*Pages 1--5 from Microsoft Word - 16461* Federal Communications Commission DA 00- 01 Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D. C. 20554 In the Matter of ) ) DISPATCH INTERACTIVE TELEVISION, INC. ) ) Request for Waiver and Declaratory Ruling of ) Sections 95.855 and 95.859( a) ) of the Commission’s Rules ) MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Adopted: January 3, 2000 Released: January 5, 2000 By the Chief, Public Safety and Private Wireless Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau: I. INTRODUCTION 1. On June 9, 1998, Dispatch Interactive Television, Inc. (DITV) filed an Amendment to Request for Waiver and Declaratory Ruling 1 of Sections 95.855 and 95.859( a) of the Commission’s Rules. 2 DITV seeks the waiver so that it may provide one- way voice or data transmission services, including paging services, over a 218– 219 MHz Service 3 system with an effective radiated power (ERP) of up to 250 watts. 4 DITV’s request was placed on public notice on August 25, 1998. 5 On September 15, 1998, AirTouch Paging (AirTouch) filed comments in opposition to the Waiver Request. 6 On September 1 Amendment to Request for Waiver and Declaratory Ruling, Dispatch Interactive Television, Inc.: Station KIVD0037, Indianapolis, Indiana (filed June 9, 1998) (Waiver Request). The Commission subsequently modified the rules at issue. See Amendment of Part 95 of the Commission’s Rules to Provide Regulatory Flexibility in the 218- 219 MHz Service, Report and Order and Memorandum Opinion and Order, WT Docket No. 98- 169 (rel. September 10, 1999) (Flexibility Report and Order). Because the waiver of Section 95. 859( a) is no longer necessary given that these new rules became effective on January 3, 2000, we shall only address DITV’s request with respect to Section 95.855. 2 47 C. F. R. §§ 95. 855, 95. 859( a). 3 After DITV filed its request, the Commission redesignated what formerly had been known as Interactive Video and Data Service as the 218- 219 MHz Service. Amendment of Part 95 of the Commission’s Rules to Provide Regulatory Flexibility in the 218- 219 MHz Service, Order, Memorandum Opinion and Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, WT Docket No. 98- 169, 13 FCC Rcd 19064, 19075 ¶ 16 (1998). 4 Waiver Request at 1. DITV originally requested a waiver and declaratory ruling on February 3, 1998, to permit it to operate its system with an ERP of up to 20 watts. On June 9, 1998, it amended the request to seek a waiver to permit it to operate with an ERP of up to 250 watts. The June 9, 1998 filing does not request or discuss any desired declaratory ruling. We shall address herein only the June 9, 1998 request for a waiver. 5 Dispatch Interactive Television Request for Declaratory Ruling and Waiver of Sections 95. 855 and 95. 859( a) of the Commission’s Rules, Public Notice, 13 FCC Rcd 25388 (CCB 1998). 6 Comments of AirTouch Paging (filed September 15, 1998) (Comments). 1 Federal Communications Commission DA 00- 01 2 30, 1998, DITV filed reply comments. 7 No other comments were filed. For the reasons stated herein, we grant DITV’s request. II. BACKGROUND 2. DITV holds the B Block 218- 219 MHz Service license in the Indianapolis, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), Call Sign KIVD0037. 8 DITV is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dispatch Printing Company (Dispatch), which, through a subsidiary, also holds the license for Channel 13 Television Station WTHR, Indianapolis, Indiana. 9 The system described by DITV in the Waiver Request includes a single cell transmitter station (CTS) co- located upon the antenna structure used by Station WTHR. 10 DITV seeks permission to operate this CTS at an ERP up to 250 watts. 11 Section 95.855 of the Commission’s Rules limits CTSs to an ERP of 20 watts. 12 DITV plans to use the system to provide any and all one- way voice or data transmission services, including paging services. 13 III. DISCUSSION 3. We may grant a request for waiver when a) the underlying purpose of the rule would not be served by application to the instant case, and a grant of the requested waiver would be in the public interest; or b) in view of unique or unusual circumstances, application of the rule would be inequitable, unduly burdensome or contrary to the public interest, or the applicant has no reasonable alternative. 14 We find that DITV has satisfied the first waiver standard. 4. First, we agree with DITV 15 that the underlying purpose of Section 95. 855 is to minimize the potential for 218- 219 MHz Service signals to interfere with Channel 13 Television reception. 16 DITV states that the design of its system eliminates this concern because co- locating the 218- 219 MHz Service transmitting antenna with the Channel 13 television station antenna will maintain the transmitting power disparity between Station WTHR and the 218- 219 MHz Service signal throughout Station WTHR’s service area at approximately 10,000 to 1. 17 Furthermore, we note that Section 95.861( e) of the 7 Reply Comments of Dispatch Interactive Television (filed September 30, 1998) (Reply Comments). 8 Waiver Request at 1. 9 Id. at 1- 2. 10 Id. at 4. 11 Id. 12 47 C. F. R. § 95. 855. 13 Waiver Request at 1. 14 47 C. F. R. § 1.925( b)( 3). 15 Waiver Request at 3. 16 See Amendment of Parts 0, 1, 2, and 95 of the Commission’s Rules to Provide Interactive Video and Data Services, Report and Order, GEN Docket No. 91- 2, 7 FCC Rcd 1630, 1633- 34 ¶¶ 25- 26 (1992); see also Flexibility Report and Order at ¶ 110. 17 Waiver Request at 4. 2 Federal Communications Commission DA 00- 01 3 Commission’s Rules, which requires 218- 219 MHz Service licensees to correct interference problems, provides an additional safeguard against harmful interference to over- the- air broadcast television reception. 18 In light of these circumstances, and the fact that DITV’s parent is the Television Channel 13 licensee, we are persuaded that DITV will ensure that the 218- 219 MHz Service transmissions will not interfere with Channel 13 television reception. 19 Consequently, we conclude that the requested waiver would not frustrate the underlying purpose of Section 95.855. 