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                            Before the
                Federal Communications Commission
                      Washington, D.C. 20554

In the Matter of                   )
                                )
VIRGINIA CELLULAR LIMITED          )
PARTNERSHIP                     )     FCC File Nos.    9506165, 9506168, 
                                )               9506171, 9506172, 
Petition for Reconsideration of Grant of        )           9506174, 9506175,
Secondary Status and Reinstatement of           )                9506483, 9506487, 
Primary Status for WMK762, WLC210, )              9506836, 9506837,
WMK784, WMK761, WMK763, WMK786, )               9506838, 9506839,
WLC283, WLV674, WPJA578, WMJ805,   )              and 9506844
WMN549, WML795, WLB675          )


                                   
                    ORDER ON RECONSIDERATION

   Adopted:  September 21, 1999         Released:  September 22, 1999

By the Chief, Public Safety and Private Wireless Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau:

                        I.  INTRODUCTION

     1.  Virginia Cellular Limited Partnership (Virginia Cellular) filed petitions for reconsideration on
November 20, 21, and 27, 1995, and December 14, 1995 actions of the Licensing and Technical Analysis
Branch (Branch) granting the licenses for the above-captioned 2 GHz fixed microwave service (FMS) stations
on a secondary basis.  For the reasons discussed below, we grant the petition regarding Station WML795, and
will re-issue the license with primary status.  We deny the other petitions.

                        II.  BACKGROUND

     2.  On January 16, 1992, the Commission issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) in ET
Docket No. 92-9 proposing to reallocate portions of the 2 GHz band from FMS to emerging technology
services (ET), including the personal communications services.  The Commission stated that it intended to
reaccommodate the FMS licensees in a manner that would be most advantageous for the incumbent users, least
disruptive to the public and most conducive to the introduction of new services.  Accordingly, first, to preserve
the availability of the existing vacant 2 GHz spectrum, the Commission proposed to license all new facilities
in the 2 GHz band on a secondary basis.  Second, rather than immediately clearing the 2 GHz band of the
incumbent FMS users, the Commission proposed to permit the incumbents to continue to occupy the band on
a co-primary basis with the ET licensees for a significant length of time, by the end of which the incumbents
were to relocate to another portion of the spectrum.  The Commission also proposed to provide the ET
licensees with the option of requiring the FMS incumbents to relocate sooner if the ET licensee paid the
additional costs caused by the earlier relocation.  One practical effect of the Commission's proposal was that
incumbent FMS licensees that were authorized on a primary basis would have the costs of relocating to other
bands paid for by the new ET licensees if the ET licensees forced them to relocate.  On the other hand, FMS
licensees that were authorized on a secondary basis would be treated differently.

     3.  On May 14, 1992, the Microwave Branch, Licensing Division, of the former Private Radio Bureau
issued a Public Notice stating that while new facilities would be licensed on a secondary basis, secondary status
would not be accorded to modifications of facilities licensed prior to January 16, 1992 (the date the NPRM was
adopted).  Secondary status also would not be accorded in situations where additional links would be required
to complete a communications network or where new facilities and/or frequencies were operationally connected
to a network system licensed prior to January 16, 1992, when the applicant made a valid showing of its need
for the new facilities.  In a First Report and Order and Third Notice of Proposed Rule Making, released
October 16, 1992, the Commission affirmed this approach.  The Commission stated that existing 2 GHz
facilities could make certain modifications and minor extensions and retain primary status, but that major
extensions or expansions would result in a station receiving secondary status unless a special showing of need
was made to justify primary status.

     4.  On June 13, 1995, Virginia Cellular filed applications to modify the licenses for Stations 
WMK761, WMK763, WMK786, WLC283, WLV674, and WLB675.  With respect to these six stations,
Virginia Cellular sought to replace the transmitters, decrease the power, and change the modulation.  It
proposed that every facility except Station WLB675 have its antenna centerline moved.  It also proposed to
increase the line loss for Stations WMK763, WLV674, and WMK761.  Finally, Virginia Cellular proposed
that the existing links which connected Stations WMK761 and WLC283, WMK763 and WLV674, and
WMK786 and WLB675 be relocated to the 2 GHz band.  The Branch granted the applications and on July
31, 1995, issued these modified licenses with a secondary status condition.

