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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 188 / Friday, October 1, 2021 / Rules and Regulations Bureau Filing System IBFS.2
Specifically, we modify our rules to mandate the electronic filings of Section 325c Applications,3 applications for International High Frequency Broadcast IHF Stations IHF Applications,4 and Dominant Carrier Section 63.10c Quarterly Reports,5 and to remove a duplicate paper filing requirement for satellite cost-recovery declarations.6
These mandatory electronic filing requirements will reduce costs and administrative burdens, result in greater efficiencies, facilitate faster and more efficient communications, and improve transparency to the public.
A. Background 2. Electronic and Paper Filings. The Commission has been committed to streamlining its processes by mandating the electronic filing of applications and other filings related to telecommunications services over the past several decades.7 Today, the majority of applications and other filings are filed electronically with the Commission.8 Applications and other filings for which an electronic form is not available and/or is not yet required to be filed electronically by rule must be filed by paper or by modified electronic filing.9 Currently, for international licenses, authorizations, or other filings that are processed by the International Bureau, almost all applications must be filed electronically through IBFS, including all applications for international and satellite services for 2 See Federal Communications Commission, International Bureau Filing System IBFS, http
licensing.fcc.gov/myibfs/ IBFS Filing System.
3 47 CFR 73.3545.
4 47 CFR 73.702; 73.761, 73.3533; 73.3539
73.3540.
5 47 CFR 63.10c24.
6 47 CFR 25.111d.
7 See Mandatory Electronic Filing for International Telecommunications Services and Other International Filings, Report and Order, 20
FCC Rcd 9292 2005 2005 IBFS Order;
International Bureau Filing System IBFS, Order, 19 FCC Rcd 4575 2004; 2020 Wireless Radio Order.
8 See 47 CFR 1.767n1, 1.768j, 25.110, 25.111, 25.113, 25.115, 25.116, 25.119, 25.137, 25.172, 63.11j, 63.18r, 63.19d, 63.20a, 63.21j, 63.24h, 63.25e, 63.701j.
9 See International Bureau Reminds Interested Parties That Section 325C Applications for Permit to Deliver Programs to Foreign Stations And International High Frequency Applications Can Be Submitted Electronically as Non-Docketed Filings, Public Notice, DA 141838 rel. Dec. 16, 2014
325c and IHF Electronic Filing Notice;
International and Satellite Services Fee Filing Guide at 6 effective September 4, 2018 2018 IB
Fee Filing Guide The Bureau offers a choice of paper filing and/or modified electronic filing on the remaining international telecommunications, international high frequency broadcast IHF, and Section 325c 325 applications pending the availability of OMB approved electronic forms..

