98-26991. Frequencies in the 218-219 MHz Band  

  • [Federal Register Volume 63, Number 195 (Thursday, October 8, 1998)]
    [Rules and Regulations]
    [Pages 54073-54077]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 98-26991]
    
    
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    FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
    
    47 CFR Parts 1, 2, 20, 95, and 97
    
    [WT Docket No. 98-169; WT Docket No. 95-47; FCC 98-228]
    
    
    Frequencies in the 218-219 MHz Band
    
    AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
    
    ACTION: Final rule.
    
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    SUMMARY: This rule is part of the Commission's comprehensive 
    examination of its regulations governing the licensing and use of 
    frequencies in the 218-219 MHz band, allocated to the Interactive Video 
    and Data Service (IVDS) in the Personal Radio Services. In this rule, 
    the Commission addresses issues regarding the IVDS installment payment 
    portfolio and redesignates this service as the ``218-219 MHz Service,'' 
    and resolves matters raised in petitions for reconsideration.
    
    EFFECTIVE DATE: November 9, 1998.
    
    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bob Allen at (202) 418-0660 (Auctions 
    & Industry Analysis Division) or James Moskowitz at (202) 418-0680 
    (Public Safety & Private Wireless Division), Wireless 
    Telecommunications Bureau.
    
    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Order, and (MO&O), in WT Docket No. 98-
    169, RM-8951, adopted September 15, 1998, released September 17, 1998, 
    is available for inspection and copying during normal business hours in 
    the FCC Dockets Branch, Room 230, 1919 M Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 
    The complete text may be purchased from the Commission's copy 
    contractor, International Transcription Service, Inc., 1231 20th 
    Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036, (202) 857-3800.
    
    Synopsis of Order and Memorandum Opinion and Order
    
    I. Introduction And Background
    
        1. IVDS is a point-to-multipoint, multipoint-to-point, short 
    distance communications service in which licensees may provide 
    information or services to individual subscribers within a service 
    area, and subscribers may provide interactive responses. See 47 CFR 
    95.803(a). These systems use radio channels in the 218-219 MHz band for 
    fixed and mobile services between the licensee's cell transmitter 
    station (CTS) and the subscriber's response transmitter unit (RTU), or 
    between two CTSs.
        2. IVDS was established in response to a petition for rulemaking 
    filed by TV Answer, Inc. (TV Answer) (now known
    
    [[Page 54074]]
    
