Aggregator

In this document, the Commission adopts rules to implement Congress's directive in the 2018 Reimbursement Expansion Act (REA) that the Commission reimburse certain Low Power Television and television translator stations and FM broadcast stations, for costs incurred as a result of the Commission's broadcast television spectrum incentive auction. In the REA, Congress provided additional funding for the TV Broadcaster Relocation Fund and expanded the list of entities eligible to receive reimbursement for costs reasonably incurred as a result of the reorganization of broadcast television spectrum to include LPTV/ translator and FM stations. This document adopts rules relating to eligibility, expenses, and procedures the Commission will use to provide reimbursement to these entities and mandates the use of various measures designed to protect the Reimbursement Fund against waste, fraud, and abuse.

In this document, the Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, in which it sought comment on several proposals designed to improve the rules and procedures to select and license competing applications for new noncommercial educational (NCE) broadcast stations and low power FM (LPFM) stations.

At the request of ION Media License Company, LLC (ION), licensee of digital television station WNPX-TV, channel 36, Cookeville, Tennessee (WNPX), the Commission has before it an unopposed Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to amend the Post-Transition Table of DTV Allotments to reallot channel 36 from Cookeville to Franklin, Tennessee. ION further requested modification of WNPX's license to specify Franklin as the station's community of license. ION claimed that proposed reallotment is mutually exclusive with WNPX's current allotment because it is based on the technical specifications currently authorized for the station. Furthermore, ION stated that the proposed reallotment is consistent with the Commission's second allotment priority because it will provide Franklin with its first local transmission service. ION explained that Franklin not only qualifies as a community for allotment purposes, but is also a larger community than Cookeville and is deserving of its first local transmission service.

This document requests comments on a Petition for Rule Making filed by SSR Communications Inc., proposing to amend the FM Table of Allotments, by allotting Channel 264A at Caliente, Nevada, as the first local service. A staff engineering analysis indicates that Channel 264A can be allotted to Caliente consistent with the minimum distance separation requirements of the Commission's rules without a site restriction. The reference coordinates are 37-36-02 NL and 114-30-32 WL.

In this document, the Commission's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) initiates the 2018 quadrennial review of its media ownership rules, launched pursuant to a requirement of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (1996 Act) that the Commission review its media ownership rules every four years to determine whether they remain ``necessary in the public interest as the result of competition'' and to ``repeal or modify any determine[d] to be no longer in the public interest.'' The three rules currently subject to review are the Local Radio Ownership Rule, the Local Television Ownership Rule, and the Dual Network Rule. The NPRM seeks comment on whether, given the current state of the media marketplace, the Commission should retain, modify, or eliminate any of these rules. The NPRM also seeks comment on several proposals offered as potential pro- diversity initiatives.

At the request of ION Media License Company, LLC. (ION), licensee of television station WPXH-TV, channel 45, Gadsden, Alabama (WPXH), the Commission is proposing to amend the DTV Table of Allotments by changing WPXH's community of license from Gadsden to Hoover, Alabama. ION asserts that the proposed reallotment is consistent with the Commission's second allotment priority by providing Hoover with its first local transmission service. ION also asserts that the proposed reallotment will not deprive Gadsden of its sole broadcast station because it will continue to be served by station WPXH-TV, licensed to Trinity Christian Center of Santa Ana, Inc. on channel 26 at Gadsden.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) proposes to amend its rules related to satellite orbital debris mitigation in order to improve and clarify those rules based on experience gained in the satellite licensing process and on improvements in mitigation guidelines and practices, and to address various market developments.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) eliminates provisions of our rules that require broadcasters to post and maintain copies of their licenses and related information in specific locations. These rules have become redundant and obsolete now that licensing information is readily accessible online through the Commission's databases, including CDBS, LMS, and ULS. It therefore finds that eliminating these rules, which apply in some form to all broadcast licensees, will serve the public interest.

A Petition for Reconsideration (Petition) has been filed in the Commission's proceeding by Alan S. Tilles, on behalf of The City of New Orleans, Louisiana; Virginia Municipal League; Kentucky League of Cities; Mississippi Municipal League; Pennsylvania Municipal League; Alabama League of Municipalities; Arkansas Municipal League; Nevada League of Cities and Municipalities; Town of Middleburg, Virginia; Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; and Government Wireless Technology & Communications Association.