5. DITV further argues that granting the Waiver Request will serve the public interest by facilitating the provision of a new private communications service in the one- way voice and data marketplace, increasing the ability of licensees to respond to the demands of certain members of the public that cannot currently receive service. 20 DITV asserts, 21 therefore, that good cause is found to support grant of its Waiver Request in that such grant will further the Commission’s goal of making flexible, market- oriented 218- 219 MHz Service available to consumers. 22 6. AirTouch, in opposition, states that DITV’s core rationale supporting the Waiver Request is simply that its current configuration of 218- 219 MHz Service has not proven commercially feasible. 23 According to AirTouch, if we were to accept such a rationale and grant the Waiver Request, we should expect a deluge of other 218- 219 MHz Service licensees seeking to provide alternative services such as those proposed by DITV. 24 AirTouch asserts that rather than eviscerating the 218- 219 MHz Service rules by waiver in this fashion, the Commission should, if it accepts DITV’s infeasibility argument, open a rulemaking proceeding to consider revision of the Commission’s rules for the 218- 219 MHz Service or reallocation of the spectrum. 25 7. We agree with DITV 26 that AirTouch’s objections are based on the erroneous contention that, through the Waiver Request, DITV is seeking to provide interconnected common carrier paging 18 47 C. F. R. § 95. 861( e). 19 Waiver Request at 4. Indeed, DITV represents that it will eliminate any unacceptable interference to WTHR or cease operations. Id. 20 Id. at 5. 21 Id. 22 See Flexibility Report and Order at ¶ 17. 23 Comments at 2. 24 Id. 25 Id. 26 Reply Comments at 1. 3 Federal Communications Commission DA 00- 01 4 services not presently authorized by the Commission’s Rules. 27 We believe that DITV is neither threatening to eviscerate the 218- 219 MHz Service rules nor proposing to provide alternative services; rather, it is our understanding that the services to be provided by DITV will be services already authorized by the Commission’s rules, requiring no waiver. 28 Although the 218- 219 MHz Service originally was classified as a fixed communications service, the Commission amended its rules in May 1996 to permit 218- 219 MHz Service licensees to operate a fully mobile system. 29 In addition, the Commission recently clarified that both one- and two- way communications are permissible. 30 8. AirTouch also argues that grant of the Waiver Request will undermine the auction process, because there were dramatic differences in the prices paid for 218- 219 MHz Service spectrum as compared to spectrum that was allocated to uses that permitted interconnected wireless common carrier services. 31 We believe that the Commission has already rejected this argument, on the grounds that auction winners have no reasonable expectation that they will be shielded from potential competitors. 32 Moreover, we believe that this argument is also based on the mistaken premise that DITV proposes to offer services not already permitted by the Commission’s 218- 219 MHz Service rules. IV. CONCLUSION 10. We conclude that DITV has demonstrated good cause exists for the grant of its request for waiver of Section 95.855 of the Commission’s Rules. We will allow it to provide non- common carrier non- interconnected one- way voice or data transmission services, including paging services, over a 218- 219 MHz Service system with an ERP of up to 250 watts, co- located with the transmitter for Channel 13 Television Station WTHR. All other 218- 219 MHz Service rules continue to apply to DITV’s system. 27 See 47 C. F. R. § 95. 805( c), (f). In addition, AirTouch notes that, since February 6, 1996, the Commission has suspended the filing of applications for new paging facilities licensed under Parts 22 and 90 of the rules, and argues that it would be unfair to allow others to convert spectrum to interconnected paging uses by waiver when the existing paging industry is at a standstill by virtue of a suspension of the acceptance and processing of applications that has lasted much longer than originally anticipated. Comments at 7- 8 (citing Revision of Part 22 and Part 90 of the Commission’s Rules to Facilitate Future Development of Paging Systems, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, WT Docket No. 96- 18, 11 FCC Rcd 3108 (1996)). We agree with DITV that the Commission’s interim policy regarding paging applications is not relevant to DITV’s request for waiver of the 218- 219 MHz Service rules. Reply Comments at 8. See, e. g., Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Order, DA 99- 1756, ¶ 11 (WTB PSPWD rel. August 31, 1999) (rejecting argument that waiver to allow public safety to share private land mobile radio (PLMR) frequencies should be granted only if the Commission also waived or lifted its suspension of inter- agency sharing by PLMR licensees). Further, we believe that this AirTouch argument also is premised on a misunderstanding of DITV’s proposed service offerings. 28 Reply Comments at 4. 29 Amendment of Part 95 of the Commission’s Rules to Allow Interactive Video and Data Service Licensees to Provide Mobile Service to Subscribers, Report and Order, WT Docket No. 95- 47, 11 FCC Rcd 6610, 6613 ¶ 9 (1996); 47 C. F. R. § 95. 805. 30 Flexibility Report and Order at ¶ 23. 31 Comments at 6. 32 Flexibility Report and Order at ¶ 18. 4 Federal Communications Commission DA 00- 01 5 V. ORDERING CLAUSES 11. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to Section 4( i) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U. S. C. § 154( i), and Section 1.925 of the Commission’s Rules, 47 C. F. R. § 1. 925, DITV’s Amendment to Request for Waiver, filed on June 9, 1998, IS GRANTED. 12. This action is taken under delegated authority pursuant to Sections 0.131 and 0.331 of the Commission’s Rules, 47 C. F. R. §§ 0.131, 0.331. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION D’wana R. Terry Chief, Public Safety and Private Wireless Division Wireless Telecommunications Bureau 5