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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:  December  9,  2005  Chelsea  Fallon:  (202)  418-  7991 
 FCC  ESTABLISHES  AUCTION  RULES  AND  RESOLVES  RECONSIDERATION  PETITIONS  FOR  AIR-  GROUND  RADIOTELEPHONE  SERVICES 
 Washington,  D.  C.  –  Today,  the  Federal  Communications  Commission  (FCC)  released  an  Order  on  Reconsideration  and  Report  and  Order  (Order)  that  establishes  competitive  bidding 
 rules  for  the  400  MHz  and  800  MHz  Air-  Ground  Radiotelephone  (Air-  Ground)  services  and  resolves  Petitions  for  Reconsideration  of  the  FCC’s  Air-  Ground  Order  adopted  in  December 
 2004.  Today’s  action  enables  the  FCC  to  proceed  with  auctions  of  new  licenses  in  the  Air-Ground  services  and  will  help  bring  broadband  and  other  communications  services  to  the 
 traveling  public  onboard  aircraft. 
 In  the  December  2004  Air-  Ground  Order,  the  FCC  adopted  a  new  and  flexible  approach  to  determining  the  future  band  plan  of  the  four  megahertz  of  spectrum  in  the  800  MHz  band 
 dedicated  to  commercial  Air-  Ground  service.  The  order  provided  for  new  nationwide  licenses  for  this  spectrum  to  be  auctioned  in  three  alternative  band  plan  configurations,  with  the  ultimate 
 band  plan  being  determined  by  the  results  of  the  auction.  The  Air  Ground  Order  also  renewed  the  license  of  Verizon  Airfone,  the  sole  incumbent  licensee  in  the  800  MHz  Air-  Ground  band, 
 for  a  non-  renewable  five  year  term,  and  established  a  two-  year  transition  period  for  Verizon  Airfone  to  transition  its  incumbent  narrowband  operations  from  four  to  one  megahertz.  Finally, 
 the  FCC  sought  comment  on  proposed  competitive  bidding  rules  for  the  400  MHz  and  800  MHz  Air-  Ground  services. 


 In  today’s  action,  the  FCC  decided  to  conduct  auctions  for  both  the  400  MHz  general  aviation  and  800  MHz  Air-  Ground  services  using  its  Part  1  competitive  bidding  rules.  Today’s 
 Order  establishes  bidding  credits  for  the  800  MHz  Air-  Ground  service  of  15  percent  for  entities  that  qualify  as  “small  businesses”  and  25  percent  for  those  that  qualify  as  “very  small 
 businesses.”  The  FCC  concluded  that  bidding  credits  are  unnecessary  for  the  400  MHz  Air-Ground  service. 


 In  response  to  a  Petition  for  Reconsideration  filed  by  Space  Data  Corporation,  today’s  Order  clarifies  that  stratospheric  platforms,  such  as  high-  altitude  balloons,  may  be  used  to 
 provide  air-  ground  services  in  the  800  MHz  Air-  Ground  band.  The  Order  also  denies  Space  Data’s  request  to  allow  ancillary  terrestrial  mobile  and  fixed  services  on  a  secondary  basis  in  the 
 band.  The  Order  denies  the  request  of  AirCell,  Inc.  to  shorten  Verizon  Airfone’s  incumbent  license  term  from  five  to  two  years,  and  to  shorten  from  two  years  to  six  months  the  period  for 
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 Verizon  Airfone  to  transition  its  incumbent  operations  from  four  to  one  megahertz.  However,  the  Order  requires  Verizon  Airfone  to  provide  a  progress  report  to  the  Commission  on  the 
 transition  process  every  six  months.  Lastly,  in  the  event  that  Verizon  Airfone,  or  one  of  its  affiliates,  wins  an  exclusive  3  MHz  license,  it  will  be  subject  to  additional  reporting  requirements 
 to  enable  the  Commission  to  monitor  Verizon  Airfone’s  migration  of  its  narrowband  subscribers  to  a  new  broadband  system. 


 Action  by  the  Commission  on  December  8,  2005,  by  Order  on  Reconsideration  and  Report  and  Order  (FCC  05-  202).  Chairman  Martin  and  Commissioner  Abernathy,  with  Commissioners 
 Copps  and  Adelstein  approving  in  part  and  concurring  in  part.  Separate  statements  issued  by  Commissioners  Copps  and  Adelstein. 


 For  additional  information,  contact  Richard  Arsenault,  Wireless  Telecommunications  Bureau,  at  (202)  418-  0920,  or  Richard.  Arsenault@  fcc.  gov;  or  Lynne  Milne,  Wireless  Telecommunications 
 Bureau,  at  (202)  418-  7055,  or  Lynne.  Milne@  fcc.  gov. 
 WT  Docket  No.  03-  103. 
 –  FCC  – 
 News  and  other  information  about  the  Federal  Communications  Commission  is  available  at  www.  fcc.  gov. 
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