47 U.S.C. § 331 — Very high frequency stations and AM radio

Page 182 TITLE 47—TELECOMMUNICATIONS § 331 1 So in original. Probably should be followed by ‘‘of’’. 2 See References in Text note below. sight by the Commission of the adoption of standards by industry for blocking technology. Such rules shall require that all such apparatus be able to receive the rating signals which have been transmitted by way of line 21 of the vertical blanking interval and which conform to the signal and blocking specifications estab- lished by industry under the supervision of the Commission. (4) As new video technology is developed, the Commission shall take such action as the Com- mission determines appropriate to ensure that blocking service continues to be available to consumers. If the Commission determines that an alternative blocking technology exists that— (A) enables parents to block programming based on identifying programs without rat- ings, (B) is available to consumers at a cost which is comparable to the cost of technology that allows parents to block programming based on common ratings, and (C) will allow parents to block a broad range of programs on a multichannel system as ef- fectively and as easily as technology that al- lows parents to block programming based on common ratings, the Commission shall amend the rules pre- scribed pursuant to section 303(x) of this title to require that the apparatus described in such sec- tion be equipped with either the blocking tech- nology described in such section or the alter- native blocking technology described in this paragraph. (d) For the purposes of this section, and sec- tions 303(s), 303(u), and 303(x) of this title— (1) The term ‘‘interstate commerce’’ means (A) commerce between any State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any possession of the United States and any place outside thereof which is within the United States, (B) commerce between points in the same State, the District of Co- lumbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or possession of the United States but through any place outside thereof, or (C) commerce wholly within the District of Columbia or any possession of the United States. (2) The term ‘‘United States’’ means the sev- eral States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the pos- sessions of the United States, but does not in- clude the Canal Zone. (June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title III, § 330, as added Pub. L. 87–529, § 2, July 10, 1962, 76 Stat. 151; amended Pub. L. 101–431, § 4, Oct. 15, 1990, 104 Stat. 961; Pub. L. 104–104, title V, § 551(d), Feb. 8, 1996, 110 Stat. 141; Pub. L. 111–260, title II, § 203(c), Oct. 8, 2010, 124 Stat. 2773.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT For definition of Canal Zone, referred to in subsec. (d)(2), see section 3602(b) of Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse. AMENDMENTS 2010—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 111–260, in first sentence substituted ‘‘303(u) and (z)’’ for ‘‘303(u)’’, in second sen- tence substituted ‘‘Such rules shall provide perform- ance and display standards for such built-in decoder circuitry or capability designed to display closed cap- tioned video programming, the transmission and deliv- ery of video description services, and the conveyance of emergency information as required by section 303 of this title.’’ for ‘‘Such rules shall provide performance and display standards for such built-in decoder cir- cuitry.’’, and in fourth sentence substituted ‘‘closed- captioning service and video description service con- tinue’’ for ‘‘closed-captioning service continues’’. 1996—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104–104, § 551(d)(1)(B), added subsec. (c). Former subsec. (c) redesignated (d). Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 104–104, § 551(d)(2), in introductory provisions substituted ‘‘and sections 303(s), 303(u), and 303(x) of this title’’ for ‘‘section 303(s) of this title, and section 303(u) of this title’’. Pub. L. 104–104, § 551(d)(1)(B), redesignated subsec. (c) as (d). 1990—Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 101–431 added subsec. (b), redesignated former subsec. (b) as (c), and sub- stituted ‘‘, section 303(s) of this title, and section 303(u) of this title’’ for ‘‘and section 303(s) of this title’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1990 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 101–431 effective July 1, 1993, see section 5 of Pub. L. 101–431, set out as a note under section 303 of this title. § 331. Very high frequency stations and AM radio stations (a) Very high frequency stations It shall be the policy of the Federal Commu- nications Commission to allocate channels for very high frequency commercial television broadcasting in a manner which ensures that not less than one such channel shall be allocated to each State, if technically feasible. In any case in which licensee of a very high frequency com- mercial television broadcast station notifies the Commission to the effect that such licensee will agree to the reallocation