Single Network Future: Supplemental Coverage From Space; Space Innovation

<RULE> FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION <CFR>47 CFR Parts 1, 2, 9, and 25</CFR> <DEPDOC>[GN Docket No. 23-65, IB Docket No. 22-271; FCC 24-28; FR ID 210313]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Single Network Future: Supplemental Coverage From Space; Space Innovation</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Federal Communications Commission. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) adopts rules to facilitate the deployment of supplemental coverage from space (SCS) in an effort to serve several important public interest goals for the Nation and expand the reach of communications services, particularly emergency services, so that connectivity and assistance is available in more remote places. In this document, to allow satellite communications on spectrum previously allocated only to terrestrial services, the Commission modifies the United States Table of Frequency Allocations to authorize bi-directional, secondary mobile-satellite service operations in certain spectrum bands that have no primary, non-flexible-use legacy incumbents, Federal or non-Federal. For these bands, we authorize SCS only where one or more terrestrial licensees—together holding all licenses on the relevant channel throughout a defined geographically independent area—lease access to their spectrum rights to a participating satellite operator, whose license reflects these frequencies and the geographically independent area in which they will offer SCS. In recognition that this new offering has the potential to bring life-saving connectivity to remote areas, the Commission also applies interim 911 call and text routing requirements to ensure that help is available to those who need it today while we work toward enabling automatic location-based routing of all emergency communications whether or not there is a terrestrial connection available. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> The rules are effective May 30, 2024, except for the amendments to §§ 1.9047(d)(2) (amendatory instruction 3), 9.10(t)(3) through (5) (amendatory instruction 8), and 25.125(b)(1) and (2) and (c) (amendatory instruction 16), which are indefinitely delayed. The Federal Communications Commission will publish a document in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> announcing the effective date of these rule sections. </EFFDATE> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> For additional information on this proceeding, contact Jon Markman of the Mobility Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, at <E T="03">Jonathan.Markman@fcc.gov</E> or (202) 418-7090, or Merissa Velez of the Space Bureau Satellite Programs and Policy Division, at <E T="03">Merissa.Velez@fcc.gov</E> or (202) 418-0751. For information regarding the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) information collection requirements contained in this document, contact Cathy Williams, Office of Managing Director, at (202) 418-2918 or <E T="03">Cathy.Williams@fcc.gov.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> This is a summary of Commission's <E T="03">Report and Order</E> , in GN Docket No. 23-65 and IB Docket No. 22-271; FCC 24-28, adopted and released on March 15, 2024. The full text of this document is available for public inspection online at <E T="03">https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-24-28A1.pdf.</E> The <E T="03">Report and Order</E> was corrected by an erratum released on April 18, 2024. The changes made by the erratum are included in this document. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Synopsis</HD> 1. In the <E T="03">Report and Order</E> , the Commission adopts a regulatory framework—the first of its kind in the world—to enable collaborations between satellite operators and terrestrial service providers to offer ubiquitous connectivity directly to consumer handsets using spectrum previously allocated only to terrestrial service. We anticipate that supplemental coverage from space, or SCS, will enable consumers in areas not covered by terrestrial networks to be connected using their existing devices via satellite-based communications. 2. In the <E T="03">Report and Order</E> , to allow satellite communications on spectrum previously allocated only to terrestrial services, the Commission modifies the United States Table of Frequency Allocations to authorize bi-directional, secondary mobile-satellite service (MSS) operations in certain spectrum bands that have no primary, non-flexible-use legacy incumbents, Federal or non-Federal. Accordingly, the list of bands that will be available for the provision of SCS (the SCS Bands) is as follows: • 600 MHz: 614-652 MHz and 663-698 MHz; • 700 MHz: 698-769 MHz, 775 MHz-799 MHz, and 805-806 MHz; • 800 MHz: 824-849 MHz and 869-894 MHz; • Broadband PCS: 1850-1915 MHz and 1930-1995 MHz; and • AWS-H Block: 1915-1920 MHz and 1995-2000 MHz. 3. For these bands, the Commission finds it in the