§ 25.137   Application requirements for earth stations operating with
non-U.S. licensed space stations.

   (a) Earth station applicants or entities filing a "letter of intent" or
   "Petition for Declaratory Ruling" requesting authority to operate with
   a non-U.S. licensed space station to serve the United States must
   attach an exhibit with their FCC Form 312 application with information
   demonstrating that U.S.-licensed satellite systems have effective
   competitive opportunities to provide analogous services in:

   (1) The country in which the non-U.S. licensed space station is
   licensed; and

   (2) All countries in which communications with the U.S. earth station
   will originate or terminate. The applicant bears the burden of showing
   that there are no practical or legal constraints that limit or prevent
   access of the U.S. satellite system in the relevant foreign markets.
   The exhibit required by this paragraph must also include a statement of
   why grant of the application is in the public interest. This paragraph
   shall not apply with respect to requests for authority to operate using
   a non-U.S. licensed satellite that is licensed by or seeking a license
   from a country that is a member of the World Trade Organization for
   services covered under the World Trade Organization Basic
   Telecommunications Agreement.

   (b) Any request pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section must be filed
   electronically through the International Bureau Filing System and must
   include an exhibit providing legal and technical information for the
   non-U.S.-licensed space station of the kind that § 25.114 would require
   in a license application for that space-station, including but not
   limited to, information required to complete Schedule S. An applicant
   may satisfy this requirement by cross-referencing a pending application
   containing the requisite information or by citing a prior grant of
   authority to communicate via the space station in question in the same
   frequency bands to provide the same type of service.

   (c) A non-U.S.-licensed NGSO-like satellite system seeking to serve the
   United States can be considered contemporaneously with other U.S.
   NGSO-like satellite systems pursuant to § 25.157 and considered before
   later-filed applications of other U.S. satellite system operators, and
   a non-U.S.-licensed GSO-like satellite system seeking to serve the
   United States can have its request placed in a queue pursuant to
   § 25.158 and considered before later-filed applications of other U.S.
   satellite system operators, if the non-U.S.-licensed satellite system:

   (1) Is in orbit and operating;

   (2) Has a license from another administration; or

   (3) Has been submitted for coordination to the International
   Telecommunication Union.

   (d) Earth station applicants requesting authority to operate with a
   non-U.S.-licensed space station and non-U.S.-licensed satellite
   operators filing letters of intent or petitions for declaratory ruling
   to access the U.S. market must demonstrate that the non-U.S.-licensed
   space station has complied with all applicable Commission requirements
   for non-U.S. licensed systems to operate in the United States,
   including but not limited to the following:

   (1) Milestones;

   (2) Reporting requirements;

   (3) Any other applicable service rules;

   (4) For non-U.S.-licensed satellites that are not in orbit and
   operating, a bond must be posted. This bond must be in the amount of $5
   million for NGSO satellite systems, or $3 million for GSO satellites,
   denominated in U.S. dollars, and compliant with the terms of § 25.165
   of this chapter. The party posting the bond will be permitted to reduce
   the amount of the bond upon a showing that a milestone has been met, in
   accordance with the terms of § 25.165(d) of this chapter.

   (5) Non-U.S. licensed GSO-like space station operators with a total of
   five requests for access to the U.S. market in a particular frequency
   band, or a total of five previously granted requests for access to the
   U.S. market with unbuilt GSO-like space stations in a particular
   frequency band, or a combination of pending GSO-like requests and
   granted requests for unbuilt GSO-like space stations in a particular
   frequency band that equals five, will not be permitted to request
   access to the U.S. market with another GSO-like space station license
   in that frequency band. In addition, non-U.S.-licensed NGSO-like
   satellite system operators with one request on file with the Commission
   in a particular frequency band, or one granted request for an unbuilt
   NGSO-like satellite system in a particular frequency band, will not be
   permitted to request access to the U.S. market with another NGSO-like
   satellite system in that frequency band.

   (e) A non-U.S.-licensed satellite operator that is seeking to serve the
   United States pursuant to a Letter of Intent may amend its request by
   submitting an additional Letter of Intent. Such additional Letters of
   Intent will be treated on the same basis as amendments filed by U.S.
   space station applicants for purposes of determining the order in which
   the Letters of Intent will be considered relative to other pending
   applications.

   (f) A non-U.S.-licensed satellite operator that has been permitted to
   serve the United States pursuant to a Letter of Intent or Petition for
   Declaratory Ruling, may modify its U.S. operations under the procedures
   set forth in § 25.117(d). In addition, a non-U.S.-licensed satellite
   operator that has been permitted to serve the United States pursuant to
   a Petition for Declaratory Ruling, may modify its U.S. operations under
   the procedures set forth in § 25.118(e).

   (g) A non-U.S.-licensed satellite operator that has been permitted to
   serve the United States pursuant to a Petition for Declaratory Ruling
   must notify the Commission if it plans to transfer control or assign
   its license to another party, so that the Commission can afford
   interested parties an opportunity to comment on whether the proposed
   transaction affects any of the considerations we made when we allowed
   the satellite operator to enter the U.S. market. If the transferee or
   assignee is not licensed by or seeking a license from a country that is
   a member of the World Trade Organization for services covered under the
   World Trade Organization Basic Telecommunications Agreement, the
   non-U.S.-licensed satellite operator will be required to make the
   showing described in paragraph (a) of this section.

   [ 62 FR 64172 , Dec. 4, 1997, as amended at  64 FR 61792 , Nov. 15, 1999;
    65 FR 16327 , Mar. 28, 2000;  65 FR 59143 , Oct. 4, 2000;  68 FR 51503 ,
   Aug. 27, 2003;  68 FR 62249 , Nov. 3, 2003;  69 FR 51587 , Aug. 20, 2004;
    78 FR 8422 , Feb. 6, 2013]

   return arrow Back to Top