumbent Earth Station
Operators, Public Notice, DA 21–81 (rel. Jan. 19,
2021).
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
IBFSINFO@fcc.gov 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,
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 231 / Monday, December 6, 2021 / Notices
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.
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
550 17th Street NW, Washington, DC
20429.
• Hand Delivery: Comments may be
hand-delivered to the guard station at
the rear of the 17th Street building
(located on F Street), on business days
between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
All comments should refer to the
relevant OMB control number. A copy
of the comments may also be submitted
to the OMB desk officer for the FDIC:
Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Office of Management and
Budget, New Executive Office Building,
Washington, DC 20503.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Manny Cabeza, Regulatory Counsel,
202–898–3767, mcabeza@fdic.gov, MB–
3128, Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation, 550 17th Street NW,
Washington, DC 20429.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Proposal
to renew the following currently
approved collections of information:
1. Title: Notices Required of
Government Securities Dealers or
Brokers (Insured State Nonmember
Banks).
OMB Number: 3064–0093.
Form Number: G–FIN; G–FINW; G–
FIN4 & G–FIN5.
Affected Public: Insured state
nonmember banks acting as government
securities brokers and dealers.
Burden Estimate:
FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE
CORPORATION
[OMB No. 3064–0093; –0111; –0136]
Agency Information Collection
Activities: Proposed Collection
Renewal; Comment Request
Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation (FDIC).
ACTION: Notice and request for comment.
AGENCY:
The FDIC, as part of its
obligations under the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), invites the
general public and other Federal
agencies to take this opportunity to
comment on the renewal of the existing
information collections described below
(OMB Control No. 3064–0093; –0111
and –0136).
DATES: Comments must be submitted on
or before February 4, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties are
invited to submit written comments to
the FDIC by any of the following
methods:
• Agency Website: https://
www.fdic.gov/resources/regulations/
federal-register-publications/.
• Email: comments@fdic.gov. Include
the name and number of the collection
in the subject line of the message.
• Mail: Manny Cabeza (202–898–
3767), Regulatory Counsel, MB–3128,
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,
SUMMARY:
SUMMARY OF ESTIMATED ANNUAL BURDEN
[OMB No. 3064–0093]
Information collection description
Notice by Financial Institutions of
Government Securities Broker or
Government Securities Dealer
Activities (G–FIN).
Notice by Financial Institutions of
Termination of Activities as a
Government Securities Broker or
Government Securities Dealer
(G–FINW).
Disclosure Form for Person Associated with a Financial Institution
Securities Broker or Dealer (G–
FIN–4).
Uniform Termination Notice for Persons Associated with a Financial
Institution Government Securities
Broker or Dealer (G–FIN–5).
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Total Annual Burden (Hours) ...
Type of burden
(obligation to
respond)
Frequency of
response
Number of
responses per
respondent
Number of
respondents
Hours per
response
Annual burden
(hours)
Reporting (Mandatory).
On Occasion ......
1
1
1
1
Reporting (Mandatory).
On Occasion ......
1
1
2
2
Reporting (Mandatory).
On Occasion ......
1
5
2
10
Reporting (Mandatory).
On Occasion ......
1
5
0.25
1.25
............................
............................
........................
........................
........................
14.25
Source: FDIC.
General Description of Collection: The
Government Securities Act of 1986
requires all financial institutions acting
as government securities brokers and
dealers to notify their Federal regulatory
agencies of their broker dealer activities,
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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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 231 (Monday, December 6, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69031-69033]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-26373]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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, [email protected] or
[email protected].
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 https://www.fcc.gov/document/ib-identifies-inactive-c-band-incumbent-earth-station-antennas
or by using the search function for Docket No. 20-205 on the
Commission's ECFS page at www.fcc.gov/ecfs.
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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\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).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 [email protected]
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
