(a) Any mobile earth station (MES) operating in the 1530-1544 MHz and 1626.5-1645.5 MHz bands must have the following minimum set of capabilities to ensure compliance with Footnote 5.353A in 47 CFR 2.106 and the priority and real-time preemption requirements imposed by Footnote US315.

(1) All MES transmissions must have a priority assigned to them that preserves the priority and preemptive access given to maritime distress and safety communications sharing the band.

(2) Each MES with a requirement to handle maritime distress and safety data communications must be capable of either:

(i) Recognizing message and call priority identification when transmitted from its associated Land Earth Station (LES), or

(ii) Accepting message and call priority identification embedded in the message or call when transmitted from its associated LES and passing the identification to shipboard data message processing equipment.

(3) Each MES must be assigned a unique terminal identification number that will be transmitted upon any attempt to gain access to a system.

(4) After an MES has gained access to a system, the mobile terminal must be under control of an LES and must obtain all channel assignments from it.

(5) All MESs that do not continuously monitor a separate signaling channel or signaling within the communications channel must monitor the signaling channel at the end of each transmission.

(6) Each MES must automatically inhibit its transmissions if it is not correctly receiving separate signaling channel or signaling within the communications channel from its associated LES.

(7) Each MES must automatically inhibit its transmissions on any or all channels upon receiving a channel-shut-off command on a signaling or communications channel it is receiving from its associated LES.

(8) Each MES with a requirement to handle maritime distress and safety communications must have the capability within the station to automatically preempt lower precedence traffic.

(b) Any LES for an MSS system operating in the 1530-1544 MHz and 1626.5-1645.5 MHz bands must have the following minimum set of capabilities to ensure compliance with Footnotes 5.353A and the priority and real-time preemption requirements imposed by Footnote US315. An LES fulfilling these requirements must not have any additional priority with respect to FSS stations operating with other systems.

(1) LES transmissions to MESs must have a priority assigned to them that preserves the priority and preemptive access given to maritime distress and safety communications pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section.

(2) The LES must recognize the priority of calls to and from MESs and make channel assignments taking into account the priority access that is given to maritime distress and safety communications.

(3) The LES must be capable of receiving the MES identification number when transmitted and verifying that it is an authorized user of the system to prohibit unauthorized access.

(4) The LES must be capable of transmitting channel assignment commands to the MESs.

(5) The communications channels used between the LES and the MES shall have provision for signaling within the voice/data channel, for an MES that does not continuously monitor the LES signaling channel during a call.

(6) The LES must transmit periodic control signals to MESs that do not continuously monitor the LES signaling channel.

(7) The LES must automatically inhibit transmissions to an MES to which it is not transmitting in a signaling channel or signaling within the communications channel.

(8) The LES must be capable of transmitting channel-shut-off commands to MESs on signaling or communications channels.

(9) Each LES must be capable of interrupting, and if necessary, preempting ongoing routine traffic from an MES in order to complete a maritime distress, urgency or safety call to that MES.

(10) Each LES must be capable of automatically turning off one or more of its associated channels in order to complete a maritime distress, urgency or safety call.

(c) No person without an FCC license for such operation may transmit to a space station in the NVNG, 1.5/1.6 GHz, 1.6/2.4 GHz, or 2 GHz Mobile-Satellite Service from anywhere in the United States except to receive service from the holder of a pertinent FCC blanket license or from another party with the permission of such a blanket licensee.

[79 FR 8326, Feb. 12, 2014, as amended at 84 FR 53659, Oct. 8, 2019]