PUBLIC NOTICE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 1919 M STREET N.W. WASHINGTON, DC 20554 ___________________________________________________ News media Information 202/418-0500 Recorded listing of releases and texts 202/418-2222. Report No. SPB-141 November 2, 1998 INTERNATIONAL BUREAU Satellite Policy Branch Information: Cut-off Established for Additional Applications and Letters of Intent in the 12.75-13.25 GHz, 13.75-14.5 GHz, 17.3-17.8 GHz and 10.7-12.7 GHz Frequency Bands In a public notice (Report No. SPB-98) issued August 28, 1997, the Commission found, upon initial review, the application of SkyBridge L.L.C. acceptable for filing in the 12.75-13.25 GHz, 13.75-14.5 GHz, and 17.3-17.8 GHz uplink bands and the 10.7-12.7 GHz downlink bands. SkyBridge subsequently amended its application, and a public notice issued July 20, 1998 (Report No. SPB-133) stated the proposed changes. The Commission did not establish a cut-off date for applications to be considered concurrently with SkyBridge's application in either notice. This Public Notice establishes the cut-off date for additional non-geostationary satellite orbit ("NGSO") fixed-satellite service ("FSS") systems seeking to operate in the above frequencies. In order to facilitate the licensing proceeding, we invite competing NGSO FSS applications to be filed in the above frequency bands before we adopt rules for NGSO FSS systems in these bands. The Bureau emphasizes that this Public Notice should not in any way be construed as evidence of any predisposition on the part of the Commission with respect to the international or domestic regulatory changes that must be effected before any applications can be granted or indeed whether any application will be granted. In addition, applicants should be aware that because of outstanding Commission proceedings and Government use of certain frequency bands, not all bands proposed by SkyBridge and subject to this cut-off notice will necessarily be available for NGSO FSS use. We further note that coordination with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which has primary jurisdiction over U.S. Government use of spectrum, must occur with respect to the proposed bands shared between Government and non-Government use prior to any grant of these applications. In this Public Notice the Bureau invites entities wishing to implement NGSO FSS systems in the 12.75-13.25 GHz, 13.75-14.5 GHz, 17.3-17.8 GHz and 10.7-12.7 GHz frequency bands to do so by filing such requests. These requests will be considered concurrently with SkyBridge's. Requests may take one of three forms: (1) application for a space station license; (2) application for an earth station license that will communicate with a non-U.S. licensed satellite; (3) letter of intent to use a non-U.S. licensed satellite to provide service in the United States. Each amendment to a pending application, new application or letter of intent must include a concrete, comprehensive proposal for its proposed system, describing in detail all pertinent technical, operational and ownership aspects of the system and its ability to proceed expeditiously with construction and launch. Entities filing earth station applications or letters of intent to use non-U.S. satellites must include in their filings an exhibit containing this information for the space station they seek to access. This should include the information specified in Section 25.114 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R.  25.114, as amended by the Commission's Part 25 Streamlining Order, including appropriate information related to any feeder link and telemetry, tracking, and control requirements. However, applicants seeking to use a non-U.S. licensed satellite to serve the United States need not file financial information in cases where the non-U.S. satellite is in-orbit and operating, even if the information is required for that service under our rules. Further, applicants need not file the technical information specified in Sections 25.114(c)(5) through 25.114(c)(12), if the non-U.S. licensed satellite has completed the International Telecommunication Union ("ITU") international coordination process, the network has been notified to the ITU, and the U.S. was involved in the coordination discussions, unless the technical characteristics of the proposed system or service differ from the characteristics established in the ITU coordination process. In addition, applicants must demonstrate how they plan to operate compatibly with other authorized users of the spectrum as well as with other NGSO FSS systems in these frequency bands. In order to be considered as part of the processing round, applicants are required to apply for and file corresponding fees for launch and operating authority as set forth in Section 1.1107 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R.  1.1107. (Construction authority and corresponding fees are no longer required.) Thus, applicants for non-geostationary satellite systems would file the fee listed for "Space Stations (Low Earth Orbit Satellite Systems)" on a per system basis (see 47 C.F.R.  1.1107(10)(b)). Pursuant to Section 1.1117 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R.  1.1117, requests for a waiver of the fees will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Entities filing earth station applications to access non-U.S. satellites must file an earth station filing fee. Entities filing letters of intent need not file application fees with their proposals. Pursuant to Section 25.155 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R.  25.155, interested parties wishing to file -- (1) amendments to existing U.S. space station applications, (2) new U.S. space station applications, (3) earth