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 NEWS  News  media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  TTY  202  /  418-  2555  Fax-  On-  Demand  202  /  418-  2830  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  ftp.  fcc.  gov  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974). 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE  NEWS  MEDIA  CONTACT:  March  8,  2002  Meribeth  McCarrick  at  (202)  418-  0654 
 WIRELESS  BUREAU  TO  ASSUME  ALL  REGULATORY  DUTIES  ASSOCIATED  WITH  ITFS  AND  MDS/  MMDS  SERVICES 
 Washington,  D.  C.  –  As  part  of  the  Federal  Communications  Commission’s  agency  reorganization,  beginning  March  25  th  the  Wireless  Telecommunications  Bureau  (Bureau)  will 
 handle  all  regulatory  issues  related  to  the  Instructional  Television  Fixed  Service  (ITFS)  and  the  Multipoint  Distribution  Service  (MDS)/  Multichannel  Multipoint  Distribution  Service  (MMDS). 
 The  Bureau  will  assume  all  regulatory  duties  associated  with  the  services  including  all  licensing  and  legal  matters. 


 Specifically,  ITFS  and  MDS/  MMDS  regulatory  functions  will  be  handled  in  the  Bureau’s  Public  Safety  and  Private  Wireless  Division.  ITFS  is  allotted  120  megahertz  of  spectrum  in  the  2 
 GHz  band.  ITFS  licensees  make  extensive  use  of  the  spectrum  to  provide  formal  classroom  instruction,  distance  learning,  and  videoconference  capability  to  a  wide  variety  of  educational 
 users  throughout  the  nation.  MDS/  MMDS  is  allotted  up  to  82  megahertz  of  spectrum  in  the  2  GHz  band.  MDS/  MMDS  is  a  commercial  service  that  has  generally  been  used  for  the 
 transmission  of  data  and  video  programming  to  subscribers.  These  services  were  previously  administered  by  the  Commission’s  former  Mass  Media  Bureau. 


 Wireless  Bureau  Contact:  Shellie  Blakeney  at  (202)  418-  0680  or  sblakene@  fcc.  gov 


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