NEWSReport No. DC 96-108   ACTION IN DOCKET CASE         
December 13, 1996


          COMMISSION PROPOSES REVISIONS TO PART 5 OF THE RULES
                GOVERNING THE EXPERIMENTAL RADIO SERVICE
                         (ET DOCKET NO. 96-256)
                                    
 The FCC has proposed revisions to Part 5 of its rules governing
the Experimental Radio
Service (ERS).  The Commission stated that the proposed changes
would simplify the regulatory
structure, encourage experimentation, and facilitate technical
innovation and the development of
new services. 

 The ERS provides for the experimental use of radio frequencies
and for the development
of techniques and systems not otherwise permitted under existing
service rules.  The ERS
provides an opportunity for manufacturers, inventors,
entrepreneurs, and students to experiment
with new radio technologies and equipment designs,
characteristics of radio wave propagation,
and new service concepts related to the use of the radio
spectrum.  Experiments performed under
the ERS have helped shape major new segments of the
communications industry.  For example,
225 experimental licenses were issued for broadband Personal
Communications Services (PCS)
prior to adoption of final PCS rules.  These experiments helped
to shape the final rules and have
facilitated the speedy introduction of new PCS services.

 Since the Commission last revisited the ERS rules in 1983,
changes in the services and
technologies and in the telecommunications market have increased
the importance of updating
and modifying  the rules that govern the ERS.  The Commission
believes that modernizing the
ERS rules can better foster the development of new services and
technologies that can stimulate
economic growth, create new jobs, and increase spectrum
utilization and efficiency.

 Accordingly, the Commission has proposed new rules that would: 

 1)  permit longer license terms;

 2)  permit blanket licensing of related multiple experiments by
a single entity and of
fixed and mobile stations that are part of the same experiment;

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                                    3)  permit electronic filing
of experimental applications;

 4)  encourage student experiments by issuing licenses to
schools, as well as to
individual students;

 5)  encourage special temporary authorizations (STAs) by making
them independent
of other experimental licenses and by expediting processing of
STAs where circumstances
warrant;

 6)  eliminate the requirement that experimental licensees
contact the FCC's
Compliance and Information Bureau before commencing operation;

 7)  eliminate rules that specify that a construction permit must
be obtained in
conjunction with an experimental license and that expiration
dates of experimental licenses be
distributed over the 12 calendar months; and

 8)  establish new rules to ensure that experiments avoid public
safety frequencies.

 Comments are requested on these proposals.

 Action by the Commission December 13, 1996, by Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (FCC
96-475).  Chairman, Commissioners



-FCC-
                                    
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 Office of Engineering and Technology contact: Rodney Small at
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