of its channel to a community within a State in which there is al- located no very high frequency commercial tele- vision broadcast channel at the time 1 such noti- fication, the Commission shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law, order such realloca- tion and issue a license to such licensee for that purpose pursuant to such notification for a term of not to exceed 5 years as provided in section 307(d) 2 of this title. (b) AM radio stations It shall be the policy of the Commission, in any case in which the licensee of an existing AM daytime-only station located in a community with a population of more than 100,000 persons that lacks a local full-time aural station li- censed to that community and that is located within a Class I station primary service area no- tifies the Commission that such licensee seeks to provide full-time service, to ensure that such a licensee is able to place a principal commu- nity contour signal over its entire community of license 24 hours a day, if technically feasible. (June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title III, § 331, as added Pub. L. 97–248, title III, § 355, Sept. 3, 1982, 96 Stat. 641; amended Pub. L. 102–243, § 4, Dec. 20, 1991, 105 Stat. 2402; Pub. L. 103–414, title III, Page 183 TITLE 47—TELECOMMUNICATIONS § 332 § 303(a)(18), Oct. 25, 1994, 108 Stat. 4295; Pub. L. 115–141, div. P, title IV, § 402(i)(5), Mar. 23, 2018, 132 Stat. 1089.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Subsec. (d) of section 307 of this title, referred to in subsec. (a), was redesignated subsec. (c) of section 307 by Pub. L. 97–259, title I, § 112(a), Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 1093. CODIFICATION Another section 331 of act June 19, 1934 was renum- bered section 332 and is classified to section 332 of this title. PRIOR PROVISIONS A prior section 331, act June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title III, § 331, as added Sept. 14, 1973, Pub. L. 93–107, § 1, 87 Stat. 350, related to broadcasting of games of professional sports clubs, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 93–107, § 2, Sept. 14, 1973, 87 Stat. 351, effective Dec. 31, 1975. AMENDMENTS 2018—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 115–141 struck out at end: ‘‘The Commission shall report to the appropriate com- mittees of Congress within 30 days after December 20, 1991, on how it intends to meet this policy goal.’’ 1994—Pub. L. 103–414 amended section catchline gen- erally. 1991—Pub. L. 102–243 inserted ‘‘and AM radio sta- tions’’ in section catchline, designated existing provi- sions as subsec. (a) and inserted heading, and added subsec. (b). § 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, con- sistent 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 spec- trum users, based upon sound engineering principles, user operational requirements, and marketplace demands; (3) encourage competition and provide serv- ices to the largest feasible number of users; or (4) increase interservice sharing opportuni- ties between private mobile services and other services. (b) Advisory coordinating committees (1) The Commission, in coordinating the as- signment of frequencies to stations in the pri- vate mobile services and in the fixed services (as defined by the Commission by rule), shall have authority to utilize assistance furnished by ad- visory coordinating committees consisting of in- dividuals who are not officers or employees of the Federal Government. (2) The authority of the Commission estab- lished 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 chapter 10 of title 5. (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 sub- chapter II 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 regula- tions 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 serv- ice pursuant to the provisions of section 201 of this title. Except to the extent that the Com- mission is required to respond to such a re- quest, this subparagraph shall not be con- strued as a limitation or expansion of the Commission’s authority to order interconnec- tion pursuant to this chapter. (C) As a part of making a determination with respect to the public interest under sub- paragraph (A)(iii), the Commission shall con- sider whether the proposed regulation (or amendment thereof) will promote competitive market conditions, including the extent to which such regulation (or amendment) will en- hance competition among providers of com- mercial mobile services. If the Commission de- termines that such regulation (or amendment) will promote competition among providers of commercial mobile services, such determina- tion may be the basis for a Commission find- ing 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 rule- making required to implement this paragraph with respect to the licensing of personal com- munications 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 serv- ice that is a private mobile service shall not, insofar as such person is so engaged, be treat- ed 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 pri- vate land mobile service prior to August 10,