Federal Register: FCC (Personal Radio & Amateur)

This document makes minor amendments to various rule sections to clarify or eliminate duplicative language, or conform them with other rule sections. This action will allow current Amateur Radio Service licensees to contribute more to the advancement of the radio art, reduce the administrative costs that the Commission incurs in regulating this service, streamline our licensing processes, and promote efficient use of spectrum allocated to the Amateur Radio Service.

This document denies a Petition for Reconsideration filed by Mr. W. Lee McVey in response to the Commission's decision in a Report and Order. The Commission finds that arguments and information provided in the Petition were substantively addressed by the Report and Order and do not merit further consideration.

In this document, the Commission adopts service rules to promote the private sector development and use of the "millimeter wave" spectrum in the 71-76 GHz, 81-86 GHz and 92-95 GHz bands pursuant to parts 15 and 101 of our rules. This action follows an initiative by the Commission's Office of Engineering and Technology to spawn possible commercial development of these bands under the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.

This document relaxes and updates certain regulations for unlicensed devices, to allow for improved operations. It also grants a petition for reconsideration concerning the acceptance of foreign laboratory accreditations and grants a petition for declaratory ruling concerning the certification requirements for transmitters in the private land mobile radio services. The rules will permit the development of new types of unlicensed devices while protecting authorized users of the radio spectrum from harmful interference.

In this document we seek comment on several actions the Commission could take to further enhance spectrum access and efficient use of spectrum through the development of more robust secondary markets in spectrum usage rights in the wireless radio and satellite services. We also seek comment on how to encourage the development of information and clearinghouse mechanisms that will facilitate secondary market transactions between licensees and new users in need of access to spectrum. Finally, we seek comment on further streamlining of application processing for spectrum leasing, transfer of control, license assignments, expanding leasing to additional services, and modifying or eliminating other regulatory barriers impeding secondary market transactions.

This document seeks comment on proposed amendments to the FCC's rules and regulations relating to compliance of transmitters and facilities with guidelines for human exposure to radiofrequency (RF) energy. These proposals are intended to ensure protection of the public from potentially adverse health effects from RF exposure, while avoiding any unnecessary burden in evaluating compliance with FCC requirements. Several proposals are made regarding the Commission's rules and regulations including proposals related to categorical exclusion from routine evaluation for RF exposure, requirements for evaluation of Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) for certain RF devices, RF evaluation requirements for modular transmitters, labeling requirements for consumer devices, clarifications of responsibilities for evaluating compliance, special considerations regarding occupational exposure to RF fields, procedures for measuring RF fields for evaluating compliance, and other miscellaneous items related to clarification of the FCC's rules for RF exposure.

This document proposes to make spectrum available for Federal Government operations that will be displaced from the band 1710-1850 MHz as a result of making the 1710-1755 MHz segment available to support the introduction of new non-Federal Government advanced wireless services (AWS), including third generation wireless (3G) systems. The implementation of these proposals would substantially clear the band 1710-1755 MHz of Federal Government operations that would have otherwise impeded the development of new nationwide AWS services.

In this document, the Commission addresses five petitions for reconsideration filed in response to the Commission's Part 1 Order on Reconsideration of the Third Report and Order, and Fifth Report and Order. The Commission also adopts several minor modifications and revisions to certain part 1 general competitive bidding rules to provide specific guidance to auction participants and to streamline the competitive bidding regulations.

This document provides access to channels in or near the 5250- 5400 kHz band on a secondary basis for the amateur service, and upgrade the existing secondary amateur service allocation to primary status in the 2400-2402 MHz band. The rule changes will enhance the ability of amateur operators to communicate at 5000 kHz when propagation conditions do not permit communication at 3500 or 7000 kHz, and provide additional protection for the amateur operators now using the 2400-2402 MHz band. We are declining to make an allocation to the amateur service in the 135.7-137.8 kHz or the 160-190 kHz bands, due to potential interference to other operations. We are also declining to add a primary allocation to the amateur satellite service in the 2400-2402 MHz band, due to possible spectrum use conflicts.

In this document the Federal Communications Commission authorizes the use of 406.0-406.1 MHz for personal locator beacons (PLBs). This was in response to a petition for rulemaking filed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States Department of Commerce (NOAA). This will increase the safety of the general public by providing a new means to alert others of an emergency situation and to aid search and rescue personnel locate those in distress.

On May 13, 2003 (68 FR 25512), the Commission published final rules in the Report and Order, which amended the rules to implement domestically various allocation decisions from ITU World Radiocommunication Conferences. This document contains a correction to Sec. 90.35(c)(82), which was inadvertently added.

In this document, the Commission amends its rules to implement domestically various allocation decisions from International Telecommunication Union ("ITU") World Radiocommunication Conferences concerning the frequency bands below 28 MHz. The rules update the Commission's rules so they are more consistent with international regulations, update various rule parts to affect the allocation changes, and update rules that were not recently reviewed.

