DA 99-2601
                                              November 19, 1999
                                
                  PROCEEDING TO ADDRESS SATELLITE 
                     NETWORK UNWANTED EMISSIONS
                              RM-9740

Comments due:  December 20, 1999 
Reply Comments due:  January 20, 2000

In a joint letter dated July 1, 1999, Motorola Satcom, Teledesic, and Hughes Space and
Communications Corporations requested that the Federal Communications Commission initiate a
proceeding to revise and bring up-to-date its Rules relating to out-of-band emissions from satellite
networks.  The emission limitation rules are contained in Part 25, section 25.202 of the
Commission's Rules and Regulations, and are related to unwanted emissions (the combination of
spurious and out-of-band emissions) from satellite networks.  The joint letter is being treated as a
petition for rulemaking and is part of the continuing effort to revise and streamline our rules to
ensure that they are necessary, up-to-date, and not overly burdensome to industry. 

As the joint letter indicates, section 25.202(f) of the Commission's Rules has existed in its
present form for more than twenty-five years.  This section was promulgated to accommodate
earlier geostationary satellite technologies.  There have been significant changes since that time. 
Higher frequencies in the spectrum are being used.  Low earth-orbiting satellite networks have
been introduced.  Geostationary satellite systems are operating closer together, with higher power
but usually with different, more efficient and more directive antennas.  Broadband and
significantly different modulation or frequency-use schemes are being introduced.  All of these
changes impact the ability to minimize unwanted emissions.

We note that the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), in its
ITU-Radiocommunication working groups, has been addressing the technical and regulatory
aspects of unwanted emissions for several years.  Matters related to spurious emissions were
largely agreed to at the ITU 1997 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC), and are
expected to be further considered at the upcoming WRC 2000.  However, international
negotiations on out-of-band emission limitations are in early stages of discussions, and are
expected to continue for some time into the future.

     Interested parties are, therefore, invited to file comments on how the Commission should
proceed with this petition for rulemaking and the scope of the issues to be addressed in
considering unwanted emissions from satellite networks.  We also ask commenters to specifically
address the following five questions raised in the joint letter:

     1.  Should the generic out-of-band (OOB) mask be in dBc, dBs, or PFD units or
     some combination?
     2.  Should the emissions of a multi-carrier system with a wideband frequency
     allocation  be treated differently than those of a system with a single broadband
     carrier?
     3.  Should the mask be defined as a function of authorized bandwidth (FCC
     approach) or necessary bandwidth (ITU approach)?
     4.  Should a generic mask be used for all space services allocations unless
     otherwise specified?
     5.  Should the FCC Rules incorporate out-of-band values agreed in
     Recommendations of the ITU-R?

Comments filed may be used to help develop FCC recommendations for U.S. proposals
and positions for the relevant international spectrum management meetings where out-of-band
emissions are being considered.  Comments must be filed by December 20, 1999, and replies by
January 20, 2000.  Comments should be furnished to the Secretary, FCC, 445 12th Street SW.,
Washington DC 20554, with a copy to Allen Yang of the FCC International Bureau.  Comments
may be filed electronically using the FCC Electronic Comment Filing System at web site
http://www.fcc.gov/e-file/ecfs.html citing the FCC Proceeding RM-9740.  

The joint letter is available for inspection and duplication between the hours of 9:00 a.m.
and 4:00 p.m. in the Public Reference Room CY-A257 at the Portals 2 Building, 445 12th Street
SW., Washington DC 20554. The Public Reference Room may be contacted at (202) 418-0270.

For further information regarding this Public Notice, contact Allen Yang, 202-418-0738,
or at e-mail ayang@fcc.gov.