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which an IBFS form is available.10 The exceptions to mandatory electronic filing in IBFS, however, remain for Section 325c Applications,11 IHF
Applications,12 and Dominant Carrier Section 63.10c Quarterly Reports.13
Section 325c and IHF Applications are submitted through a modified electronic filing process that involves filing a nondocketed pleading through the Commissions Electronic Comment Filing System ECFS.14 For Dominant Carrier Section 63.10c Quarterly Reports, certain authorization holders are required to mail a paper copy to the Commission within ninety 90 days from the end of each calendar quarter.15
Section 25.111d also requires a paper copy of satellite cost-recovery declarations to be submitted in addition to the version filed electronically.16
II. Discussion 3. Given the well-established benefits of electronic filing, in this Order we 10 See
2005 IBFS Order. A list of forms that are available for electronic filing can be found on the FCC web page and through the IBFS homepage. See Federal Communications Commission, Licensing &
Databases, Forms, https www.fcc.gov/licensingdatabases/forms; IBFS Filing System; see also 47
CFR 1.100001.10018.
11 47 U.S.C. 325c No person shall be permitted to locate, use, or maintain a radio broadcast studio or other place or apparatus from which or whereby sound waves are converted into electrical energy, or mechanical or physical reproduction of sound waves produced, and caused to be transmitted or delivered to a radio station in a foreign country for the purpose of being broadcast from any radio station there having a power output of sufficient intensity and/or being so located geographically that its emissions may be received consistently in the United States, without first obtaining a permit from the Commission upon proper application therefore; 47 CFR 73.3545.
12 An International Broadcast Station, also known as High Frequency Broadcasting IHF or Shortwave Broadcasting, employs frequencies allocated to the Broadcasting Service between 5,950 and 26,100
kHz. The transmissions of an IHF station, which are licensed only to non-governmental entities, are intended to be received directly by the general public in foreign countries. 47 U.S.C. 307; 47 CFR
73.701, 73.702.
13 Section 63.10c of the Commissions rules sets forth competitive safeguards that the Commission applies to U.S.-authorized carriers that are affiliates of foreign carriers with market power on the foreign end of a U.S.-international route as a condition of the U.S. carriers section 214 authorizations to provide U.S.-international service on the route. 47
CFR 63.10c24.
14 See 325c and IHF Electronic Filing Notice;
2018 IB Fee Filing Guide; Electronic Comment Filing System, Non-Docketed Filing, https
www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filings/nodocket. Once the nondocketed ECFS submissions are received, they are uploaded into IBFS by the Commissions staff.
15 47 CFR 63.10c24. While similar reporting requirements, such as those for cable landing licensees affiliated with a carrier with market power in a cables destination market, mandate the electronic filing of those reports, the reporting requirements under section 63.10c contain no such obligation. Compare 47 CFR 1.767l with 47
CFR 63.10c.
16 47 CFR 25.111d.

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amend our rules to require the electronic filing of Section 325c Applications, IHF Applications, and Dominant Carrier Section 63.10c Quarterly Reports in IBFS, which will reduce the overall burden associated with these filings and increase significantly the efficiency of our administrative processes.17 We modify our rules involving procedural filing of Section 325c Applications and IHF
Applications, and require electronic filing of these applications in IBFS and remove a duplicate paper filing requirement for satellite cost-recovery declarations. We also eliminate paper filing of Dominant Carrier Section 63.10c Quarterly Reports and require their submission in IBFS within ninety 90 days after the end of each calendar quarter. Finally, we set a process for any changes to take effect.
A. Mandatory Electronic Filing 4. As part of the Commissions continuing efforts to modernize its IBFS, electronic forms will be available for Section 325c Applications, IHF
Applications, and Dominant Carrier Section 63.10c Quarterly Reports.
Accordingly, we require such filings to be submitted to the Commission electronically in IBFS, subject to the transition period set forth below. We have long-recognized the benefits of mandatory electronic filing, including reducing regulatory burdens and environmental waste while streamlining the filing process.18 As the Commission explained in its 2005 IBFS Order, electronic filing eliminates delays from mail delivery and does not require Commission staff to convert the filings into electronic format.19 Electronic 17 Because these modifications requiring mandatory electronic filing are procedural in nature and do not substantively change the information required to be filed with the Commission, the notice and comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act do not apply. 5 U.S.C. 553b3A;
Promoting Expanded Opportunities for Radio Experimentation and Market Trials Under Part 5 of the Commissions Rules and Streamlining Other Related Rules; 2006 Biennial Review of Telecommunications RegulationsPart 2
Administered by the Office of Engineering and Technology OET, Report and Order, 28 FCC Rcd 758, 818, para. 164 2013 2013 Radio Experimentation Order rule change clarifying that informal objections to certain applications should be filed electronically; Amendment of Part 5 of the Commissions Rules to Require Electronic Filing of Applications for Experimental Radio Licenses and Authorizations, Order, 18 FCC Rcd 16966, 16967, paras. 4, 6 2003 2003 Amendment of Part 5
Order adopting requirement to electronically file certain applications; JEM Broadcasting Co. Inc. v.
FCC, 22 F.3d 320, 326 D.C. Cir. 1994.
18 2020 Wireless Radio Order, 35 FCC at 10784, para. 8; 2005 IBFS Order, 20 FCC Rcd at 929495, paras. 57.
19 2005 IBFS Order, 20 FCC Rcd at 9294, para. 5.

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