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 NEWS  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).  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE:  NEWS  MEDIA  CONTACT:  May  9,  2002  Meribeth  McCarrick:  (202)  418-  0654 
 PROCEEDING  TO  ALLOCATE  NEW  FREQUENCY  BANDS  TO  THE  AMATEUR  RADIO  SERVICE 
 Washington,  D.  C.  -  The  Federal  Communications  Commission  (Commission)  adopted  a  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking  (Notice)  proposing  to  allocate  the  135.7-  137.8  kHz  and  5250-  5400  kHz  bands  to 
 the  amateur  radio  service  on  a  secondary  basis.  The  Commission  also  proposed  to  upgrade  the  existing  secondary  amateur  radio  service  allocation  in  the  2400-  2402  MHz  band  to  primary  status  and  to  add  a 
 primary  allocation  for  the  amateur-  satellite  service  in  this  band.  The  amateur  radio  service,  provides  spectrum  for  amateur  radio  service  licensees  to  participate  in  a  voluntary  noncommercial  communication 
 service  which  provides  emergency  communications  and  allows  experimentation  with  various  radio  techniques  and  technologies  to  further  the  understanding  of  radio  use  and  the  development  of  new 
 technologies 
 This  action  proposes  changes  that  would  enhance  the  ability  of  amateur  radio  operators  to  conduct  technical  experiments,  including  propagation  and  antenna  design  experiments,  in  the  “low 
 frequency”  (LF)  range  of  the  radio  spectrum.  In  addition,  the  Notice  proposes  to  authorize  the  use  of  the  5250  kHz  band  so  that  amateur  licensees’  can  better  match  their  choice  of  frequency  to  existing 
 propagation  conditions.  The  Notice,  by  proposing  to  upgrade  the  amateur  radio  service  allocation  and  add  a  primary  amateur-  satellite  service  allocation  in  the  2400-  2402  MHz  band,  seeks  to  protect  current 
 amateur  use  of  this  band. 
 Action  by  the  Commission  May  2,  2002,  by  Notice  of  Proposed  Rule  Making  (FCC  02-  136).  Chairman  Powell,  Commissioners  Abernathy,  Copps  and  Martin. 


 ET  Docket  No.  02-  98 
 -  FCC  - 
 OET  Staff  Contacts:  Kathyrn  Medley  at  (202)  418-  1211,  email  at  kmedley@  fcc.  gov;  or  Tom  Derenge  at  (202)  418-  2451,  e-  mail  at  tderenge@  fcc.  gov. 
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