§342 — Title 47 Telegraphs, Telephones, and Radiotelegraphs | U.S. Code

Summary

The FCC must give a satellite TV company a special certification if the company already provides local channels in every TV market it serves and, for any market it did not serve when the 2010 law passed, its satellite beams are designed (based on the satellite maker’s pre-launch tests) to deliver a good quality signal to at least 90 percent of the households in each such market, and there is no evidence of a post-launch satellite or subsystem failure that would stop that coverage. To get the certification the company must file an affidavit saying which markets it served as of the 2010 law. For each new market it must give the local receive facility location, household counts and maps from the latest Census, maps with the manufacturer’s pre-launch beam predictions showing at least 90 percent household coverage, an affidavit saying there have been no post-launch failures that prevent that coverage, and any other engineering information the FCC asks for. The public gets 30 days to comment on the application. The FCC must grant or deny the request within 90 days. A certified company must file another affidavit 30 months after certification saying it still meets the rules. Designated market area means the TV-market term defined elsewhere in the law. Good quality satellite signal means a signal designed to reach at least 99.7% availability using normal subscriber antennas and the same top-100 market methods, and that meets the technical limits on video format, compression, and number of signals.

Title 47, §342

Telegraphs, Telephones, and Radiotelegraphs — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Commission shall issue a certification for the purposes of section 119(g)(3)(A)(iii) 11 See References in Text note below. of title 17 if the Commission determines that—

(1)a satellite carrier is providing local service pursuant to the statutory license under section 122 of such title in each designated market area; and

(2)with respect to each designated market area in which such satellite carrier was not providing such local service as of the date of enactment of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act of 2010—

(A)the satellite carrier’s satellite beams are designed, and predicted by the satellite manufacturer’s pre-launch test data, to provide a good quality satellite signal to at least 90 percent of the households in each such designated market area based on the most recent census data released by the United States Census Bureau; and

(B)there is no material evidence that there has been a satellite or sub-system failure subsequent to the satellite’s launch that precludes the ability of the satellite carrier to satisfy the requirements of subparagraph (A).

(b)Any entity seeking the certification provided for in subsection (a) shall submit to the Commission the following information:

(1)An affidavit stating that, to the best of the affiant’s knowledge, the satellite carrier provides local service in all designated market areas pursuant to the statutory license provided for in section 122 of title 17 and listing those designated market areas in which local service was provided as of the date of enactment of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act of 2010.

(2)For each designated market area not listed in paragraph (1):

(A)Identification of each such designated market area and the location of its local receive facility.

(B)Data showing the number of households, and maps showing the geographic distribution thereof, in each such designated market area based on the most recent census data released by the United States Census Bureau.

(C)Maps, with superimposed effective isotropically radiated power predictions obtained in the satellite manufacturer’s pre-launch tests, showing that the contours of the carrier’s satellite beams as designed and the geographic area that the carrier’s satellite beams are designed to cover are predicted to provide a good quality satellite signal to at least 90 percent of the households in such designated market area based on the most recent census data released by the United States Census Bureau.

(D)For any satellite relied upon for certification under this section, an affidavit stating that, to the best of the affiant’s knowledge, there have been no satellite or sub-system failures subsequent to the satellite’s launch that would degrade the design performance to such a degree that a satellite transponder used to provide local service to any such designated market area is precluded from delivering a good quality satellite signal to at least 90 percent of the households in such designated market area based on the most recent census data released by the United States Census Bureau.

(E)Any additional engineering, designated market area, or other information the Commission considers necessary to determine whether the Commission shall grant a certification under this section.

(c)(1)The Commission shall provide 30 days for public comment on a request for certification under this section.

(2)The Commission shall grant or deny a request for certification within 90 days after the date on which such request is filed.

(d)An entity granted qualified carrier status pursuant to section 119(g) 1 of title 17 shall file an affidavit with the Commission 30 months after such status was granted stating that, to the best of the affiant’s knowledge, it is in compliance with the requirements for a qualified carrier.

(e)For the purposes of this section:

(1)The term “designated market area” has the meaning given such term in section 122(j)(2)(C) of title 17.

(2)(A)The term “good quality satellite signal” means—

(i)a satellite signal whose power level as designed shall achieve reception and demodulation of the signal at an availability level of at least 99.7 percent using—

(I)models of satellite antennas normally used by the satellite carrier’s subscribers; and

(II)the same calculation methodology used by the satellite carrier to determine predicted signal availability in the top 100 designated market areas; and

(ii)taking into account whether a signal is in standard definition format or high definition format, compression methodology, modulation, error correction, power level, and utilization of advances in technology that do not circumvent the intent of this section to provide for non-discriminatory treatment with respect to any comparable television broadcast station signal, a video signal transmitted by a satellite carrier such that—

(I)the satellite carrier treats all television broadcast stations’ signals the same with respect to statistical multiplexer prioritization; and

(II)the number of video signals in the relevant satellite transponder is not more than the then current greatest number of video signals carried on any equivalent transponder serving the top 100 designated market areas.

(B)For the purposes of subparagraph (A), the top 100 designated market areas shall be as determined by Nielsen Media Research and published in the Nielsen Station Index Directory and Nielsen Station Index United States Television Household Estimates or any successor publication as of the date of a satellite carrier’s application for certification under this section.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 119(g) of title 17, referred to in subsecs. (a) and (d), was redesignated section 119(f) of title 17 by Pub. L. 116–94, div. P, title XI, § 1102(a)(6), Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 3203. The date of enactment of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act of 2010, referred to in subsecs. (a)(2) and (b)(1), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 111–175, which shall be deemed to refer to Feb. 27, 2010, see section 307(a) of Pub. L. 111–175, set out as an

Effective Date

of 2010 Amendment note under section 111 of Title 17, Copyrights.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section effective Feb. 27, 2010, see section 307(a) of Pub. L. 111–175, set out as an

Effective Date

of 2010 Amendment note under section 111 of Title 17, Copyrights.

§342 Process for Issuing Qualified Carrier Certification

Summary

Title 47, §342

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

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Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

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Effective Date

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