    as EON Corporation (EON)), a company proposing a system that would 
    provide interactivity capabilities to television viewers. See Notice of 
    Proposed Rule Making, 56 FR 10222 (March 11, 1991) (``Allocation 
    Notice''). In the Report and Order, 57 FR 8272 (March 9, 1992) (``1992 
    Allocation Report and Order'') the Commission established a frequency 
    allocation at 218-219 MHz for IVDS, allowing a 500 kilohertz frequency 
    segment to two licensees in each of the 734 cellular-defined service 
    areas (306 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and 428 Rural Service 
    Areas (RSAs)). When the Commission adopted the service rules governing 
    IVDS in the 1992 Allocation Report and Order, it decided, inter alia, 
    to regulate IVDS as a private radio service, and to establish licensing 
    criteria such as a five-year license term, restrictions on ownership of 
    both frequency segments in a given market, and construction benchmarks. 
    The Commission designed technical requirements that would permit the 
    spectrum allocation for IVDS as sought by TV Answer and reduce the 
    potential for harmful interference to nearby operations, including 
    reception of TV Channel 13 broadcasts in the 210-216 MHz band. The 
    Commission later modified the IVDS construction benchmark scheme, 
    Report and Order, 61 FR 1286 (January 19, 1996), (``One-Year 
    Construction Report and Order''), and, in its Mobility Report and 
    Order, the Commission authorized use of this spectrum to provide mobile 
    as well as fixed operation.
        3. In the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (1993 Budget 
    Act), Congress authorized the Commission to award licenses for certain 
    spectrum-based services by competitive bidding (i.e., auctions). In the 
    Second Report and Order, 59 FR 22980 (May 4, 1994) (``Competitive 
    Bidding Second Report and Order''), on recon., Second Memorandum 
    Opinion and Order, 59 FR 44272 (August 26, 1994), the Commission 
    determined that IVDS licenses should be awarded through competitive 
    bidding, and prescribed certain general rules and procedures to be used 
    for all auctionable services. In the Fourth Report and Order, 59 FR 
    24947 (May 13, 1994) (``Competitive Bidding Fourth Report and Order''), 
    the Commission established specific auction procedures for IVDS, 
    setting forth auction methodology and payment procedures, and 
    incorporating by reference many of the general rules and procedures set 
    forth in the Competitive Bidding Second Report and Order, such as the 
    installment payment and associated grace period rules. In addition, the 
    Competitive Bidding Fourth Report and Order established provisions such 
    as installment payments to ensure that small businesses, rural 
    telephone companies, and businesses owned by members of minority groups 
    and women (collectively, ``designated entities'') are afforded a 
    meaningful opportunity to participate in IVDS auctions. More recently, 
    in the Third Report and Order, 63 FR 2315 (January 15, 1998) (``Part 1 
    Third Report and Order''), the Commission streamlined the general 
    competitive bidding procedures to provide a uniform set of Part 1 
    provisions to be applied to all auctionable services, including IVDS. 
    The new Part 1 license-related payment rules apply to existing IVDS 
    licensees effective March 16, 1998.
        4. The first eighteen IVDS system licenses (two licenses in nine of 
    the top ten MSAs) were awarded by lottery held September 15, 1993, and 
    granted on March 28, 1994. Subsequently, utilizing the procedures 
    adopted in the Competitive Bidding Fourth Report and Order, the 
    Commission held the first auction for IVDS licenses on July 28 and 29, 
    1994, covering the remaining 594 MSA licenses. On January 18, 1995 and 
    February 28, 1995, the Commission conditionally granted licenses to the 
    winning bidders, subject to the bidder meeting the terms of the auction 
    rules, including down payment requirements.
        5. On September 4, 1996, Petitioners filed a Petition for 
    Rulemaking, RM-8951, seeking a change in the IVDS license term from 
    five to ten years, with a corresponding extension of installment 
    payment amortization. The Petition for Rulemaking was later amended 
    with requests for regulatory relief on other issues such as 
    construction benchmarks, ownership limitations, and technical 
    restrictions. The Commission received no comments in opposition to the 
    Petition for Rulemaking.
        6. On December 4, 1996, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau 
    (``Bureau'') announced a February 18, 1997 start date for an auction of 
    981 IVDS licenses, consisting of the 856 RSA licenses, and 125 MSA 
    licenses being reauctioned because the first auction winners were found 
    in default. Then, on January 29, 1997, the Bureau announced 
    postponement of the IVDS auction, ``to give the Commission an 
    opportunity to consider [the] Petition for Rulemaking and numerous 
    informal requests of potential bidders and license holders seeking to 
    obtain additional flexibility for the service.''
    
    II. Order
    
        7. In authorizing the use of auctions to award licenses, Congress 
    directed the Commission to ensure that designated entities are given 
    the opportunity to participate in the provision of spectrum-based 
    services. In accordance with this statutory mandate, the Commission's 
    competitive bidding rules for the first auction of IVDS licenses 
    allowed winning bidders that qualified as small businesses to pay 20 
    percent of their net bid price(s) as a down payment and the remaining 
    80 percent in installments over the five-year term of the license(s), 
    with interest only paid for the first two years, and interest and 
    principal payments amortized over the remaining three years. The first 
    interest payment, due March 31, 1995, was deferred to June 30, 1995 
    pursuant to administrative action by the Office of Managing Director. 
    The Bureau further stayed the date for making the initial interest 
    payment pending Commission resolution of licensees' substantive 
    requests related to the payment requirements. The stay was lifted on 
    January 5, 1996, with licensees required to make the interest payments 
    back-due from March 31, 1995 and June 30, 1995. Although the interest 
    payments due September 30, 1995 and December 31, 1995 remained 
    uncollected (hereinafter, the ``Suspension Interest''), the Commission 
    denied requests to ``set-back'' the payment schedule. Therefore, the 
    first installment payment consisting of principal and interest was due 
    March 31, 1997.
        8. Pursuant to the installment payment rules in effect for payments 
    due prior to March 16, 1998, any licensee whose installment payment was 
    more than 90 days past due was in default, unless a ``grace period'' 
    request was filed prior to the default date. Specifically, in 
    anticipation of default on one or more installment payments, a licensee 
    could request that the Commission grant a three- to six-month grace 
    period during which no installment payments need be made. The licensee 
    would not be declared in default during the pendency of such request. 
    If the Commission (or the Bureau upon delegated authority) granted the 
    request, the licensee would not be considered in default during the 
    grace period, and the interest that accrued while no payments are made 
    was amortized by adding it to the other interest payments over the 
    remaining term of the license. Upon expiration of any grace period 
    without successful resumption of payment, or upon default with no such 
    request submitted, the license was cancelled automatically.
    
