PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 445 12 th St., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 Internet: https://www.fcc.gov TTY: 1-888-835-5322 DA 16-804 July 15, 2016 SATELLITE POLICY BRANCH INFORMATION ONEWEB PETITION ACCEPTED FOR FILING IBFS FILE NO. SAT-LOI-20160428-00041 CUT-OFF ESTABLISHED FOR ADDITIONAL NGSO-LIKE SATELLITE APPLICATIONS OR PETITIONS FOR OPERATIONS IN THE 10.7-12.7 GHz, 14.0-14.5 GHz, 17.8-18.6 GHz, 18.8-19.3 GHz, 27.5-28.35 GHz, 28.35-29.1 GHz, AND 29.5-30.0 GHz BANDS WorldVu Satellites Limited, d/b/a OneWeb (OneWeb), has petitioned the Commission for a declaratory ruling that it may provide fixed-satellite service (FSS) in the United States using a proposed non-geostationary-satellite orbit (NGSO) satellite constellation authorized by the United Kingdom. 1 In this Public Notice, we accept the OneWeb Petition for filing and establish a pleading cycle and ex parte procedures for its consideration. We also initiate a processing round for additional applications and petitions for operation in the 10.7-12.7 GHz, 14.0-14.5 GHz, 17.8-18.6 GHz, 18.8-19.3 GHz, 27.5-28.35 GHz, 28.35-29.1 GHz, and 29.5-30.0 GHz bands by NGSO-like satellite systems. 2 OneWeb Petition. OneWeb proposes to operate a constellation of 720 satellites in low-Earth orbit to provide global, broadband internet access. 3 OneWeb space stations communicate with user terminals in the 10.7-12.7 GHz (space-to-Earth) and 14.0-14.5 GHz (Earth-to-space) frequency bands. Gateway earth stations, which connect users to terrestrial networks, operate in the 17.8-18.6 GHz (space-to-Earth), 18.8-19.3 GHz (space-to-Earth), 27.5-29.1 GHz (Earth-to-space), and 29.5-30.0 GHz (Earth-to-space) bands in the United States. In its petition, OneWeb requests waivers of certain Commission rules and policies, namely: section 2.106, including footnote NG56, and the Commission’s Ka-band Plan; 4 sections 25.157(e), 25.146(a)(1)(iii), and 25.146(a)(2)(iii); and the limitation on NGSO FSS deployment in the 10.7-11.7 GHz band to gateway earth stations. 1 WorldVu Satellites Limited, Petition for a Declaratory Ruling Granting Access to the U.S. Market for the OneWeb System, IBFS File No. SAT-LOI-20160428-00041 (filed April 28, 2016) (OneWeb Petition). To access the OneWeb Petition, visit http://licensing.fcc.gov/myibfs. 2 See 47 CFR § 25.157(a) (defining “NGSO-like satellite system” as all NGSO satellite systems, and all GSO MSS satellite systems, in which the satellites are designed to communicate with earth stations with omni-directional antennas). We note that certain of these bands are subject to restrictions on use by satellite services. See 47 CFR §§ 2.102(a), 2.106, 25.202(a)(1). 3 See OneWeb Petition, Technical Narrative at 2. 4 The Commission’s Ka-band Plan consists of a series of decisions on use of the 17.7-20.2 GHz and 27.5-30.0 GHz bands in IB Docket Nos. 92-297 and 98-172. 2Accepted for filing. The OneWeb Petition is accepted for filing. The Commission reserves the right to return any application or petition if, upon further examination, it is determined to be defective and not in conformance with the Commission’s rules or policies. OneWeb pleading cycle. Interested parties may file comments or petitions to deny the OneWeb Petition no later than August 15, 2016. Responses to comments and oppositions to petitions must be filed no later than August 25, 2016. Replies to oppositions must be filed no later than September 1, 2016. ? Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed using the Commission’s International Bureau Filing System at http://licensing.fcc.gov/myibfs/pleading.do. ? Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must file an original and one copy of each filing. Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by commercial overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service mail. All filings must be addressed to the Commission’s Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission. ? All hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings for the Commission’s Secretary must be delivered to FCC Headquarters at 445 12th St., SW, Room TW-A325, Washington, DC 20554. The filing hours are 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. All hand deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes and boxes must be disposed of before entering the building. ? Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743. ? U.S. Postal Service first-class, Express, and Priority mail must be addressed to 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20554. Persons with Disabilities: To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an e-mail to FCC504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY). Ex parte status. OneWeb’s petition for declaratory ruling is subject to the “permit-but-disclose” provisions of the Commission’s rules governing ex parte communications. 47 CFR § 1.1206. To provide for uniformity of treatment, we will also treat any other applications considered in this processing round under the “permit-but-disclose” provisions of the ex parte rules. Additional applications. We invite additional applications and petitions for declaratory ruling for NGSO-like satellite operation in the 10.7-12.7 GHz, 14.0-14.5 GHz, 17.8-18.6 GHz, 18.8-19.3 GHz, 27.5-28.35 GHz, 28.35-29.1 GHz, and 29.5-30.0 GHz frequency bands. 5 Applications and petitions filed by November 15, 2016, will be considered together with the OneWeb Petition. Requests filed after this date may not be entitled to shared use of this spectrum with respect to any grant of applications or petitions filed prior to the cut-off date. Applicants and petitioners that file by the cut-off date will be afforded an opportunity to amend their requests, if necessary, to conform to any requirements or policies that may be subsequently adopted concerning NGSO-like satellite operation in these bands. Applications 5 O3b Limited (O3b) has filed a petition for declaratory ruling, IBFS File No. SAT-MOD-20160624-00060, which, if found acceptable for filing, will be considered in this processing round. O3b’s petition seeks U.S. market access for eight additional satellites to be added to O3b’s grant of U.S. market access for a 12-satellite constellation in the 17.8-18.6 GHz, 18.8-19.3 GHz, 27.6-28.4 GHz, and 28.6-29.1 GHz bands. 3must be filed electronically through IBFS at http://licensing.fcc.gov/myibfs. - FCC -