Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
March 22, 2016
DA 16-301
Mr. Michael P. Beder
Covington & Burling LLP
850 Tenth Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C.  20001
mbeder@cov.com
Call Sign: E160008
File No.:  SES-LIC-20160113-00040
    SES-AMD-20160118-00058
Dear Mr. Beder:
On January 13, 2016, WGBH Educational Foundation (WGBH) filed the above-captioned 
application to operate a fixed earth station in Boston, MA with the Permitted List satellites in the 14.0-
14.5 GHz (Earth-to-space) and 11.7–12.2 GHz (space-to-Earth) frequency bands.  Pursuant to Section 
25.112(a)(1) of the Commission’s rules, 47 C.F.R. § 25.112(a)(1), we dismiss the application as defective 
without prejudice to re-filing.
1
Section 25.112(a) of the Commission’s rules, 47 C.F.R. § 25.112(a), requires the Commission to 
return as unacceptable for filing any earth station application that is not substantially complete, contains 
internal inconsistencies, or does not substantially comply with the Commission’s rules.  WGBH’s 
application does not comply with the Commission’s rules, and is subject to dismissal as follows.
Section 25.115(k)(1) of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. § 25.115(k)(1), requires that earth 
station applications requesting authority to operate with the Permitted List satellites must qualify for 
routine processing.  The standard for routine processing is outlined in Section 25.212(c)(2) of the 
Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. 25.212(c)(2).  In relevant part, an earth station may be routinely licensed 
for digital transmission if the antenna input power spectral density does not exceed -14 dBW/4kHz.  
WGBH’s application does not comply with this standard for routine processing.  Specifically, 
WGBH lists emission designators 6M00G7W, 3M00G7W, and 1M00G7W in Item E50 of Schedule B 
with maximum EIRP power density values of 43.2, 46.2, and 46 dBW/4kHz, respectively, in Item 49 of 
Schedule B.  Based on the 55 dBi gain value that WGBH listed in Item E41, the input power densities of 
those emissions would be -11.80, -8.80, and -9.00 (dBW/4kHz), respectively, which is greater than the -
14 dBW/4kHz limit for routinely licensed authorizations.
                                                          
1
If WGBH refiles an application in which the deficiencies identified in this letter have been corrected but
otherwise identical to the one dismissed, it need not pay an application fee. See 47 C.F.R. § 1.1111(d).
                                         Federal Communications Commission                  DA 16-301
2
Accordingly, pursuant to Section 25.112(a)(1) of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. § 
25.112(a)(1), and Section 0.261 of the Commission's rules on delegations of authority, 47 C.F.R.
§ 0.261, we dismiss WGBH’s application without prejudice to re-filing.
Sincerely,
Paul E. Blais
Chief, Systems Analysis Branch
Satellite Division
International Bureau