Federal Communications Commission FCC 17-57 Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of ) ) Review of the Commission’s Part 95 Personal ) WT Docket No. 10-119 Radio Services Rules ) ) Petition for Rulemaking of Garmin International, ) RM-10762 Inc. ) ) Petition for Rulemaking of Omnitronics, L.L.C. ) RM-10844 REPORT AND ORDER Adopted: May 18, 2017 Released: May 19, 2017 By the Commission: Chairman Pai and Commissioners Clyburn and O’Rielly issuing separate statements. TABLE OF CONTENTS Heading Paragraph # I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 1 II. BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................... 3 III. DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................................................ 7 A. Overall Reorganization of Part 95 ................................................................................................... 7 1. Organization of Subparts and Rule Topics ................................................................................ 7 2. Technical Issues ...................................................................................................................... 14 B. General Mobile Radio Service ....................................................................................................... 27 1. Station Licensing ..................................................................................................................... 29 2. Garmin International, Inc., Petition for Rulemaking ............................................................... 35 3. Other GMRS Issues ................................................................................................................. 40 C. Family Radio Service ..................................................................................................................... 46 1. GMRS/FRS Combination Radios ........................................................................................... 48 2. Other FRS Combination Radios .............................................................................................. 56 D. CB Radio Service ........................................................................................................................... 60 1. CB Hands Free Microphones .................................................................................................. 63 2. Review of Operating Rules ..................................................................................................... 67 3. Other CBRS Issues .................................................................................................................. 71 E. Radio Control Radio Service ......................................................................................................... 75 F. Personal Locator Beacons .............................................................................................................. 80 G. Other Part 95 Services ................................................................................................................... 81 IV. PROCEDURAL MATTERS ................................................................................................................ 85 A. Final Regulatory Flexibility Certification ...................................................................................... 85 B. Paperwork Reduction Analysis ...................................................................................................... 99 C. Congressional Review Act ........................................................................................................... 100 V. ORDERING CLAUSES ..................................................................................................................... 101 APPENDIX – Final Rules 4292 Federal Communications Commission FCC 17-57 I. INTRODUCTION 1. By this Report and Order (R&O), we effect a comprehensive reorganization of and update to the Commission’s Part 95 Personal Radio Services (PRS) rules.1 Personal Radio Services provide for a wide variety of wireless devices that are used by the general public to satisfy personal telecommunications requirements. These devices generally employ low-power transmitters that communicate using shared spectrum, and the Commission has, with few exceptions, authorized their operation by rule rather than by issuing an individual license for each user.2 2. The Commission previously adopted a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) looking to simplify, streamline, and update the Part 95 rules to reflect technological advances and changes in the way the American public uses the various Personal Radio Services.3 The revisions we adopt in this Report and Order will result in numerous benefits to the public, including simplifying and streamlining the rules, making the rules easier to use and understand, and eliminating certain existing regulatory burdens on PRS users and equipment manufacturers.4 We also make changes herein in the interest of public safety, such as prohibiting the inclusion of voice obscuring features that could hinder emergency communications in PRS equipment designed to be used on shared channels and prohibiting use of the terms “Personal Locator Beacon” and “PLB” to market any rescue beacon device that does not meet appropriate technical standards. On the whole, the actions we take in this Report and Order are common sense, practical measures that will benefit the public in numerous ways while recognizing the 21st Century uses of the Personal Radio Services. II. BACKGROUND 3. The Personal Radio Services under Part 95 include various short-range, low-power radio services generally for personal use. As the Commission noted in the NPRM, the scope of applications in the Personal Radio Services has expanded over time beyond its original purposes – which was mobile voice communications for individuals and radio control devices used by hobbyists for control of model aircraft.5 Today, Part 95 includes rules for devices used to locate lost persons, retrieve data from implanted medical devices, provide auditory assistance for hearing-impaired persons, track property for law enforcement purposes, and increase highway safety through vehicle electronics that are integrated with Intelligent Transportation Systems. 1 47 C.F.R. Part 95. 2 Recognizing that the public interest benefits of individually licensing large numbers of relatively low-powered stations in certain radio services used by the general public are insufficient to justify the administrative cost of such licensing, the Congress, in 1982, amended the Communications Act of 1934 to permit the Commission to grant authority to operate certain radio stations “by rule” without individual licenses. See Public Law (Pub. L.) 97-259, Section 113(a), enacted September 13, 1982. See also 47 U.S.C. § 307(e). A licensed-by-rule approach means that authorized users can access the entire available spectrum without individual station licenses. Thus, no one has exclusive rights to any of the spectrum and all spectrum use is shared. 3 Review of the Commission’s Part 95 Personal Radio Services Rules, WT Docket No. 10-119, Notice of Proposed Rule Making and Memorandum Opinion and Order on Reconsideration, 25 FCC Rcd 7651 (2010) (NPRM). 4 For example, we revise our Part 95 rules to employ uniformly the phrase “public switched network” when referring to that network. See, e.g., new § 95.349. 5 See NPRM, 25 FCC Rcd at 7653. 4293 Federal Communications Commission FCC 17-57 4. The Personal Radio Services currently consist of the eleven communication services listed below.6 General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) - GMRS is a mobile two-way voice communication service, with limited data applications, for facilitating activities of individual licensees and their family members, including, but not limited to, voluntary provision of assistance to the public during emergencies and natural disasters. Family Radio Service (FRS) - FRS is a short-distance two-way voice communication service, with limited data applications, between low power hand-held radios, for facilitating individual, family, group, recreational and business activities. Radio Control Radio Service (RCRS) - RCRS is a non-commercial short-distance radio service for wirelessly controlling the operation of devices, including, but not limited to, model vehicles such as aircraft and surface craft. CB Radio Service (CBRS) - CBRS is a mobile and fixed two-way voice communication service for facilitating personal, business or voluntary public service activities, including communications to provide assistance to highway travelers. 218–219 MHz Service - The 218–219 MHz Service allows licensees to provide fixed and mobile telemetry and other telecommunications services on a commercial or private basis in specific service areas. Low Power Radio Service (LPRS) - LPRS is a short-distance voice and data communication service for providing auditory assistance to persons with disabilities (and others), health care related communications, law enforcement tracking, and for certain other purposes. Wireless Medical Telemetry Service (WMTS) - WMTS is a short-distance data communication service for the transmission of physiological parameters and other patient medical information via radiated electromagnetic signals.