    [[Page 54075]]
    
        9. In the Part 1 Third Report and Order, the Commission modified 
    the grace period provisions as applied to all existing licensees who 
    are currently paying for their licenses in installments. Thus, 
    beginning with installment payments due on or after March 16, 1998, a 
    licensee that does not make payment on an installment obligation when 
    due will automatically have an additional 90 days in which to submit 
    its required payment without being considered delinquent, but will be 
    assessed a late payment fee equal to five percent of the amount of the 
    past due payment. If the licensee fails to make the required payment 
    within the first 90-day period, the licensee automatically will be 
    provided a subsequent 90 days in which to submit its required payment 
    without being considered delinquent, this time subject to a second, 
    additional late payment fee equal to ten percent of the amount of the 
    past due payment. The licensee is not required to submit a filing to 
    take advantage of these provisions. A licensee who fails to make 
    payment within 180 days after an installment payment due date 
    sufficient to pay all past-due late payment fees, interest, and 
    principal, will be deemed to have failed to make full payment of its 
    obligation and the license shall automatically cancel without further 
    Commission action. The late payment fee and automatic cancellation 
    provisions described above do not apply to licensees with properly 
    filed grace period requests until such time as the Commission (or the 
    Bureau upon delegated authority) addresses these grace period requests.
        10. As of March 16, 1998, the effective date of the revised grace 
    period rule, the IVDS installment payment portfolio consisted of 
    licensees that have remitted their requisite installment payments, 
    licensees that have not remitted their requisite installment payments 
    but have properly filed grace period requests under the former 
    installment payment rules, and licensees that have not remitted their 
    requisite installment payments and do not have grace period requests on 
    file in conformance with the former rules. Petitioners request that the 
    Commission forego acting on the pending grace period requests and waive 
    the late payment fee and automatic cancellation provisions of the 
    revised installment payment rules for IVDS licensees until resolution 
    of the proposals set forth in the Petition for Rulemaking, RM-8951, in 
    an initial Report and Order. In addition, the Commission has before it 
    several requests from IVDS licensees for broader relief associated with 
    the installment payment program. Some licensees seek more modest 
    relief, generally associated with the pendency of this rulemaking. 
    Other licensees request various types of payment deferral and/or 
    restructuring.
        11. The Commission believes that widespread cancellation of IVDS 
    licenses through operation of the late payment fee and automatic 
    cancellation provisions of the revised grace period rule would be 
    inconsistent with many of the proposals under consideration in the 
    Petition for Rulemaking, RM-8951. Therefore, the Commission will grant 
    Petitioners' request to the extent that it will not act on grace period 
    requests until the rulemaking is resolved. Since the late payment fee 
    and automatic cancellation provisions of the revised grace period rule 
    do not apply to licensees with properly filed grace period requests 
    until such time as those grace period requests are addressed, there is 
    no reason to grant a service-wide waiver of those provisions as 
    Petitioners request. The Commission also believes that IVDS licensees 
    that have remitted adequate installment payments as of March 16, 1998, 
    and thus did not have grace period requests on file when the revised 
    rules took effect, should not be penalized through the operation of the 
    late payment fee and automatic cancellation provisions of the revised 
    grace period rule, insofar as the Commission will need time to evaluate 
    the issues raised in the Petition for Rulemaking, RM-8951. Therefore, 
    for those licensees, the Commission suspends the operation of the late 
    payment fee and automatic cancellation provisions of the revised grace 
    period rule during the pendency of the rulemaking. In sum, the 
    Commission will not assess late payment fees or cancel any IVDS license 
    for which a properly filed grace period request is pending, or for 
    which adequate installment payments were made as of March 16, 1998, 
    until resolution of the issues raised in the Petition for Rulemaking, 
    RM-8951, in an initial Report and Order. Licensees that have been 
    delinquent in payment without properly filed grace period requests are 
    in default of their payment obligations and will be notified by the 
    Bureau regarding debt collection procedures.
        12. All other requests for payment deferral or restructuring that 
    are inconsistent with this Order, are hereby denied. The Commission 
    concludes that it is reluctant to adopt any solutions that will only 
    postpone these payment difficulties and further prolong uncertainty. In 
    that regard, the Commission reminds licensees that there is no 
    suspension of the requirement to make quarterly payments under its 
    installment payment rules, irrespective of its actions today, and that 
    the Commission will strictly enforce the late payment fee and automatic 
    cancellation provisions of the revised grace period rule beginning with 
    the first payment due upon resolution of the issues raised in the 
    Petition for Rulemaking, RM 89-51, in an initial Report and Order.
    
