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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  06-  978 
 Released:  May  4,  2006 
 THE  INTERNATIONAL  BUREAU  PROVIDES  GUIDANCE 
 CONCERNING  THE  RELOCATION  OF 
 EARTH  STATION  REMOTE  CONTROL  POINTS 


 Licensees  operating  transmitting  earth  stations  in  the  United  States  are  subject  to  Section  25.271  of  the  Commission’s  rules,  47  C.  F.  R.  §  25.271,  which  contains  provisions  that  require  earth 


 station  operators  to  maintain  control  of  operations  by  having  a  trained  operator  at  the  earth  station  site,  or  by  remotely  controlling  operations.  Section  25.271(  c)(  5)  of  the  Commission’s 
 rules,  47  C.  F.  R.  §  25.271(  c)(  5),  requires  that  International  VSAT  operators  must  provide  a  control  point  within  the  United  States,  or  maintain  a  point  of  contact  within  the  United  States 
 available  24  hours  a  day,  7  days  a  week,  with  the  ability  to  shut  down  any  earth  station  within  the  VSAT  network  immediately  upon  notification  of  harmful  interference.  Further,  the  licenses  for 
 all  earth  stations  operated  by  remote  control  list  the  remote  control  point,  and  this  information  is  considered  a  material  term  of  the  license. 


 We  hereby  clarify  that  Section  25.118(  a)(  1)  of  the  Commission’s  rules,  which  permits  licensees  to  make  changes  to  their  authorized  earth  stations  without  obtaining  prior  Commission 
 authorization,  is  intended  to  apply  only  to  the  equipment  specified  on  the  license  and  does  not  apply  to  changes  in  remote  control  points.  Therefore,  where  a  licensee  considers  a  change  in  the 
 Earth  station’s  remote  control  point,  including  any  relocation  of  the  remote  control  point  to  a  location  outside  the  United  States,  the  licensee  must  seek  prior  authorization  under  Section 
 25.117  of  the  Commission’s  rules.  The  International  Bureau  will  place  properly  filed  modification  applications  for  changes  in  earth  station  remote  control  points  on  public  notice. 


 Action  by  Chief,  International  Bureau. 
 -  FCC  - 
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