*Pages 1--2 from Microsoft Word - 49367.doc* 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 05- 1671 Released: June 15, 2005 THE INTERNATIONAL BUREAU PROVIDES GUIDANCE CONCERNING THE NOTICE REQUIREMENT FOR C- BAND COORDINATION BY EARTH STATIONS ON VESSELS Section 25.221 of the Commission’s rules contains provisions for Blanket Licensing for Earth Stations on Vessels in the 3700- 4200 and 5925- 6425 MHz Band, i. e., in the C- Band. 1 Section 25.221( e) requires that C- Band ESVs complete coordination prior to operating within 200 kilometers of either the baseline of the United States or U. S.- licensed fixed offshore installations. 2 Coordination is to be completed using a coordination method and interference criteria objective determined by the frequency coordinator. Upon completion of coordination, a notification must be sent to the Commission, whereupon the Commission will issue a Public Notice. 3 Pursuant to 5 U. S. C. § 553( b)( 3)( A), the International Bureau provides the following information as guidance in connection with Section 25.221( e) of the Commission’s rules. In order to be placed on Public Notice, the notification of the successfully- completed frequency coordination must contain the following information: 1. Name and contact information of the frequency coordinator; 2. Reference identification, date, and duration (if relevant) of the coordination report; 3. Frequency coordination method used; 4. Interference criteria used; 5. Speed of coordinated vessel, if relevant; 6. Center frequencies, bandwidths, and total spectrum coordinated per satellite; 4 7. Name of satellite( s) and transponder( s) being used; 8. Textual description and scaled map of the geographic area( s) coordinated; 9. 24/ 7 contact information for the ESV operator; 10. Call sign of the hub station if independently licensed; 11. Statement indicating that as of the date of this notification there are no unresolved coordination requests which would result in an exceedance of the maximum 180 megahertz of coordinated spectrum for all ESV operations in the coordination area in Section 25.202( a)( 8). 1 47 C. F. R. § 25.221. 2 47 C. F. R. § 25.221( e). 3 Id. 4 ESV operators transmitting in the 5925- 6425 MHz (Earth- to- space) frequency bands shall not seek to coordinate, in any geographic location, more than 36 megahertz of uplink bandwidth on each of no more than two satellites. See 47 C. F. R. § 25. 221( a)( 10). 1 2 The Public Notice will contain the information described in Items 1- 11, including a brief description of any detailed technical discussions submitted with the notification. For administrative and public convenience, the Bureau generally will release such public notices weekly on Friday. Operation of each individual ESV may commence immediately after the Public Notice is released that identifies the notification sent to the Commission. Continuance of operation of that ESV for the duration of the coordination term shall be dependent upon successful completion of the normal public notice process. If an objection is received to the coordination prior to the end of the 30- day comment period of the Public Notice indicating that an existing fixed station operator believes it was improperly left out of the coordination process, the ESV licensee shall immediately cease operation of that particular station until the coordination dispute is resolved and the ESV licensee informs the Commission of the resolution. The International Bureau filing system does not currently provide a means for filing a notification concerning completion of ESV coordination. Therefore, such notifications should be filed in the form of a letter to the Secretary, FCC, referencing relevant call signs and file numbers, with an electronic courtesy copy submitted by email to ESV@ fcc. gov. The electronic file will be uploaded to the IBFS system in connection with the relevant call signs and file numbers. Alternatively, in the event the notification is filed simultaneously with an application for a new or modified earth station authorization, the notification may be attached as an exhibit to the application and filed electronically. In such instances, the earth station application and the coordination notification will be reviewed for completeness separately, and will each be subject to public notice. If interested parties require information in addition to that placed on public notice and in the Commission’s files, then we encourage them to contact the frequency coordinator or ESV operator directly. Action by Chief, International Bureau. - FCC - 2