    I. Memorandum Opinion And Order
    
        13. On May 16, 1996, the Commission adopted the Mobility Report and 
    Order, in which the Commission amended its rules to authorize mobile in 
    addition to fixed operation for IVDS RTUs operated with an effective 
    radiated power (ERP) of 100 milliwatts or less. The Commission decided 
    that the output power of these mobile RTUs could be measured in terms 
    of ``mean power'' rather than ``peak power,'' and the Commission 
    eliminated the requirement that such units utilize automatic power 
    controls. In addition, the Commission eliminated the IVDS duty cycle 
    requirement for RTU operations outside of TV Channel 13 predicted Grade 
    B contours. Finally, the Commission permitted direct CTS-to-CTS 
    communications on a primary basis, enabling licensees to transmit 
    point-to-point communications between fixed points within their 
    systems. The Commission found that these amendments would provide 
    additional flexibility for licensees to meet the communications needs 
    of the public, which the record indicated may include commercial data 
    distribution and inventory monitoring services, without increasing the 
    likelihood of interference. Timely petitions for reconsideration of the 
    Mobility Report and Order were filed by Euphemia Banas, et al. (Banas) 
    and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB); and ITV/IALC timely 
    filed a Request for Clarification. The Commission addresses these 
    filings below.
    
    A. Service Designation
    
        14. As a threshold matter, given the regulatory flexibility 
    provided to 218-219 MHz band licensees in the Mobility Report and 
    Order, the Commission believes the service designation ``Interactive 
    Video and Data Service'' no longer describes the breadth of different 
    services evolving in the 218-219 MHz band. In addition to radio-based 
    interactive television services, the Commission has noted a myriad of 
    services that licensees can offer, including commercial data 
    applications such as transmission of database information to point-of-
    sale terminals,
    
    [[Page 54076]]
    
    home banking or downloading of data to personal computers, VCRs, or 
    other consumer electronic products. The Commission is also aware of 
    other uses of this spectrum, including two-way telemetry services such 
    as remote meter reading and energy management operations, inventory 
    monitoring services, a link between automatic teller machines and a 
    bank's central computer, alarm security functions, cable television 
    theft deterrence, and stock transaction or quotation services. Indeed, 
    this list of applications is not exhaustive. Therefore, on its own 
    motion, the Commission redesignates this service as the ``218-219 MHz 
    Service,'' to eliminate any confusion regarding the service's existing 
    capabilities. This change in nomenclature is procedural in nature under 
    the Administrative Procedure Act, and consequently, the requirement of 
    notice and comment rulemaking does not apply.
    
