Attachment 1990ABES Comments se

1990ABES Comments se

COMMENT submitted by ABES

Comments

1990-11-30

This document pretains to SAT-AMD-19900801-00046 for Amended Filing on a Satellite Space Stations filing.

IBFS_SATAMD1990080100046_1080443

RECEIVED Before the | FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION NOV 3 0 1990 Washington, D.C. 20554 Federal Communicationsy Commission Office ohfl)?@ryE’ VE‘ In Re Application of ) £% ) OFC ; 90 SATELLITE CD RADIO, INC. ) File Nos. 49/50—DSS—P/LA— QMwfi J 1990 ) 90; 58/59—DSS— $0C Faciliige ryi . . For Digital Audio Service) AMEND—90 Safeliite Badio BS,DMS'OI Satellite Systen ) ancph To: Chief, Common Carrier Bureau COMMENTS OF ASSOCIATION FOR BROADCAST ENGINEERING STANDARDS, INC. Association For Broadcast Engineering Standards, Inc ("ABES"), by its attorneys, respectfully submits these Comments in response to the Public Notice (Report No. DS— 1015) released in the above—captioned matter October 19, 1990 . Introduction ABES is a nonprofit membership corporation whose principal corporate purpose is to assist the Commission and the Congress in the development and implementation of technical standards to the end that the people of the United States will receive optimum aural broadcast services. Since its organization, ABES has participated in numerous Commission proceedings related to those services. Attached hereto as Appendix A are lists of the Officers, Directors, and Technical Committee members of ABES.

Satellite CD Radio, Inc. ("CD Radio"), has applied for authority to provide a variety of services via communications satellite, all of which are related to the provision to the public of Digital Aural Broadcast ("DAB") service. The services that CD Radio proposes appear to include direct transmissions of DAB programming to receivers in the hands of the public, i.e., direct aural broadcast satellite service. As the Public Notice of October 19, 1990, notes, CD Radio has also petitioned for Rule Making looking toward the allocation on a primary basis of the frequency band 1470—1530 MHz for the down— linking of its proposed DAB services. It is the position of ABES that, to the extent that CD Radio proposes in the subject application to provide a direct aural broadcast satellite service on a reqgularly licensed basis, the application specifies a service not provided for in the Commission‘s Rules and Reqgulations. To the extent CD Radio proposes to employ communications satellite facilities merely for the purpose of interconnecting terrestrial DAB transmitters, ABES con— siders the application to be untimely, since the Commission has not authorized such a terrestrial service and does not appear likely to do so for a considerable period of tinme. Therefore, ABES urges the Commission to dismiss the CD Radio application.

Direct Aural Broadcast Satellite Service Not Authorized Direct Aural Broadcast Satellite service, transmitting audio signals, apart from and unrelated to video signals, directly to viewers in the United States is not now a service authorized by the Commission‘s Rules and Regulations and no spectrum allocation has yet been made to that service at either an international or domestic level.—/ The subject of direct broadcast satellite transmission of Digital Radio service [BSS (Sound)] is one of the major subjects of the Commission‘s pending Inquiry in General Docket No. 89—554, which involves United States positions and preparations for the ITU World Administrative Radio Conference to be held in Spain early in 1992 (WARC 92). Work on such preparations is well under way. No spectrum allocation to purely audio DBS service, i.e., BSS— Ssound, has been made at either an international or domestic level.-gf —14/ gee Notice of Proposed Policy Statement and Proposed Rule Making (Gen. Docket No. 80—603), 86 FCC 24@ 719, 728—729; Report and Order (Gen. Docket No. 80—603), 90 FCC2a@ 676, 689—692. —2/ gsee Report and Order (Gen. Docket No. 80—603), 90 FCC2a@ 676 (1982). In footnote 1, Id. at 719, the Commission made it clear that its use of the tern Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) was synonymous with the international use of the term Broadcast— ing Satellite Service (BSS). As is shown by the (continued...)

The subject of direct broadcast satellite transmission of Digital Radio service (BSS (Sound)) is one of the major subjects of the Commission‘s pending Inquiry in General Docket No. 89—554, which involves United States positions and preparations for the ITU World Administrative Radio Conference to be held in Spain early in 1992 (WARC 92). Work on such preparations is well under way. On October 1, 1990, the Commission released its second Notice of Ingquiry in that proceeding.—2/ Paragraphs 84 through 104 of the Second Notice are devoted to a thorough discussion of BSS (Sound) and the many problems involved in finding adequate spectrum for it. The three spectrum allocation options under consideration in that Inquiry are (a) the UHF band at 728—788 MHz, (b) the microwave band from 1435—1530 MHz, or (c) 2390—2450 MHz higher in the microwave band. As the Commission makes clear, each of these possible BSS (Sound) allocation solutions presents difficult problems of conflicts with —2/ (...continued) Commission‘s Notice of Inquiry in Gen. Docket No. 89—554 (1992 WARC), the ITU is merely considering the possibility of an allocation for an ex— clusively audio direct broadcast satellite service under the acronym BSS—Sound as a matter of business to be considered at Seville, Spain, early in 1992. Present international and domestic allocations for BSS/DBS do not contemplate audio— only service directly to the public. —3/ FCC 90—316 (Mimeo 38008).

other spectrum uses, some of which directly involve national security and public safety. ABES wishes to make it clear that it does not oppose the CD Radio application on any grounds related to the applicant or its qualifications. Rather, these Comments are filed to point out that said application cannot be accepted for filing, since the service proposed has not yet been established at either the international or domestic regulatory level. To the extent that CD Radio proposes to employ communications satellites to interconnect terrestrial DAB transmitters, ABES interposes no objection, since a direct aural broadcast service to the public would not be involved. Nevertheless, in light of the fact that it is likely to be several years before DAB service is authorized by the Commission in any form, ABES must question the prudence of accepting, processing, and acting upon the CD Radio application at this time. The underlying DAB service may never be authorized by the Commission or may take a form inconsistent with the proposal now advanced by CD Radio. In view of the fact that CD Radio proposes to employ satellite communications facilities, either directly or indirectly, as part of a system of Digital Aural Broadcast service, ABES must question the prudence of the