station applications, or (4) letters of intent to use non-U.S. licensed space stations -- for an NGSO FSS system in the 12.75-13.25 GHz, 13.75-14.5 GHz, 17.3-17.8 GHz and 10.75-12.75 GHz frequency bands must do so on or before January 8, 1999 in order to be considered in this processing round. Section 25.110(d) requires space station applicants to file an original and nine copies of their submissions. Proposals that fail to provide all required information in their filings or fail to include the appropriate filing fee as of the cut- off date will be dismissed as unacceptable for filing. See Public Notice, Report No. SPB-140 (released October 28, 1998). Applicants filing by the cut-off date will be afforded an opportunity to amend their applications, if necessary, to conform to any requirements and policies that may be adopted subsequently for space stations concerning the provision of NGSO fixed-satellite service in these frequency bands. Informative: For convenience, a summary of the SkyBridge public notices is reproduced below. SkyBridge L.L.C. File Nos. 48-SAT-P/LA-97 89-SAT-AMEND-97 130-SAT-AMEND-98 SkyBridge L.L.C. requests authority to launch and operate a global network of non- geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellites to provide a wide range of data, voice, and video broadband services in the Fixed-Satellite Service (FSS). The proposed system will employ a constellation of 80 satellites (two 40-satellite NGSO constellations). Each sub-constellation will have 20 planes, with 4 satellites per plane. SkyBridge requests to use a total of 1.05 GHz of spectrum within the 12.75-13.25 GHz, 13.75-14.5 GHz, and 17.3-17.8 GHz frequency bands for Earth-to-space transmissions. It proposes to use discrete frequency bands within these band segments for transmissions from gateway stations and from ubiquitous user terminals. SkyBridge also requests to use a total of 1.05 GHz within 10.75-12.75 GHz (10.7-12.7 GHz in ITU Region 2) for space-to-Earth transmissions. For example, the user terminals located at customer premises would use the 14.0-14.5 GHz band for uplinks and the 11.7-12.7 GHz band for downlinks. SkyBridge represents that through a variety of operating restrictions incorporated into its system, its operations will not interfere with operations of existing conforming users in these bands, including terrestrial (fixed and mobile) services, FSS, Direct Broadcast Satellite Service and government operations, or impose operational constraints on GSO and terrestrial operators. SkyBridge further notes that it will accept interference from current and future geostationary orbit (GSO) satellite networks operating in conformance with domestic and international rules and regulations. It believes, however, that the burden of coordination between future terrestrial systems and SkyBridge should be shared, and it expects future NGSO systems to operate on a non-harmful interference basis with respect to SkyBridge. We note that we will have to coordinate with the Executive Branch with respect to the proposed bands shared between government and non-government use prior to action on SkyBridge's application. We note that SkyBridge may have to amend its application to conform with the rules and requirements for space stations providing service in these bands before a license will be granted. In addition, the following two applications were filed in response to prior Bureau cut-off notices involving frequency bands different than those identified in this Public Notice. One was filed in response to the cut-off for applications to be considered in the 2 GHz band; the other in response to the cut-off for applications above 40 GHz. The portions of these proposed systems that involve frequency bands subject to this Public Notice will be considered with the Skybridge proposal and any others that may be filed in response to this cut-off Notice. Those portions of these proposed systems involving frequency bands identified in other cut-off notices will be considered in separate proceedings for those frequency bands. In order to consolidate public comment periods, we are not now requesting comment on these two applications. Rather, we will solicit comment on those portions of these applications that involve frequency bands subject to this Public Notice at the same time we solicit comment on the other applications filed in response to this Notice. The Boeing Company File Nos. 179-SAT-P/LA-97(16) 90-SAT-AMEND-98 Boeing has filed an application for authority to construct, launch and operate sixteen non- geostationary satellites to provide a communications system for navigation and surveillance, air traffic management and GPS augmentation. Boeing requests, among other things, 109 MHz of feeder uplink spectrum in the 14.391-14.500 GHz band and 109 MHz of feeder downlink spectrum in the 11.591-11.700 GHz band. (See Public Notice, Report No. SPB-119, (rel. March 19, 1998)). Denali Telecom, LLC File Nos. 160-SAT-P/LA-97/13 Denali Telecom filed an application in response to the Commission's Public Notice No. SPB-89 establishing a cut-off for additional space station applications and letters of intent in the 36-51.4 GHz Frequency Band. Released July 22, 1997, DA 97-1551. Denali requests authority to launch and operate thirteen satellites in the Pentriad constellation to provide FSS and Mobile- Satellite Services for domestic, international and foreign communications. Denali requests, among other things, 200 MHz of downlink spectrum for space-to-Earth communication in the band 11.7-12.2 in North America and 12.5-12.7 in Europe and Asia. For further information contact: Jennifer Gilsenan (202) 418-0757, Alexandra Field (202) 418-2064, or Kathleen Campbell at (202) 418-0753. - FCC -