public interest to limit SCS authorizations to the following geographically independent areas (GIAs): (1) the contiguous United States (CONUS); (2) Alaska; (3) Hawaii; (4) American Samoa; (5) Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands; and (6) Guam/Northern Mariana Islands. Given the novel technical challenges at play when introducing satellite communications to terrestrial spectrum, we believe that a GIA restriction is necessary in the initial SCS framework because it minimizes the risk of potential interference to geographically-adjacent, co-channel license areas. For these bands, the Commission authorizes SCS only where one or more terrestrial licensees—together holding all licenses on the relevant channel throughout a defined geographically independent area—lease access to their spectrum rights to a participating satellite operator, whose part 25 license reflects these frequencies and the geographically independent area in which they will offer SCS. 4. In the <E T="03">Report and Order</E> , the Commission also adopts entry criteria that non-geostationary satellite orbit (NGSO) and geostationary satellite orbit (GSO) operators must meet in order to apply for or modify an existing part 25 license to operate satellites in the SCS Bands in the United States and its territories. Specifically, we establish an SCS framework allowing satellite operators to apply to modify a current part 25 license to include SCS where: (1) the satellite operator has one or more leasing notification(s) or application(s), or in the case of FirstNet, a Form 601, on file with the Commission to access the spectrum allocated for MSS provision of SCS from a single terrestrial licensee or multiple licensees that hold, collectively or individually, all co-channel licenses throughout a GIA; (2) the current part 25 space station licensee or part 25 grantee of market access for NGSO or GSO satellite operation seeks modification of authority to provide SCS in the same geographic areas covered in the relevant GIA; and (3) the terrestrial devices involved in SCS qualify as “licensed by rule” earth stations under the new provisions of part 25. Similarly, satellite operators may apply for an initial part 25 license with authority to provide SCS if they meet requirements (1) and (3) above, and if in their part 25 application, those operators seek to provide SCS in the same geographic areas covered in the relevant GIA. 5. Our actions to facilitate the deployment of SCS will serve several important public interest goals for the Nation. First, the SCS framework will expand the reach of communications services, particularly emergency services, so that connectivity and assistance is available in more remote places. Second, the SCS framework will spur advancements in cutting-edge, space-based technologies that will position the United States as a global leader in this arena. And third, the SCS framework will continue our efforts to promote the innovative and efficient use of our Nation's spectrum resources in ways that foster creative collaborations among users. 6. In crafting this new framework, it is essential that we balance the desire to accelerate innovative SCS operations that will serve these critical public interest goals with the need to retain service quality of terrestrial networks, protect spectrum usage rights, and minimize the risk of harmful interference, both domestically and internationally. Accordingly, the framework we adopt in the <E T="03">Report and Order</E> represents an initial step to encourage the development of SCS while minimizing the risks of harmful interference to existing terrestrial and satellite networks that support non-Federal and Federal users. In the future, as the marketplace for SCS develops, we plan to build on the framework we adopt in the <E T="03">Report and Order</E> , to enable deployment of SCS in additional bands and scenarios. We will also continue to monitor the nascent SCS marketplace to consider modifications and address proposals that do not fit neatly within our framework by waiver. 7. In addition, the Commission considered a framework for authorizing terrestrial devices to communicate with a space station in the SCS context. In the <E T="03">Report and Order</E> , the Commission adopts a license by rule approach for terrestrial devices as earth stations communicating with a satellite network for the purposes of SCS. Specifically, so long as the terrestrial devices connecting to the SCS network are doing so pursuant to an effective part 1 leasing arrangement or agreement and are operating within the existing technical parameters of their Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) equipment authorization, the terrestrial licensee's license parameters, and applicable part 22, 24, or 27 rules, then those devices will be licensed as earth stations by rule without the need to file a part 25 earth station application for additiona ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 110k characters. 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