    B. Operation of Mobile RTUs
    
        15. As the Commission stated in the Mobility Report and Order, by 
    definition, mobility makes it more likely that an RTU will transiently 
    operate in areas where interference may result. The Commission 
    therefore recognized that allowing unrestricted mobile operations may 
    promote flexibility within the service, but it also increases the 
    interference potential with respect to the operation of licensees in 
    other services.
        16. The Commission finds Baras' claim that the 100 milliwatt power 
    limit raises the cost and amount of time necessary to construct a 
    network as unpersuasive because 218-219 MHz Service licensees are not 
    required to provide service to mobile RTUs--it is merely one type of 
    service licensees may provide. Moreover, the Commission expects that 
    licensees will factor additional cost considerations into their 
    decision making process concerning what services to provide their 
    subscribers and how much to charge for them. The Commission also 
    disagrees with NAB's request to measure output in terms of peak power 
    rather than mean power. The Commission purposefully chose the mean 
    power measurement for these low power mobile RTUs because it concluded 
    that a mean power standard would provide licensees with greater 
    economic flexibility and efficiency in equipment design, while only 
    insignificantly increasing the risk of interference to TV Channel 13 
    operations. Nonetheless, the combination of suggestions in the 
    petitions for reconsideration and associated comments leads the 
    Commission to question whether the 100 milliwatt ERP limit may be 
    unnecessarily low. As the record does not provide the empirical data to 
    support a reasonable alternative, the Commission dismisses petitions 
    with respect to the mobile RTU power limit issue and will reexamine the 
    issue as part of the record of the Petition for Rulemaking, RM-8951.
    
    C. Duty Cycle
    
        17. In the Mobility Report and Order, the Commission eliminated the 
    duty cycle requirement for: (1) fixed RTUs operating outside a TV 
    Channel 13 predicted Grade B contour; and (2) mobile RTUs operating in 
    system service areas that do not overlap with a TV Channel 13 predicted 
    Grade B contour. In doing so, the Commission noted that in such areas, 
    TV Channel 13 operations have no expectation of protection from 
    interference, thereby rendering the duty cycle restriction unnecessary, 
    and furthermore, that the duty cycle limitation was an additional 
    safeguard against interference rather than one of the principal ways 
    the Commission intended to minimize the interference potential of the 
    218-219 MHz Service.
        18. The Commission believes that NAB's request to expand the area 
    of RTU duty cycle limits at least ten miles further in all directions 
    would burden 218-219 MHz Service technical operations with no attendant 
    public interest benefits. The Commission therefore denies NAB's request 
    that it expand this interference protection requirement to include an 
    area far outside the TV Channel 13 Grade B contour because it is 
    inconsistent with its goal of providing flexibility to licensees to 
    design their systems in the most efficient way. The Commission also 
    denies NAB's request for expanded duty cycle regulations in 
    anticipation of advanced television implementation. This request was 
    fully considered in the Mobility Report and Order, in which the 
    Commission stated that it expects that whatever system is adopted will 
    generally be more immune to interference from signals in adjacent 
    spectrum than is the case with current analog TV systems.
    
    D. Limitations on Types of Service
    
    i. CTS-to-CTS Communications and Section 95.861
        19. Households receiving over-the-air television broadcasts are 
    provided interference protection from any component of a 218-219 MHz 
    Service system pursuant to Section 95.861 of the Commission's rules. 
    Specifically, under the rule, a 218-219 MHz Service licensee must: (1) 
    notify all households within its service area located within a TV 
    Channel 13 station Grade B predicted contour of the potential for 
    interference to television reception from the 218-219 MHz Service 
    system; (2) upon request, provide and install a filter, free of charge, 
    to any household within a TV Channel 13 station Grade B predicted 
    contour that experiences interference due to a component CTS or RTU; 
    and (3) investigate and eliminate interference to television 
    broadcasting and reception due to a component CTS or RTU within 30 days 
    of receipt of a written interference complaint, and if it fails to do 
    so, the CTS or RTU causing the interference must discontinue operation.
        20. The Commission believes that its rules regarding 218-219 MHz 
    Service interference protection requirements are clear. The Commission 
    nonetheless reiterates its policy in response to NAB's request for 
    clarification that the fixed point-to-point direct CTS-to-CTS 
    communications authorized in the Mobility Report and Order are subject 
    to these general interference protection regulations. Specifically, all 
    transmissions related to the 218-219 MHz Service, including the CTS-to-
    CTS communications now permitted under Sec. 95.805(b) of the 
    Commission's rules, are subject to the Sec. 95.861 general interference 
    protections described above.
        2. Use of Public Switch Network (PSN) or Commercial Mobile Radio 
    Services (CMRS) for Internal Control Purposes
        21. Under the Commission's current rules, mobile RTUs are 
    prohibited from interconnecting with the PSN or CMRS providers.
        22. A licensee's use of the PSN or CMRS providers for internal 
    control purposes is not an ``interconnected service.'' Since the 
    Commission's rules do not limit the method by which a 218-219 MHz 
    Service licensee can configure internal control communications, the 
    Commission clarifies that the mobile RTU prohibition on interconnection 
    with the PSN or CMRS providers does not limit a 218-219 MHz Service 
    licensee's use of the PSN or CMRS for internal control purposes. This 
    clarification does not affect the current prohibition on PSN or CMRS 
    interconnection by mobile RTUs operated by 218-219 MHz Service 
    licensees. The Commission previously considered and rejected a 
    contention that the 218-219 MHz band should be developed primarily as 
    an interactive service for use in conjunction with the
    
