47 U.S.C. § 332 : US Code - Section 332: Mobile services

Search 47 U.S.C. § 332 : US Code - Section 332: Mobile services

(a) Factors which Commission must consider
In taking actions to manage the spectrum to be made available for
use by the private mobile services, the Commission shall consider,
consistent with section 151 of this title, whether such actions
will -
(1) promote the safety of life and property;
(2) improve the efficiency of spectrum use and reduce the
regulatory burden upon spectrum users, based upon sound
engineering principles, user operational requirements, and
marketplace demands;
(3) encourage competition and provide services to the largest
feasible number of users; or
(4) increase interservice sharing opportunities between private
mobile services and other services.
(b) Advisory coordinating committees
(1) The Commission, in coordinating the assignment of frequencies
to stations in the private mobile services and in the fixed
services (as defined by the Commission by rule), shall have
authority to utilize assistance furnished by advisory coordinating
committees consisting of individuals who are not officers or
employees of the Federal Government.
(2) The authority of the Commission established in this
subsection shall not be subject to or affected by the provisions of
part III of title 5 or section 1342 of title 31.
(3) Any person who provides assistance to the Commission under
this subsection shall not be considered, by reason of having
provided such assistance, a Federal employee.
(4) Any advisory coordinating committee which furnishes
assistance to the Commission under this subsection shall not be
subject to the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
(c) Regulatory treatment of mobile services
(1) Common carrier treatment of commercial mobile services
(A) A person engaged in the provision of a service that is a
commercial mobile service shall, insofar as such person is so
engaged, be treated as a common carrier for purposes of this
chapter, except for such provisions of subchapter II of this
chapter as the Commission may specify by regulation as
inapplicable to that service or person. In prescribing or
amending any such regulation, the Commission may not specify any
provision of section 201, 202, or 208 of this title, and may
specify any other provision only if the Commission determines
that -
(i) enforcement of such provision is not necessary in order
to ensure that the charges, practices, classifications, or
regulations for or in connection with that service are just and
reasonable and are not unjustly or unreasonably discriminatory;
(ii) enforcement of such provision is not necessary for the
protection of consumers; and
(iii) specifying such provision is consistent with the public
interest.
(B) Upon reasonable request of any person providing commercial
mobile service, the Commission shall order a common carrier to
establish physical connections with such service pursuant to the
provisions of section 201 of this title. Except to the extent
that the Commission is required to respond to such a request,
this subparagraph shall not be construed as a limitation or
expansion of the Commission's authority to order interconnection
pursuant to this chapter.
(C) The Commission shall review competitive market conditions
with respect to commercial mobile services and shall include in
its annual report an analysis of those conditions. Such analysis
shall include an identification of the number of competitors in
various commercial mobile services, an analysis of whether or not
there is effective competition, an analysis of whether any of
such competitors have a dominant share of the market for such
services, and a statement of whether additional providers or
classes of providers in those services would be likely to enhance
competition. As a part of making a determination with respect to
the public interest under subparagraph (A)(iii), the Commission
shall consider whether the proposed regulation (or amendment
thereof) will promote competitive market conditions, including
the extent to which such regulation (or amendment) will enhance
competition among providers of commercial mobile services. If the
Commission determines that such regulation (or amendment) will
promote competition among providers of commercial mobile
services, such determination may be the basis for a Commission
finding that such regulation (or amendment) is in the public
interest.
(D) The Commission shall, not later than 180 days after August
10, 1993, complete a rulemaking required to implement this
paragraph with respect to the licensing of personal
communications services, including making any determinations
required by subparagraph (C).
(2) Non-common carrier treatment of private mobile services
A person engaged in the provision of a service that is a
private mobile service shall not, insofar as such person is so
engaged, be treated as a common carrier for any purpose under
this chapter. A common carrier (other than a person that was
treated as a provider of a private land mobile service prior to
August 10, 1993) shall not provide any dispatch service on any
frequency allocated for common carrier service, except to the
extent such dispatch service is provided on stations licensed in
the domestic public land mobile radio service before January 1,
1982. The Commission may by regulation terminate, in whole or in
part, the prohibition contained in the preceding sentence if the
Commission determines that such termination will serve the public
interest.
(3) State preemption
(A) Notwithstanding sections 152(b) and 221(b) of this title,
no State or local government shall have any authority to regulate
the entry of or the rates charged by any commercial mobile
service or any private mobile service, except that this paragraph
shall not prohibit a State from regulating the other terms and
conditions of commercial mobile services. Nothing in this
subparagraph shall exempt providers of commercial mobile services
(where such services are a substitute for land line telephone
exchange service for a substantial portion of the communications
within such State) from requirements imposed by a State
commission on all providers of telecommunications services
necessary to ensure the universal availability of
telecommunications service at affordable rates. Notwithstanding
the first sentence of this subparagraph, a State may petition the
Commission for authority to regulate the rates for any commercial
mobile service and the Commission shall grant such petition if
such State demonstrates that -
(i) market conditions with respect to such services fail to
protect subscribers adequately from unjust and unreasonable
rates or rates that are unjustly or unreasonably
discriminatory; or
(ii) such market conditions exist and such service is a
replacement for land line telephone exchange service for a
substantial portion of the telephone land line exchange service
within such State.
The Commission shall provide reasonable opportunity for public
comment in response to such petition, and shall, within 9 months
after the date of its submission, grant or deny such petition. If
the Commission grants such petition, the Commission shall
authorize the State to exercise under State law such authority
over rates, for such periods of time, as the Commission deems
necessary to ensure that such rates are just and reasonable and
not unjustly or unreasonably discriminatory.
