§327 Naval Stations; Use for Commercial Messages; Rates

Summary

The Secretary of the Navy may use Navy-owned radio stations, unless an international agreement stops him. He sets the rules and charges for that use. The charges must be fair and can be reviewed and changed by the Commission if someone complains. Those stations can handle press messages from U.S. newspapers (including papers in U.S. Territories or by U.S. citizens abroad) and U.S. press associations, and they can carry private commercial messages between ships, between ship and shore, within Alaska, and between Alaska and the continental United States. Except for press messages between the Pacific coast of the United States, Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, American Samoa, the Philippine Islands, and the Orient, and between the United States and the Virgin Islands, rates must be at least as high as private stations charge. The Navy must stop providing service between places, or between a place and privately operated ships, once private stations can meet normal needs and the Commission tells the Secretary.