    [[Page 54077]]
    
    broadcast industry. In doing so, the Commission reasoned that 
    consumers, through market forces, should determine the variety of uses 
    for this allocation, whether broadcast-related or otherwise.
    ii. Annual Reviews
        23. Finally, NAB requested that the Commission undertake annual 
    review of the services provided by 218-219 MHz Service licensees to 
    assure that licensees are not using their facilities for unintended 
    purposes or for services duplicative of services provided by other 
    licensed communications operators. This request is contrary to current 
    FCC policy, which allows the marketplace to develop efficient uses for 
    spectrum and encourages competition between varied communications 
    operators. The Commission believes that such a requirement would 
    constitute unnecessary and burdensome regulation on 218-219 MHz Service 
    licensees and places an undue burden on the agency. Further, such a 
    requirement is unprecedented for a personal radio service, and would 
    serve no regulatory purpose in light of the Commission's proposals 
    regarding permissible uses of this spectrum.
    
    II. Ordering Clauses
    
        24. Authority for issuance of this Order, and Memorandum Opinion 
    and Order is contained in Sections 4(i), 257, 303(b), 303(g), 303(r), 
    309(j), and 332(a) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 
    U.S.C. 154(i), 257, 303(b), 303(g), 303(r), 309(j), and 332(a).
        25. Accordingly, it is ordered that this Order, and Memorandum 
    Opinion and Order is adopted. It is further ordered that the 
    Commission's Office of Public Affairs, Reference Operations Division, 
    shall send a copy of this Order, and Memorandum Opinion and Order, 
    including the IRFA, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 
    Business Administration.
        26. It is further ordered that all references to ``Interactive 
    Video and Data Service'' in 47 CFR Parts 1, 2, 20, 95, and 97 are to be 
    removed and, in their place, the words ``218-219 MHz Service'' are to 
    be substituted. Pursuant to 47 CFR 0.331(d), the Commission hereby 
    instructs the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau to make conforming 
    edits to the Code of Federal Regulations consistent with this Ordering 
    Clause.
        27. It is further ordered that the request of the Petitioners for 
    general waiver of Sec. 1.2110(f)(4) of the Commission's rules, as 
    amended by the Part 1 Third Report and Order, is denied. However, a 
    suspension of the application of Sec. 1.2110(f)(4)(i)-(iv), limited to 
    those 218-219 MHz Service licensees that have remitted adequate 
    installment payments as of March 16, 1998, will remain in effect 
    pending Commission resolution of the issues raised in the Notice of 
    Proposed Rulemaking in an initial Report and Order.
        28. It is further ordered that all other payment relief requests 
    are denied to the extent that they are inconsistent with the actions 
    described above.
        29. It is further ordered that, as described above, the petition 
    for reconsideration of the Mobility Report and Order, to the extent 
    that it is addressed in the Order is dismissed.
        30. It is further ordered that, to the extent described above, the 
    Commission clarifies issues raised in a petition for partial 
    reconsideration and a request for clarification.
        31. It is further ordered that the petition for partial 
    reconsideration is dismissed or denied in all other respects.
        32. It is further ordered that WT Docket No. 95-47 is terminated.
    