     5.  On June 23, 1995, Virginia Cellular filed applications to modify the licenses for FMS Stations
WMK784 and WLC210 so that they could be newly linked, via the 2 GHz band.  On August 7, 1995, the
Branch issued these modified licenses with a secondary status condition. 

     6.  On July 3, 1995, Virginia Cellular filed an application to modify the license for Station WMK762
by decreasing the power, moving the antenna centerline, replacing the transmitter, changing the emission and
modulation, and relocating its path to Station WLM517 to the 2 GHz band.  On August 23, 1995, the Branch
granted the modified license for Station WMK762 with secondary status. 

     7.  Also on July 3, 1995, Virginia Cellular filed applications to modify the licenses for Station
WML795 in order to decrease the power, decrease the line loss, and replace the transmitter.  Virginia Cellular
also filed an application to make such modifications to the license for Station WMN549, and to link that station
and Station WMJ805 to a new FMS facility, Station WPJA578, via the 2 GHz band.  On August 22, 1995,
the Branch granted licenses for Virginia Cellular's FMS Stations WPJA578, WMJ805, WMN549, and
WML795, with secondary status. 

     8.   On November 20, 1995, Virginia Cellular requested a "correction" removing the secondary status
condition from the licenses for Stations WMK762, WMK784, WLC210, WMK761, WMK763, WMK786,
WLC283, and WLV674.  On November 21, 1995, Virginia Cellular requested a "correction" removing the
secondary status condition from the licenses for Stations WMJ805 and WPJA578.  On November 27, 1995,
Virginia Cellular requested a "correction" removing the secondary status condition from the licenses for
Stations WMN549 and WML795.  Finally, on December 14, 1995, Virginia Cellular requested a "correction"
removing the secondary status condition from the license for Station WLB675.  We shall treat these requests
as petitions for reconsideration of the imposition of a secondary condition on the licenses.   
     
                        III.  DISCUSSION

     9.  Ordinarily, petitions for reconsideration of the conditional grant of a license must be filed within
thirty days from the date of the Commission action.  In this case, Virginia Cellular filed all of its license
"correction" requests, which we will treat as petitions for reconsideration, after the thirty-day deadline had
expired.  However, as we recently explained in Contel Cellular of Nashville, Inc., the language which was
placed on Virginia Cellular's licenses did not provide it with adequate notice that the licenses were granted with
a secondary status condition.  Accordingly, for the reasons stated in Contel, Virginia Cellular's petitions are
considered timely and will be addressed on the merits.

     10.  Under the rules that were in effect at the time Virginia Cellular's applications were granted,
licensees of FMS facilities could make certain modifications and minor extensions and retain primary status. 
Major extensions or expansions that were made to 2 GHz FMS networks licensed prior to January 16, 1992
would be accorded secondary status unless a showing of need was made to justify primary status.  We find
that major extensions or expansions generally include the addition of a new 2 GHz path to an existing network
where that addition extends or expands the 2 GHz network.

     11.  Therefore, we conclude that Virginia Cellular's June 13, 1995, request that the existing links which
connected Stations WMK761 and WLC283, WMK763 and WLV674, and WMK786 and WLB675 be
relocated to the 2 GHz band constituted a major extension of an existing 2 GHz network.  Having determined
that this was a major extension of Virginia Cellular's network, we turn to the issue of whether Virginia Cellular
made a sufficient showing of need that justified primary status.  On June 13, 1995, Virginia Cellular submitted
a generic public interest statement which explained that the modifications that it proposed for fifteen FMS
stations, including Stations WMK761, WMK763, WMK786, WLC283, WLV674, and WLB675, provided
its network with growth, economic efficiency, and improved reliability.  It also suggested that these
modifications would provide it with better control from the standpoint of maintenance and engineering.  We
find that this does not constitute a sufficient showing of need.  Virginia Cellular failed to demonstrate
specifically how the requested modifications, which constituted a major extension of Virginia Cellular's 2 GHz
network, were either necessary or the only means by which it could achieve the described benefits of growth,
economic efficiency, and improved reliability (including a showing unique to Virginia Cellular's system, that
such benefits were in furtherance of the public interest).  Since we find that Virginia Cellular did not make a
sufficient showing of need that justified primary status for Stations WMK761, WMK763, WMK786,
WLC283, WLV674, and WLB675, we deny its petitions to reconsider the grant of these stations' secondary
status.  

