PUBLIC NOTICE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION DA 96-1165 1919 M STREET N.W. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20554 News media information 202/632-5050. Recorded listing of releases and texts 202/632-0002. File No. WTB/POL 96-2 July 18 , 1996 COMMISSION SEEKS COMMENT ON PETITION FOR DECLARATORY RULING FILED BY PITTENCRIEFF COMMUNICATIONS, INC. CONCERNING THE TEXAS PUBLIC UTILITY REGULATORY ACT OF 1995 Comments Due: September 6, 1996; Replies Due: October 4, 1996 On January 11, 1996, Pittencrieff Communications, Inc. (PCI) petitioned the Commission to declare that Sections 3.606 and 3.608 of the Texas Public Utility Regulatory Act of 1995 (PURA), as applied to commercial mobile radio service (CMRS) providers, are preempted by Section 332 (c)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (Act), which bars state and local governments from regulating the entry or rates of CMRS providers. PCI maintains that Sections 3.606 and 3.608 of the PURA directly operate as a condition of entry by CMRS providers into the State of Texas and indirectly affect CMRS rates. Interested parties are invited to file comments on PCI's petition. Interested parties also are invited to comment on the effect on that petition of Paging Companies for a Fair Assessment v. John Sharp, No. 95-15783 (D. Texas, February 5, 1995), which vacated a portion of the PURA discussed in PCI's petition. Comments must be filed no later than September 6, 1996. Reply comments must be filed no later than October 4, 1996. Interested parties should note that this Commission recently issued a Public Notice seeking comment on petitions for declaratory ruling and/or preemption of the Texas PURA that have been filed by the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the Competition Policy Institute, IntelCom Group (U.S.A.) Inc. and ICG Telecom Group, Inc., AT&T Corp., MCI Telecommunications Corp., and MFS Communications Company. See DA 96-888, released June 4, 1996. In general, those petitions ask this Commission to determine whether various other portions of the Texas PURA and/or certain actions by the Texas Commission are subject to preemption under Section 253 of the Communications Act. All filings concerning PCI's petition should make reference to that petition and to WTB/Pol 96-2, and must be sent to the office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, Washington, D.C. 20554. A copy of each filing also must be sent to International Transcription Service (ITS), 2100 M Street, N.W., Suite 140, Washington, D.C. 20037, (202) 857-3800, and to Claudia Borthwick, Federal Communications Commission, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB), Policy Division, 2025 M Street, N.W., Room 5202, Washington, D.C. 20554. Parties are encouraged to submit comments and reply comments on diskette. Such diskette submissions would be in addition to and not a substitute for the formal filing requirements presented above. Parties submitting diskettes should submit them to Claudia Borthwick of the WTB Policy Division. Such a submission should be on a 3.5 inch diskette formatted in an IBM compatible form using WordPerfect 5.1 for Windows software. The diskette should be submitted in "read only" mode, and should be clearly labelled with the party's name, proceeding (WTB/Pol 96-2), type of pleading (comment or reply comment) and date of submission. Copies of PCI's petition are available for public inspection and copying in the Policy Division of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, 2025 M Street, N.W., Room 5202, Washington, D.C. Copies also are available from ITS. Pursuant to Section 1.1206 of the Commission's Rules, 47 CFR  1.1206, this proceeding will be conducted as a non-restricted proceeding in which ex parte communications are permitted but subject to disclosure. For further information contact Claudia Borthwick at (202) 418-1310. - FCC - - 2 -