    List of Subjects
    
    47 CFR Part 1
    
        Administrative practice and procedure.
    
    47 CFR Part 2
    
        Communications equipment, Radio
    
    47 CFR Part 20
    
        Communications common carriers, Radio
    
    47 CFR Parts 95 and 97
    
        Radio.
    
    Federal Communications Commission.
    William F. Caton,
    Deputy Secretary.
    Rule Changes
        Parts 1, 2, 20, 95, and 97 of Chapter I of Title of the Code of 
    Federal Regulations are amended as follows:
    
    PART 1--PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE
    
        1. The authority citation for part 1 continues to read as follows:
    
        Authority: 15 U.S.C. 79 et.seq.; 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 154(j), 
    155, 225 and 303(r).
    
        2. All references to ``Interactive Video and Data Service,'' 
    ``Interactive Video and Data Service (IVDS)'', or ``IVDS'' are to be 
    removed and, in their place, the words ``218-219 MHz Service'' are to 
    be substituted.
    
    PART 2--FREQUENCY ALLOCATIONS AND RADIO TREATY MATTERS; GENERAL 
    RULES AND REGULATIONS
    
        3. The authority citation for part 2 continues to read as follows:
    
        Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 302, 303, 307 and 336 unless otherwise 
    noted.
    
        4. All references to ``Interactive Video and Data Service,'' 
    ``Interactive Video and Data Service (IVDS)'', or ``IVDS'' are to be 
    removed and, in their place, the words ``218-219 MHz Service'' are to 
    be substituted.
    
    PART 20--COMMERCIAL MOBILE RADIO SERVICES
    
        5. The authority citation for part 20 continues to read as follows:
    
        Authority: Secs. 4, 251, 252, 303, and 332, 48 Stat. 1066, 1062, 
    as amended; 47 U.S.C. 154, 251, 252, 253, 254, 303, and 332, unless 
    otherwise noted.
    
        6. All references to ``Interactive Video and Data Service,'' 
    ``Interactive Video and Data Service (IVDS)'', or ``IVDS'' are to be 
    removed and, in their place, the words ``218-219 MHz Service'' are to 
    be substituted.
    
    PART 95--PERSONAL RADIO SERVICES
    
        7. The authority citation for part 95 would continues to read as 
    follows:
    
        Authority: Secs. 4, 303, 48 Stat. 1066, 1082, as amended; 47 
    U.S.C. 154, 303.
    
        8. All references to ``Interactive Video and Data Service,'' 
    ``Interactive Video and Data Service (IVDS)'', or ``IVDS'' are to be 
    removed and, in their place, the words ``218-219 MHz Service'' are to 
    be substituted.
    
    PART 97--AMATEUR RADIO SERVICES
    
        9. The authority citation for part 97 continues to read as follows:
    
        Authority: 48 Stat. 1066, 1082, as amended; 47 U.S.C. 154, 303. 
    Interpret or apply 48 stat. 1064-1068, 1081-1105, as amended; 47 
    U.S.C. 151-155, 301-609, unless otherwise noted.
    
        10. All references to ``Interactive Video and Data Service,'' 
    ``Interactive Video and Data Service (IVDS)'', or ``IVDS'' are to be 
    removed and, in their place, the words ``218-219 MHz Service'' are to 
    be substituted.
    [FR Doc. 98-26991 Filed 10-7-98; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE 6712-01-P
    
    
    

Document Information

Effective Date:
11/9/1998
Published:
10/08/1998
Department:
Federal Communications Commission
Entry Type:
Rule
Action:
Final rule.
Document Number:
98-26991
Dates:
November 9, 1998.
Pages:
54073-54077 (5 pages)
Docket Numbers:
WT Docket No. 98-169, WT Docket No. 95-47, FCC 98-228
PDF File:
98-26991.pdf
CFR: (5)
47 CFR 1
47 CFR 2
47 CFR 20
47 CFR 95
47 CFR 97