Sec.  25.137   Application requirements for earth stations operating with non-U.S.
licensed space stations.

   (a) Earth station applicants or entities filing a “letter of intent” or
   “Petition for Declaratory Ruling” requesting authority to operate with a
   non-U.S. licensed space station to serve the United States must attach an
   exhibit with their FCC Form 312 application with information demonstrating
   that   U.S.-licensed  satellite  systems  have  effective  competitive
   opportunities to provide analogous services in:

   (1) The country in which the non-U.S. licensed space station is licensed;
   and

   (2) All countries in which communications with the U.S. earth station will
   originate or terminate. The applicant bears the burden of showing that there
   are no practical or legal constraints that limit or prevent access of the
   U.S. satellite system in the relevant foreign markets. The exhibit required
   by  this  paragraph  must also include a statement of why grant of the
   application is in the public interest. This paragraph shall not apply with
   respect to requests for authority to operate using a non-U.S. licensed
   satellite that is licensed by or seeking a license from a country that is a
   member of the World Trade Organization for services covered under the World
   Trade Organization Basic Telecommunications Agreement.

   (b) Earth station applicants, or entities filing a “letter of intent,” or
   “Petition for Declaratory Ruling,” requesting authority to operate with a
   non-U.S. licensed space station must attach to their FCC Form 312 an exhibit
   providing legal and technical information for the non-U.S. licensed space
   station in accordance with part 25. Applications addressed in this paragraph
   must be filed electronically through the International Bureau Filing System
   (IBFS).

   (c) A non-U.S. licensed NGSO-like satellite system seeking to serve the
   United States can be considered contemporaneously with other U.S. NGSO-like
   satellite system pursuant to  Sec. 25.157 and considered before later-filed
   applications   of   other  U.S.  satellite  system  operators,  and  a
   non-U.S.-licensed GSO-like satellite system seeking to serve the United
   States  can have its request placed in a queue pursuant to  Sec. 25.158 and
   considered before later-filed applications of other U.S. satellite system
   operators, if the non-U.S. licensed satellite system is:

   (1) In orbit and operating;

   (2) Has a license from another administration; or

   (3)   Has   been  submitted  for  coordination  to  the  International
   Telecommunication Union.

   (d)  Earth  station  applicants requesting authority to operate with a
   non-U.S.-licensed space station and non-U.S.-licensed satellite operators
   filing letters of intent or petitions for declaratory ruling to access the
   U.S. market must demonstrate that the non-U.S.-licensed space station has
   complied with all applicable Commission requirements for non-U.S. licensed
   systems to operate in the United States, including but not limited to the
   following:

   (1) Milestones;

   (2) Reporting requirements;

   (3) Any other applicable service rules;

   (4) For non-U.S.-licensed satellites that are not in orbit and operating, a
   bond must be posted. This bond must be in the amount of $5 million for NGSO
   satellite systems, or $3 million for GSO satellites, denominated in U.S.
   dollars, and compliant with the terms of  Sec. 25.165 of this chapter. The party
   posting the bond will be permitted to reduce the amount of the bond upon a
   showing that a milestone has been met, in accordance with the terms of
    Sec. 25.165(d) of this chapter.

   (5) Non-U.S. licensed GSO-like space station operators with a total of five
   requests for access to the U.S. market in a particular frequency band, or a
   total of five previously granted requests for access to the U.S. market with
   unbuilt  GSO-like  space stations in a particular frequency band, or a
   combination of pending GSO-like requests and granted requests for unbuilt
   GSO-like space stations in a particular frequency band that equals five,
   will not be permitted to request access to the U.S. market with another
   GSO-like  space  station  license in that frequency band. In addition,
   non-U.S.-licensed NGSO-like satellite system operators with one request on
   file with the Commission in a particular frequency band, or one granted
   request for an unbuilt NGSO-like satellite system in a particular frequency
   band,  will not be permitted to request access to the U.S. market with
   another NGSO-like satellite system in that frequency band.

   (e) A non-U.S.-licensed satellite operator that is seeking to serve the
   United  States pursuant to a Letter of Intent may amend its request by
   submitting an additional Letter of Intent. Such additional Letters of Intent
   will be treated as amendments filed by U.S. space station applicants for
   purposes of determining the order in which the Letters of Intent will be
   considered relative to other pending applications.

   (f) A non-U.S.-licensed satellite operator that has been permitted to serve
   the United States pursuant to a Letter of Intent or Petition for Declaratory
   Ruling, may modify its U.S. operations under the procedures set forth in
    Sec. 25.117(d). In addition, a non-U.S.-licensed satellite operator that has
   been  permitted  to serve the United States pursuant to a Petition for
   Declaratory Ruling, may modify its U.S. operations under the procedures set
   forth in  Sec. 25.118(e).

   (g) A non-U.S.-licensed satellite operator that has been permitted to serve
   the United States pursuant to a Petition for Declaratory Ruling must notify
   the Commission if it plans to transfer control or assign its license to
   another party, so that the Commission can afford interested parties an
   opportunity to comment on whether the proposed transaction affects any of
   the considerations we made when we allowed the satellite operator to enter
   the U.S. market. If the transferee or assignee is not licensed by or seeking
   a license from a country that is a member of the World Trade Organization
   for   services  covered  under  the  World  Trade  Organization  Basic
   Telecommunications Agreement, the non-U.S.-licensed satellite operator will
   be required to make the showing described in paragraph (a) of this section.

   [ 62 FR 64172 , Dec. 4, 1997, as amended at  64 FR 61792 , Nov. 15, 1999;  65 FR 16327 , Mar. 28, 2000;  65 FR 59143 , Oct. 4, 2000;  68 FR 51503 , Aug. 27, 2003;
    68 FR 62249 , Nov. 3, 2003;  69 FR 51587 , Aug. 20, 2004]