     12.  We also conclude that Virginia Cellular's June 23, 1995, proposal to construct a new 2 GHz link
to connect two of its existing facilities, Stations WLC210 and WMK784, constituted a major extension of an
existing 2 GHz network.  Having determined that this was a major extension of Virginia Cellular's network,
we turn to the issue of whether Virginia Cellular made a sufficient showing of need that justified primary
status.  The public interest statement which Virginia Cellular submitted on June 23, 1995, for the modifications
it proposed for fifteen FMS stations, including Stations WLC210 and WMK784, was an exact duplicate of
the public interest statement it submitted with the modifications it proposed on June 13, 1995.  As stated
previously herein, this public interest statement constituted an insufficient showing of need.  Since we find that
Virginia Cellular did not make a sufficient showing of need that justified primary status for Stations WLC210
and WMK784, we deny its petitions to reconsider the grant of these stations' secondary status.

     13.  Similarly, we find that Virginia Cellular's request that the existing link which connected Stations
WMK762 and WLM517 be relocated to the 2 GHz band also constituted a major extension of an existing 2
GHz network.  Having determined that this was a major extension of Virginia Cellular's network, we turn to
the issue of whether Virginia Cellular made a sufficient showing of need that justified primary status.  The
public interest statement which Virginia Cellular submitted on July 3, 1995, for the modifications it proposed
for seventeen FMS stations, including Station WMK762, was an exact duplicate of the public interest
statement it submitted with the modifications it proposed on both June 13 and 23, 1995.  Here again, this public
interest statement constituted an insufficient showing of need.  Since we find that Virginia Cellular did not make
a sufficient showing of need that justified primary status for Station WMK762, we deny its petition to
reconsider the grant of this station's secondary status.

     14.  We also conclude that Virginia Cellular's request that a new facility, Station WPJA578, be linked
to Stations WMN549 and WMJ805 via the 2 GHz band constituted a major expansion of an existing 2 GHz
network.  Having determined that this was a major expansion of Virginia Cellular's network, we turn to the
issue of whether Virginia Cellular made a sufficient showing of need that justified primary status.  The public
interest statement which Virginia Cellular submitted on July 3, 1995, for the modifications it proposed for four
FMS stations, including Stations WPJA578, WMN549, and WMJ805, was an exact duplicate of the public
interest statement it submitted with the earlier modifications it proposed for its network.  As discussed herein,
this public interest statement constituted an insufficient showing of need.  Since we find that Virginia Cellular
did not make a sufficient showing of need that justified primary status for Stations WPJA578, WMN549, and
WMJ805, we deny its petitions to reconsider the grant of these stations' secondary status.

     15.  Finally, with respect to Station WML795, Virginia Cellular proposed only that the transmitter
model be changed and the power and line loss be decreased.  These are minor modifications and, thus,
Station WML795 should have retained primary status.  Therefore, we will grant Virginia Cellular's petition
to reinstate primary status to Station WML795.    
      
                     IV.  ORDERING CLAUSES

     16.  ACCORDINGLY, IT IS ORDERED that pursuant to Sections 4(i) and 405 of the
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C.  154(i), 405, and Sections 1.106 and 101.69 of the
Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R.  1.106, 101.69, the Petitions for Reconsideration filed by Virginia Cellular
Limited Partnership on November 27, 1995 ARE GRANTED to the extent discussed herein and DENIED in
all other respects.  The license for Station WML795 will be re-issued with primary status.

     17.  IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that pursuant to Sections 4(i) and 405 of the Communications Act
of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C.  154(i), 405, and Sections 1.106 and 101.69 of the Commission's Rules,
47 C.F.R.  1.106, 101.69, the Petitions for Reconsideration filed by Virginia Cellular Limited Partnership
on November 20, and 21, 1995, and December 14, 1995, ARE DENIED.

     18.  This action is taken under delegated authority pursuant to Sections 0.131 and 0.331 of the
Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R.  0.131, 0.331.
                                                               
                                FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION




                                D'wana R. Terry
                                Chief, Public Safety and Private Wireless Division
                                Wireless Telecommunications Bureau