[Federal Register: September 23, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 184)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 56956-56957]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23se04-11]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 64
[ET Docket No. 04-295; FCC 04-187]
Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Declaratory ruling.
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SUMMARY: This document issues a Declaratory Ruling to clarify that
commercial wireless ``push-to-talk'' services continue to be subject to
the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (``CALEA''),
regardless of the technologies that Commercial Mobile Radio Services
(``CMRS'') providers choose to apply in offering them. We issue this
ruling at the request of, and in response to, a joint petition filed by
the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the
Drug Enforcement Administration (collectively, ``Law Enforcement'').
EFFECTIVE DATE: September 23, 2004.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rodney Small, Office of Engineering
and Technology, (202) 418-2454, e-mail: Rodney.Small@fcc.gov, TTY (202)
418-2989.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's
Declaratory Ruling, ET Docket No. 04-295, FCC 04-187, adopted August 4,
2004, and released August 9, 2004. The full text of this document is
available for inspection and copying during normal business hours in
the FCC Reference Center (Room CY-A257), 445 12th Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20554. The complete text of this document also may be
purchased from the Commission's copy contractor, Best Copy and
Printing, Inc., 445 12th Street, SW., Room, CY-B402, Washington, DC
20554. The full text may also be downloaded at: http://www.fcc.gov.
Alternate formats are available to persons with disabilities by
contacting Brian Millin at (202)418-7426 or TTY (202) 418-7365.
Summary of the Declaratory Ruling
1. Law Enforcement asserts that an increasing number of wireless
carriers offer push-to-talk services this service without admitting
that they have related CALEA obligations. We clarify that CMRS carrier
offerings of push-to-talk service that are offered in conjunction with
interconnected service to the public switched telephone network
(``PSTN''), but may use different technologies, are subject to CALEA
requirements.
2. The Second Report and Order (Second R&O) in CC Docket No. 97-
213, 64 FR 55164, October 12, 1999, addressed the dichotomy between
push-to-talk ``dispatch'' services that are interconnected to the PSTN
and those that are not. The Commission focused on this difference in
the context of first concluding that CMRS providers should be
considered telecommunications carriers for the purposes of CALEA. The
Commission found that Sec. 102(8)(B)(i) of CALEA, defining
``telecommunications carrier'' as including ``a person or entity
engaged in providing commercial mobile service (as defined in section
332(d) of the [Communications Act])'' requires that conclusion, See
Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, CC Docket No. 97-
213, Second Report and Order, 15 FCC Rcd 7105 (2000), 64 FR 55164,
October 12, 1999, The Commission further recognized that the definition
of commercial mobile service requires interconnected service. Thus, if
services such as ``traditional'' Specialized Mobile Radio provide
interconnection to the PSTN, the Commission determined that they
satisfy the definition of CMRS and thus, are subject to CALEA. The
Commission further found the same definitional approach holds for push-
to-talk ``dispatch'' service, because if it is offered as an
interconnected service, ``it is a switched service functionally
equivalent to a combination of speed dialing and conference calling.''
If the push-to-talk ``dispatch'' service otherwise does not
interconnect to PSTN, the Commission found that it is not subject to
CALEA.
3. We find that this approach continues to be applicable to CMRS
offered push-to-talk services that may use different technologies, such
as a packet mode network based on more advanced wireless protocols. The
Commission noted in the Second R&O that CALEA is technology neutral,
and ``[t]hus, the choice of technology that a carrier makes when
offering common carrier services does not change its obligations under
CALEA.'' We find that whether a CMRS carrier's push-to-talk service
offering is subject to CALEA depends on the regulatory definition and
functional characteristics of that service and not on the particular
[[Page 56957]]
technology the carrier chooses to apply in offering it. Therefore, we
conclude that regardless of what newer technologies a CMRS carrier may
use in its offering of push-to-talk ``dispatch service,'' it continues
to be subject to the requirements of CALEA, if the required
definitional element for CMRS service is met, i.e., the delivery of the
push-to-talk service is offered in conjunction with interconnected
service to the PSTN.
4. On the other hand, we reiterate that if the push-to-talk service
is limited to a private or ``closed'' network, and is not offered in
conjunction with interconnected service to the PSTN, then, generally,
it remains not subject to CALEA. We qualify this approach, however,
recognizing that what has been termed ``private dispatch services'' may
be developed or implemented in a manner that raises issues pertaining
to the ``Substantial Replacement Provision'' of CALEA
Sec. 102(8)(B)ii), which is discussed in the Commission's companion
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (``NPRM'') in this proceeding. For
example, an entity might deploy a seemingly ``private'' or ``closed''
push-to-talk services that may satisfy all three prongs of the
Substantial Replacement Provision such that this service would be
subject to CALEA. We find that such instances are within the scope of
the NPRM, and commenters should address them in that context.
Ordering Clauses
5. Pursuant to sections 1, 4(i), 7(a), 229, 301, 303, and 332 of
the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and sections 103, 106, 107,
and 109 of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, 47
U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 157(a), 229, 301, 303, 332, 1002, 1005, 1006, and
1008, the DECLARATORY RULING is hereby ADOPTED.
6. The Commission's Consumer Information and Governmental Affairs
Bureau, Reference Information Center, shall send a copy of this
DECLARATORY RULING to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small
Business Administration.
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 04-20706 Filed 9-22-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P