Report No. MM 98-20 MASS MEDIA ACTION December 16, 1998 FCC ADOPTS ON-LINE SYSTEM TO STREAMLINE APPLICATION PROCESS FOR BROADCAST STATION CALL SIGNS The FCC has adopted a new streamlined system whereby broadcast licensees can reserve new and changed call signs for their stations via the Internet's World Wide Web. This new on-line electronic call sign system will enable users to determine the availability and licensing status of call signs; to request an initial, or change an existing, call sign; and to determine more easily the appropriate fee, if any. The system will allow applicants to effectively reserve a selected call sign as soon as the user has submitted its call sign request, providing greater certainty and efficiency to the process. In addition, because all the steps and instructions to reserve call signs are included within the on-line system, it will prevent users from filing defective or incomplete call sign requests, as may occur under the current manual system. The Mass Media Bureau will announce by public notice how and when the transition to the new call sign system will be effectuated, and expects to implement the new system following the Bureau's relocation to the Portals Building in early 1999. The FCC said this action was undertaken on its own initiative in conjunction with the 1998 biennial review of all its broadcast ownership rules and regulations. It will result in significant improvement in service to broadcast station licensees and permittees by providing more speed and certitude in the call sign inquiry, reservation and authorization process. The Commission said this is another step to serve licensees and the public better by utilizing new information technologies. The Commission has already expanded the use of electronic filing whereby parties can file comments electronically in notice and comment rulemakings. It has also mandated that key Mass Media Bureau broadcast application and reporting forms be filed electronically. For several years, the FCC has made virtually every FCC order, notice of proposed rulemaking, public notice and news release available at no charge through its Internet website (). The new electronic call sign system has numerous advantages over the existing manual call sign system. Permittees and licensees will be able to determine the availability of call signs, and to request an initial or changed call sign, more easily and quickly. The Commission estimates that a user will be able to query the system and reserve an available call sign in about 10 minutes. The electronic system will prompt users with automatic messages if they file an incomplete or defective call sign request, allowing such errors to be corrected immediately, and eliminating delays in the current system when corrections are requested through the mail. The on-line call sign system has a number of security measures built into the system to prevent unauthorized persons from accessing the system. Licensees or permittees requesting an initial or changed call sign must provide their email address, and the Commission will then email to them a unique validation code for the transaction. This procedure will allow the tracing of inappropriate call sign requests and discourage unauthorized entries into the reservation system. In addition, postcards acknowledging reservation of a requested call sign will be sent by U.S. mail on the next business day to both the licensee and the person requesting the change on the licensee's behalf. Thus, if a person not authorized by the licensee were to attempt to change the licensee's call sign, the system would automatically notify the licensee that a new call sign had been requested and the identity of the person submitting the request. If any request was unauthorized, the licensee could immediately notify the Commission after receiving the mail notification. The Commission said that low power TV licensees desiring four-letter call signs with an LP suffix, rather than the five-character alpha-numeric LPTV call signs assigned by the Commission, would also be able to use the new electronic system. The Commission said that it was eliminating the requirement that holders of LPTV construction permits requesting four-letter call signs be required to certify that station construction had been completed or was underway. The Commission also said that it was eliminating current restrictions that prevent licensees or permittees in the same broadcast service from agreeing to exchanges or transfers of call signs. It said that this limitation no longer advances or safeguards any key Commission regulatory objective. - FCC - News Media contact: David H. Fiske at (202) 418-0500 Mass Media Bureau contact: James J. Brown and Jerianne Timmerman at (202) 418-1600