*Pages 1--2 from Microsoft Word - 9255.doc* PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 445 12 th St., S. W. washington, D. C. 20554 News Media Information 202 / 418- 0500 Fax- On- Demand 202 / 418- 2830 TTY 202 / 418- 2555 Internet: http:// www. fcc. gov ftp fcc gov Report No. SPB- 169 May 25, 2001 SATELLITE POLICY BRANCH INFORMATION Applications Accepted For Filing COMSAT Corporation – Comsat Mobile Communications – Telenor Satellite Mobile Services, Inc. -- Assignment of License Applications The Commission has received applications for consent to assignment of certain Title II common carrier authorizations and Title III radio licenses from Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications, Comsat Corporation, and COMSAT General Corporation (collectively “COMSAT”) to Telenor Satellite Mobile Services, Inc. and Telenor Satellite, Inc. (“ Telenor”). COMSAT holds various earth station, Private Land Mobile Radio (PLMR), and experimental licenses, as well as international Section 214 authority. The proposed transaction involves the assignment of both private and common carrier Title III licenses. In addition, the assignment of the common carrier Title III licenses from COMSAT to Telenor will result in the indirect foreign ownership of the licensee, Telenor Satellite, Inc., in excess of the 25- percent foreign ownership limit in Section 310( b)( 4) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (“ the Act”). Telenor Broadband Service AS of Norway (“ Telenor Broadband”) established Telenor Satellite Mobile Services, Inc. (“ TSMS”) as a U. S. holding company earlier this year to serve as the proposed buyer of the Comsat Mobile Communications business from COMSAT. TSMS wholly owns Telenor Satellite, Inc., the proposed licensee. TSMS is 100% owned by Telenor Broadband, which is in turn 100% owned by Telenor ASA, a company incorporated in Norway and based in Oslo. Seventy nine percent of Telenor ASA stock is owned by the Kingdom of Norway and the remaining twenty one percent is publicly traded on the NASDAQ and Oslo Stock Exchanges. Norway is a WTO- member country. Therefore, the Applicants request a declaratory ruling that the acquisition of these authorizations and licenses by Telenor Satellite, Inc. and the proposed operation by TSMS of the CMC business, is permitted with Section 310 of the Act and will serve the public interest. Additionally, the Applicants request that the Commission approve the assignment of various international Section 214 authorizations from COMSAT to Telenor Satellite, Inc. The Applicants request non- dominant classification for all U. S.- foreign point routes except for U. S. -Norway. The Applicants do not request streamlined processing. Upon initial review, we find that the applications listed below are acceptable for filing. Pursuant to the Commission's rules, we may return any of these applications if we determine upon further review that they are defective or not in conformance with our rules, regulations, or policies. 1 Application File No. SES- ASG- 20010504- 00896 is the Lead File number for this series of applications. The complete list of File Numbers follows: Satellite Earth Stations: SES- ASG- 20010504- 00896 Section 214 Authority: ITC- ASG- 20010504- 00302 Section 310( b)( 4) Petition for Declaratory Ruling: File No. ISP- PDR- 20010510- 00025 Private Land Mobile Radio: ULS Application File No. 0000449956, Call Sign KB42877 Experimental Licenses: Call Sign KA2XHN, File No. 41- EX- AL- 2001 Call Sign WA2XGG, File No. 42- EX- AL- 2001 Call Sign WC2XMG, File No. 43- EX- AL- 2001 Call Sign WC2XNE, File No. 44- EX- AL- 2001 Call Sign WA9XBL Comments, petitions, or informal objections regarding these applications may be filed on or before June 25, 2001. Replies to comments and oppositions to petitions or informal objections may be filed on or before July 10, 2001. Responses may be filed on or before July 20, 2001. All comments, petitions, informal objections, replies, and responses shall be consistent with section 25.154 of our rules. See 47 C. F. R. § 25.154. Copies of the referenced applications and subsequent filings will be available for public inspection in the Federal Communications Commission Reference Center, Room CY- A257, 445 12 th St., S. W., Washington, D. C., 20554, (202) 418- 0270 and from ITS Duplicating Services, 1231 20 th St., N. W., Washington, D. C., 20036, (202) 857- 3800. In addition, the application filed for the PLMR license is available electronically through the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau’s Universal Licensing System, which may be accessed on the Commission’s Internet web site at Internet: http:// www. fcc. gov. Persons filing comments or petition to deny must file an original and four copies of all comments and reply comments. The lead file number for this series of applications is File No. SES- ASG-20010504- 00896, and should be referenced on ALL documents filed in response to this Public Notice. All filings must be sent to the Commission's Secretary, Magalie Roman Salas, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, 445 - 12th Street, S. W., TW- A325, Washington, D. C. 20554. In addition, one copy of each pleading should be sent to James Bird, OGC TransactionTeam, Federal Communications Commission, 445 12 th Street, S. W. Room 8-C818, Washington, D. C. 20554. For questions or further information, please contact Alexandra Field at (202) 418- 2064. For further information about the foreign ownership or the international Section 214 authorizations, please contact Karen Onyeije at (202) 418- 1757. For information regarding the application for the PLMR license, please contact Jeffrey Tobias at (202) 418- 1617. For information regarding the application for experimental licenses, please contact Carl Huie at (202) 418- 2430. - FCC - 2