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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:  March  10,  2005  Jacki  Ponti  (202)  418-  0436 
 Email:  jacki.  ponti@  fcc.  gov 


 COMMISSION  FURTHER  STREAMLINES  SATELLITE  EARTH  STATION  LICENSING  TO  FACILITATE  SWIFT  DEPLOYMENT  OF  BROADBAND  SERVICES  TO  CONSUMERS 
 Washington,  D.  C.-  The  Federal  Communications  Commission  adopted,  as  part  of  its  “Consent  Agenda”  at  today’s  Commission  open  meeting,  modified  licensing  rules  that  will  streamline 
 the  review  of  non-  routine  earth  station  applications  and  speed  the  availability  of  broadband  satellite  services  to  consumers.  In  two  separate  items,  a  Fifth  Report  &  Order  and  a  Sixth  Report  & 
 Order/  Third  Further  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking,  the  Commission  adopted  changes  to  the  current  Part  25  technical  and  processing  rules  and  proposed  further  changes  designed  to  reduce  review  time 
 for  non-  routine  earth  station  applications.  Non-  routine  earth  stations,  often  used  to  provide  satellite-based  broadband  internet  access,  are  earth  stations  that  have  smaller  antenna  diameters  or  operate  at 
 higher  power  levels  than  those  specified  in  Part  25  of  the  Commission’s  rules. 
 In  the  Fifth  Report  &  Order,  the  Commission  adopted  two  new  streamlined  procedures  for  case-  by-  case  review  of  applications  for  smaller-  than-  routine  earth  stations: 


 1.  Certification  Procedure:  Applicants  can  provide  certifications  of  prior  coordination  with  satellite  operators  that  ensure  that  proposed  stations  will  not  cause  unacceptable 
 interference  to  their  operations. 
 2.  Power  Reduction:  Applicants  can  file  applications  and  specify  that  they  will  operate  at  a  lower  enough  power  level  to  prevent  interference. 


 The  item  also  adopts  similar  certification  procedures  for  proposed  earth  stations  with  higher-  than-routine  power. 
 In  the  Sixth  Report  &  Order,  the  Commission  adopted  additional  technical  rule  changes,  including  updating  the  rules  for  Very  Small  Aperture  Terminals  (VSAT)  networks  using  Code  Division 
 Multiple  Access  (CDMA),  so  that  the  requirements  are  consistent  in  different  frequency  bands.  The  Third  Further  Notice  proposed  rules  that  would  give  earth  station  operators  more  flexibility  to  adjust  their 
 operations  to  meet  market-  place  demands. 
 The  new  procedures  and  technical  rules  are  designed  to  allow  the  Commission  to  more  quickly  review  and  act  upon  applications,  and  ultimately  speed  new  broadband  services  to  consumers. 
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 International  Bureau  Contact:  Steven  Spaeth  (202)  418-  1539;  Gardner  Foster  (202)  418-  1990 
 IB  Docket  No.  00-  248 


 -FCC- 
 News  about  the  Federal  Communications  Commission  can  also  be  found 
 on  the  Commission’s  web  site  www.  fcc.  gov. 
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