In this document the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) amends its rules to permit Family Radio Service (FRS) units to transmit global positioning system (GPS) location information using emission type F2D in a digital burst of not more than one second, and to permit brief text messaging between FRS units. With the exception of automatically responding to interrogation requests spaced less than 30 seconds apart, an FRS unit shall limit transmission of digital data containing location information, requesting location information from any other FRS unit, or containing any brief text message to another FRS unit, to no more than once within any thirty-second period. The amendment will better serve the public interest by allowing FRS units equipped to transmit location information utilizing GPS technology and permit communication between FRS units through the use of brief text messaging. Equipped with GPS, an enhanced unit can be used to locate a lost family or group member in the woods, or at an amusement park. FRS units capable of transmitting brief text messages will likely reduce channel congestion and increase the usefulness of the service.

The Federal Communications Commission published a document in the Federal Register on June 20, 2002, (67 FR 41847), revising the Quiet Zone procedures for operation near GOES stations. The publication incorrectly indicated that the GOES procedures were contained in Sec. 1.924(f) and, therefore, inadvertently removed the Quiet Zone procedures for operation in the 420-450 MHz band. This document corrects the Quiet Zone procedures by re-inserting the procedures for operation in 420-450 MHz band into Sec. 1.924(f) and lists the updated procedures for operation near GOES stations into Sec. 1.924(g).

In this document, the Commission addresses six petitions for reconsideration or clarification of the Report and Order in WT Docket No. 98-182. The Commission affirms the decision to create a new Citizens Band Radio Service named the Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS), updates the Airport Terminal Use (ATU) and adopts additional revisions to the Commission's rules on its own motion. The Commission also adopts a rule revision to remove the low power restriction from certain frequencies currently reserved for low power operation on a primary basis for cargo handling purposes at docksides. The Commission also eliminates the eligibility restriction on school and park operations in the Public Safety Pool.

In this document the Commission examines methods to promote the commercial development and growth of the "millimeter wave" spectrum in the 71-76 GHz, 81-86 GHz and 92-95 GHz bands under parts 15 and 101 of our rules. This action follows was taken pursuant to our mandate under section 7(a) and 303(g) of the Communications Act and a in response to a Petition for Rulemaking filed by Loea Communications requesting service rules for these bands. We anticipate that the proposals set forth herein will encourage the use of technologies, developed in military and scientific applications in commercial products and services.

This document makes conforming edits to service-specific competitive bidding rules and portions of the part 1 general competitive bidding rules in accordance with the authority delegated by the Commission. These conforming edits further the Wireless Telecommunication Bureau's ("Bureau") continuing efforts to streamline its procedures in accordance with the Commission's biennial regulatory review obligations. In addition to making these conforming edits, the Bureau also exercises its delegated authority to make certain ministerial conforming amendments, including edits to correct competitive bidding provisions that were inadvertently altered or deleted. The intended effect of this action is to eliminate approximately 66 pages of redundant or unnecessary rules from the Code of Federal Regulations.

This document denies the Ad Hoc Coalition's ("Coalition") second petition for reconsideration of the Commission's 218-219 MHz Second Reconsideration Order. The Coalition's petition contains previously raised constitutional and price inflation arguments and a newly raised, albeit untimely, Administrative Procedure Act ("APA") argument. The Commission dismisses as repetitious the Coalition's constitutional and price inflation arguments because these arguments were previously the subject of reconsideration and fully considered in the 218-219 MHz Second Reconsideration Order. The Commission also dismisses the Coalition's untimely APA argument because the Coalition does not plead or otherwise establish new facts, changed circumstances, or public interest considerations that would merit review of the untimely request for reconsideration.

In this document, the Commission adopts service rules for 27 megahertz of electromagnetic spectrum in the 216-220 MHz, 1390-1395 MHz, 1427-1429.5 MHz, 1429.5-1432 MHz, 1432-1435 MHz, 1670-1675 MHz, and 2385-2390 MHz bands, recently reallocated for non-Government use. The licensing plan adopted in this proceeding implements, in part, the Commission's November 1999 Spectrum Policy Statement. The service rules adopted herein establish a flexible regulatory and licensing framework. The Commission believes that this decision will provide opportunities for new services to utilize this spectrum, thus addressing spectrum scarcity concerns, as well as to promote the delivery of technologically innovative services to the public.

This document proposes to amend the Commission's Rules to add a new secondary allocation to the 135.7-137.8 kHz band for the amateur service for experimentation in the low frequency ("LF") region of the spectrum; add a new secondary allocation to the 5250-5400 kHz band for the amateur service to facilitate high frequency ("HF") amateur service operations; and to upgrade the amateur service allocation from secondary status to primary status and add a primary allocation for the amateur-satellite service in the 2400-2402 MHz band. The proposed changes to the Rules would enhance the ability of the amateur service to conduct technical experiments with LF propagation and antenna design; allow amateurs to communicate at 5250 kHz when propagation conditions do not permit communication at 3500 kHz or 7000 kHz; and provide protected status for the amateur-satellite service now using the 2400-2402 MHz band.