PUBLIC NOTICE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 1919 M STREET NW WASHINGTON, D.C. 20554 News media information 202/418-0500. Recorded listing of releases and texts 202/418-2222. November 3, 1997 EQUIPMENT AUTHORIZATION DIVISION OF THE OFFICE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY ANNOUNCES ROUND TABLE DISCUSSIONS ON APPLICATIONS ISSUES The Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) is currently making strides in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the equipment authorization process. We are in an ongoing effort to continue to make improvements and reduce processing times. In order to further this goal we will be conducting several "round table" discussions on topics related to the equipment authorization process. The focus of these meetings will be to provide guidance to applicants, to identify mechanisms that can further improve our service to the public and to further a common understanding of our rules and of industry standards, measurement procedures, and application submittal requirements. We will not address individual applications or specific products during these discussions. Instead, we will limit these discussions to general means and methods for improving our service and to inform the public on our policies and our rules and regulations. Because of space limitations we will limit attendance at these working discussions to twenty guests. We have scheduled two sessions for each of the first two topics. However, if responses are numerous we will consider establishing additional sessions in order to offer as many interested parties as possible the opportunity to participate. The first two topics and the dates of the initial round tables are as follows: December 16, 1997 9 am - 12 noon Spread Spectrum Devices December 16, 1997 1 pm - 4 pm Type Acceptance of Land Mobile Part 90 Devices January 8, 1998 9 am - 12 noon Spread Spectrum Devices January 8, 1998 1 pm - 4 pm Type Acceptance of Land Mobile Part 90 Devices All sessions will be held in the Conference Room of the FCC Laboratory, 7435 Oakland Mills Road, Columbia, Maryland. We will be considering other topics for future sessions, and in the near future we will establish a survey on the FCC web site in order to seek comment on future sessions on other topics that might be of interest (See http://www.fcc.gov). If you are interested in reserving a place in any of these discussion groups please contact Phyllis Parrish of the OET Customer Service Branch, Columbia Maryland at (301) 725-1585 ext. 246 (or by email - PPARRISH@FCC.GOV) by December 9, 1997 for the December 16, 1997 session and by December 30, 1997 for the January 8, 1998 session. You must register for each topic, if you intend attending both. We will reserve your place at these discussion groups on a first come first served basis. Due to limited space, we are restricting attendance to representatives of test labs and manufacturers. Depending on the interest we may limit participation to no more than one representative per company or organization. We can not guarantee that all interested parties will be accommodated. If you are selected to attend you will receive confirmation at least one week prior to the session. However, if we receive a high degree of interest, we will consider additional sessions on these initial topics. Please note that travel arrangements and hotel reservations are the responsibility of the attendees. Anyone needing directions to the FCC Laboratory should provide their fax numbers in their response. Further, since we expect these discussions to be two-way dialogues, we ask that attendees come prepared to discuss problem areas and pertinent questions regarding the application submittal process, interpretations of industry standards and measurement requirements. We also encourage interested parties to provide us, in advance, suggested areas for discussion at these round tables and any questions that they would like the Commission staff to address at these meetings. We plan to make audio recordings of the round table discussions. Copies may be purchased through Infocus, 341 Victory Drive, Herndon, VA 20170 (telephone number (703) 834-0100). - FCC -