Common Carrier Bureau proceeding to process the CD Radio satellite facilities application separate from action by the Mass Media Bureau on the fundamental issues of whether there should be a DAB service and the form any such service should take. Those issues are under study in the Inquiry proceeding in Gen. Docket No. 90—357, initial comments in which were filed November 13, 1990. The interest in and response to the Commission‘s Notice of Inquiry in Gen. Docket No. 90—357 have been lively. It is likely that the initial Notice of Inquiry will be followed either by a Further Notice of Inquiry or by a Notice of Proposed Rule Making or both. The Common Carrier Bureau should not go off on its own and take action on an unauthorized applica—, tion that could affect the outcome of those proceedings. Primary responsibility for the development of policy on DAB must be placed in the hands of the Mass Media Bureau, which alone among the Bureaus of the Commission possesses the expertise and responsibility to resolve the many difficult technical and policy issues that DAB presents. ABES strongly believes that the Common Carrier Bureau, in the instance of applications like that of CD Radio, and the Office of Engineering and Technology should defer any independent action that affects any aspect of DAB service until the Mass Media Bureau has had the time required to formulate a unified policy and present it to

the Commission for consideration. For the reasons set forth above, ABES believes that the CD Radio application is defective and untimely and should be dismissed. Respectfully subnmitted, ASSOCIATION FOR BROADCAST ENGINEERING STANDARDS, INC. By Haley, Bader & Potts William J."Potts, Jf. 2000 M Street, N.W. Suite 600 Washington, D.C. 20036 (202) 331—0606 November 30, 1990 Its Attorneys

APPENDIX

sSoC 0 RO S NGINEE OFFICERS LECTE OR _ON AR _ON R RESIDEN Mr. Wallace E. Johnson Moffet, Larson & Johnson, P.C. Two Skyline Place Suite 800 5203 Leesburg Pike Falls Church, VA 22041 Tel: 824—5660 Fax: 824—5672 VICE PRESTDENT Mr. Kenneth Hermanson King Broadcasting Company P.0O. Box 24525 Seattle, WA 98124 Street address: 333 Dexter Avenue N. Seattle, WwA 98109 Tel. (206) 448—5555 SsECRETARY AND TREASURER William J. Potts, Jr., Esquire Haley, Bader & Potts 2000 M Street, N.W. Suite 600 Washington, D.C. 20036 Tel: (202) 331~—0606

ASSOCIATION FOR BROADCAST ENGINEERING STANDARDS, INC. EMBERS OF E_ BOAR F_DI 0 Ms. Elizabeth Hayter Mr. James Wulliman Vice President, Media 721 West Calle Del Regalo Practices Green Valley, AZ 85614 CBS Radio Division Tel: (602) 648—1250 51 West S2nd Street New York, NY 10019 Tel: (212) 975—7054 Mr. Jeffrey B. Hatch Communications Investment Corp. Alfred E. Resnick, P.E. 2185 South 3600 West Director, Engineering — Salt Lake City, UT 84119 Radio Tel: (801) 973—3013 Capital Cities, ABC 125 Westend Avenue New York, NY 10023 Mr. Glynn Walden Tel: (212) 887—5283 Engineering Manager Westinghouse Broadcasting Co., Inc. Mr. Kenneth Hermanson Independence Mall East King Broadcasting Company Philadelphia, PA 19106 P.0. Box 24525 Tel: (215) 238—4700 Seattle, WA 98124 Street address: 333 Dexter Avenue N. Mr. Richard R. Miller Seattle, WwA 98109 KBOW, Inc. Tel: (206) 448—5555 660 Dewey Boulevard Butte, MT 59701 (406) 494—7777

SsSoCc ON OADpCAS CHN LEC 0 Mr. Kenneth Brown Mr. Kevin Mostyn Capital Cities, ABC King Broadcasting Company 47 West 66th Street Station KYA—AM l0th Floor 300 Broadway New York, NY 10023 San Francisco, CA 94133 Tel: (212) 887—3484 Tel: (415) 391~1260 Mr. Mark Durenberger Mr. James Wullinman 5700 12th Avenue South 721 West Calle Del Regalo Minneapolis, Minnesota 55417 Green Valley, AZ 85614 Tel: (612) 646—5555 Tel: (602) 648—1250 Mr. Dale Bobbitt Alfred E. Resnick, P.E. Radio Stations KALL/KLCY—FM Director, Engineering — 312 East South Temple Radio Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 Capital Cities, ABC Tel: (801) 364—3562 125 Westend Avenue New York, NY 10023 Tel: (212) 887—5283 Mr. Anthony Masiello CBS Radio Division 51 West S2nd Street New York, NY 10019 Tel: (212) 975—3873

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify the copies of the foregoing Comments of Association For Broadcast Engineering Standards, Inc., were served this 30th day of November, 1990, by U. S. Mail, postage prepaid, upon the following: Richard M. Firestone, Esquire* Chief, Common Carrier Bureau Federal Communications Commision Washington, D.C. 20554 Roy J. Stewart, Esquire* Chief, Mass Media Bureau Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 Mr. Peter J. Dolan President Satellite CD Radio, Inc. Techworld Plaza 800 K Street, N.W. Suite 750 Washington, D.C. 20001—8000 /Y)Mfi 6. Pomie NancyE. Davies * Hand Delivered


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