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 PUBLIC  NOTICE  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  St.,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 DA  02-  3383 
 December  10,  2002 


 Media  Bureau  Seeks  Comment  on  Request  for  Special  Relief  By  Licensee  of  WSTE-  TV,  Ponce,  Puerto  Rico,  Seeking  Special  Unitary  License  for  Multi-  Site  Transmission  Facility 
 Siete  Grande  Television,  Inc.  (Siete  Grande),  licensee  of  television  station  WSTE-  TV,  Ponce,  Puerto  Rico  has  filed  a  request  for  a  special  “unitary”  license  that  would  reflect  its  station’s 
 actual  operations.  See  File  No.  BMLCT-  20020213ABY,  Facility  ID  No.  60341.  The  station  currently  utilizes  a  unique,  multi-  site  transmission  facility. 


 In  1986,  the  Commission  authorized  the  licensee  of  WSTE(  TV)  to  construct  an  experimental  broadcast  facility  in  the  Ponce,  Puerto  Rico  area,  in  order  to  determine  whether  a  system  of 
 multiple  cochannel  transmitters,  simultaneously  broadcasting,  could  provide  better  service  in  Puerto  Rico’s  mountainous  terrain  than  the  authorized  single  transmitter.  The  design  utilized  an 
 alternate  transmitter  and  three  television  booster  stations,  operating  at  increased  power,  spaced  throughout  the  island.  In  1992,  the  Commission  granted  Siete  Grande  waivers  of  Sections 
 73.1675(  a)  and  74.735(  d)  of  the  Rules  in  order  to  permit  operation  of  the  multi-  station  facility  on  a  regular  basis.  Siete  Grande,  7  FCC  Rcd  5299  (1992). 


 Siete  Grande  now  seeks  a  special  “unitary”  license  which  would  cover  the  auxiliary  and  booster  sites,  in  lieu  of  each  site  having  a  separate  license.  This  new  license  would  treat  the  multi-  site 
 transmission  facility  as  a  collective  primary  station  for  both  NTSC  and  DTV  licenses.  The  license  would  also  eliminate  the  need  for  the  licensee  to  maintain  a  separate  main  transmitter 
 facility  in  Ponce,  which  currently  must  remain  turned  off  to  avoid  interference  with  the  array.  Finally,  the  “unitary”  license  would  give  primary  status  to  the  currently  secondary  booster 
 stations  that  are  part  of  the  multi-  site  facility. 
 Comments  are  due  within  30  days  of  this  public  notice  and  reply  comments  are  due  15  days  thereafter.  An  original  and  one  copy  of  all  comments  must  be  filed  with  the  Commission’s 


 Secretary,  Marlene  H.  Dortch,  445  Twelfth  Street,  S.  W.,  TW  A-  325,  Washington,  D.  C.  20554.  In  addition,  one  copy  should  be  delivered  to  David  Roberts,  Video  Division,  Media  Bureau,  445 
 Twelfth  Street,  S.  W.,  Room  2-  A728,  Washington,  D.  C.  20554. 
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