(B) If a State has in effect on June 1, 1993, any regulation
concerning the rates for any commercial mobile service offered in
such State on such date, such State may, no later than 1 year
after August 10, 1993, petition the Commission requesting that
the State be authorized to continue exercising authority over
such rates. If a State files such a petition, the State's
existing regulation shall, notwithstanding subparagraph (A),
remain in effect until the Commission completes all action
(including any reconsideration) on such petition. The Commission
shall review such petition in accordance with the procedures
established in such subparagraph, shall complete all action
(including any reconsideration) within 12 months after such
petition is filed, and shall grant such petition if the State
satisfies the showing required under subparagraph (A)(i) or
(A)(ii). If the Commission grants such petition, the Commission
shall authorize the State to exercise under State law such
authority over rates, for such period of time, as the Commission
deems necessary to ensure that such rates are just and reasonable
and not unjustly or unreasonably discriminatory. After a
reasonable period of time, as determined by the Commission, has
elapsed from the issuance of an order under subparagraph (A) or
this subparagraph, any interested party may petition the
Commission for an order that the exercise of authority by a State
pursuant to such subparagraph is no longer necessary to ensure
that the rates for commercial mobile services are just and
reasonable and not unjustly or unreasonably discriminatory. The
Commission shall provide reasonable opportunity for public
comment in response to such petition, and shall, within 9 months
after the date of its submission, grant or deny such petition in
whole or in part.
(4) Regulatory treatment of communications satellite corporation
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to alter or
affect the regulatory treatment required by title IV of the
Communications Satellite Act of 1962 [47 U.S.C. 741 et seq.] of
the corporation authorized by title III of such Act [47 U.S.C.
731 et seq.].
(5) Space segment capacity
Nothing in this section shall prohibit the Commission from
continuing to determine whether the provision of space segment
capacity by satellite systems to providers of commercial mobile
services shall be treated as common carriage.
(6) Foreign ownership
The Commission, upon a petition for waiver filed within 6
months after August 10, 1993, may waive the application of
section 310(b) of this title to any foreign ownership that
lawfully existed before May 24, 1993, of any provider of a
private land mobile service that will be treated as a common
carrier as a result of the enactment of the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1993, but only upon the following
conditions:
(A) The extent of foreign ownership interest shall not be
increased above the extent which existed on May 24, 1993.
(B) Such waiver shall not permit the subsequent transfer of
ownership to any other person in violation of section 310(b) of
this title.
(7) Preservation of local zoning authority
(A) General authority
Except as provided in this paragraph, nothing in this chapter
shall limit or affect the authority of a State or local
government or instrumentality thereof over decisions regarding
the placement, construction, and modification of personal
wireless service facilities.
(B) Limitations
(i) The regulation of the placement, construction, and
modification of personal wireless service facilities by any
State or local government or instrumentality thereof -
(I) shall not unreasonably discriminate among providers of
functionally equivalent services; and
(II) shall not prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting
the provision of personal wireless services.
(ii) A State or local government or instrumentality thereof
shall act on any request for authorization to place, construct,
or modify personal wireless service facilities within a
reasonable period of time after the request is duly filed with
such government or instrumentality, taking into account the
nature and scope of such request.
(iii) Any decision by a State or local government or
instrumentality thereof to deny a request to place, construct,
or modify personal wireless service facilities shall be in
writing and supported by substantial evidence contained in a
written record.
(iv) No State or local government or instrumentality thereof
may regulate the placement, construction, and modification of
personal wireless service facilities on the basis of the
environmental effects of radio frequency emissions to the
extent that such facilities comply with the Commission's
regulations concerning such emissions.
(v) Any person adversely affected by any final action or
failure to act by a State or local government or any
instrumentality thereof that is inconsistent with this
subparagraph may, within 30 days after such action or failure
to act, commence an action in any court of competent
jurisdiction. The court shall hear and decide such action on an
expedited basis. Any person adversely affected by an act or
failure to act by a State or local government or any
instrumentality thereof that is inconsistent with clause (iv)
may petition the Commission for relief.
(C) Definitions
For purposes of this paragraph -
(i) the term "personal wireless services" means commercial
mobile services, unlicensed wireless services, and common
carrier wireless exchange access services;
(ii) the term "personal wireless service facilities" means
facilities for the provision of personal wireless services;
and
(iii) the term "unlicensed wireless service" means the
offering of telecommunications services using duly authorized
devices which do not require individual licenses, but does
not mean the provision of direct-to-home satellite services
(as defined in section 303(v) of this title).
(8) Mobile services access
A person engaged in the provision of commercial mobile
services, insofar as such person is so engaged, shall not be
required to provide equal access to common carriers for the
provision of telephone toll services. If the Commission
determines that subscribers to such services are denied access to
the provider of telephone toll services of the subscribers'
choice, and that such denial is contrary to the public interest,
convenience, and necessity, then the Commission shall prescribe
regulations to afford subscribers unblocked access to the
provider of telephone toll services of the subscribers' choice
through the use of a carrier identification code assigned to such
provider or other mechanism. The requirements for unblocking
shall not apply to mobile satellite services unless the
Commission finds it to be in the public interest to apply such
requirements to such services.
(d) Definitions
For purposes of this section -
(1) the term "commercial mobile service" means any mobile
service (as defined in section 153 of this title) that is
provided for profit and makes interconnected service available
(A) to the public or (B) to such classes of eligible users as to
be effectively available to a substantial portion of the public,
as specified by regulation by the Commission;
(2) the term "interconnected service" means service that is
interconnected with the public switched network (as such terms
are defined by regulation by the Commission) or service for which
a request for interconnection is pending pursuant to subsection
(c)(1)(B) of this section; and
(3) the term "private mobile service" means any mobile service
(as defined in section 153 of this title) that is not a
commercial mobile service or the functional equivalent of a
commercial mobile service, as specified by regulation by the
Commission.