At the request of ION Media License Company, LLC. (ION), licensee of television station WNPX-TV, channel 36, Cookeville, Tennessee (WNPX), the Commission is proposing to amend the Post- Transition Table of DTV Allotments by changing WNPX's community of license from Cookeville to Franklin, Tennessee, pursuant to section 1.420(i) of the Commission's rules. ION asserts that the proposed reallotment is consistent with the Commission's second allotment priority by providing Franklin with its first local transmission service. ION also asserts that the proposed reallotment will not deprive Cookeville of its sole broadcast station because it will continue to be served by station WCTE(TV), licensed to Upper Cumberland Broadcast Council, on channel *22 at Cookeville.

A Petition for Reconsideration (Petition) has been filed in the Commission's rulemaking proceeding by Donald J. Evans, on behalf of Red Brennan Group.

At the request of ION Media Lexington License, Inc. (ION), licensee of television station WUPX-TV, channel 21, Morehead, Kentucky (WUPX), the Commission amends the DTV Table of Allotments to reallot channel 21 from Morehead, Kentucky, to Richmond, Kentucky.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission eliminates a paper filing requirement for broadcast station contracts and documents and instead requires that these same documents are either uploaded or listed in the online public file within 30 days.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) adopts limited changes to the rules governing Priority Access Licenses (PALs) that will be issued in the 3500-3700 MHz Band (3.5 GHz band)--including larger license areas, longer license terms, renewability, and performance requirements--as well as changes to the competitive bidding rules for the issuance of PALs and to the ability to partition and disaggregate areas within PALs. These changes are consistent with the rules that helped foster the development of 4G and LTE services in the United States, and adopting similar rules in this band will help promote additional investment in the next generation of wireless services. The Commission also adopts changes to the technical rules to facilitate transmissions over wider bandwidth channels without significant power reduction and changes to the information security requirements to better safeguard commercially sensitive information and protect critical infrastructure. These targeted changes will spur additional investment and broader deployment in the band, promote robust and efficient spectrum use, and help ensure the rapid deployment of advanced wireless technologies--including 5G--in the United States.

In this document, the Commission adopted a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Second FNPRM), in which it sought comment on alternative revised proposals to change the interference protection given to Class A AM radio broadcast stations. These proposals were revised based on responses to the Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making in this proceeding.

The Wireless Telecommunications and Media Bureaus (Bureaus) announce an auction of certain cross-service FM translator construction permits. This document also seeks comment on competitive bidding procedures and proposed minimum opening bids for Auction 100.

At the request of ION Media Lexington License, Inc. (ION), licensee of television station WUPX-TV, channel 21, Morehead, Kentucky (WUPX), the Commission is proposing to amend the DTV Table of Allotments to change WUPX's community of license from Morehead to Richmond, Kentucky. ION asserts that the proposed reallotment is consistent with the Commission's second allotment priority by providing Richmond with its first local transmission service. ION also asserts that the proposed reallotment will not deprive Morehead of its sole broadcast station because it will continue to be served by station WKMR(TV), licensed to Kentucky Authority for Educational TV, on channel *15 at Morehead. ION is not currently proposing to change WUPX's licensed facilities as part of its proposed reallotment.

At the request of ION Television License, LLC (ION), the Commission amends the DTV Table of Allotments to reallot channel 17 from Block Island, Rhode Island, to Newport, Rhode Island. The Commission also grants ION's request to change WPXQ's community of license to Newport, Rhode Island, amending the DTV Table of Allotments to reflect this change while modifying WPXQ's license to reflect that its community of license is Newport, Rhode Island. The new allotment will be mutually exclusive with WPXQ's existing allotment and the reallotment will result in a preferential arrangement of allotments pursuant to the Commission's second allotment priority by providing Newport its first local television service. The reallotment will cause no public harm because Block Island will continue to be served by five full power commercial and one full power non-commercial television stations and receive over-the-air service from WPXQ.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission makes non-substantive revisions to authority citations in its regulations. These authority citations are required by the rules of the Administrative Committee of the Federal Register, and their format is prescribed by the Document Drafting Handbook of the Office of the Federal Register. Certain of the authority citations currently in the Commission's rules may not conform to those specifications.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission makes non-substantive revisions to authority citations in its regulations. These authority citations are required by the rules of the Administrative Committee of the Federal Register, and their format is prescribed by the Document Drafting Handbook of the Office of the Federal Register. Certain of the authority citations currently in the Commission's rules may not conform to those specifications.