Provide the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) ruling or
regulation number and content that requires cellular carriers to allow
consumers to enroll (sign up) an analog-only cell phone for cellular
voice service.  For example, if a customer today wants to enroll with
a carrier with his/her analog-only cell phone, please provide the FCC
requirements that define the carrier’s obligation(s) with this type of
consumer request.  This may be related to the E911 requirements or the
recent 5-year sunset regulations?

---

Request for Question Clarification by markj-ga on 25 Oct 2002 12:27 PDT

gordonc -

I have found the text of a September 24 FCC Second Report and Order in
which the Commission completes the Congressionally-mandated 2000
Biennial Review of its cellular services regulations.  That Order
retains the general requirement of Section 22.901(b) of the
Commission's Rules that, among other things, requires a cellular
system to "[m]aintain [for five years]the capability to provide
compatible analog service ('AMPS') to cellular telephones [designed in
accordance with the specified standards]."

Section 22.901,in conjunction with the general requirement of sections
201 and 202 of Title II of the Communications Act that carriers
"provide service on reasonable request ..." is very likely to be the
legal authority you are looking for.

However, I hestitate to post this as an answer without a clarification
that the above citations (and a link to the recent FCC Order) would be
a sufficient answer to your question.  Since FCC regulations are
complex and communications lawyers (and lawyers in general)are
ingenious, there are undoubtedly circumstances in which a carrier
could reject service based on the design of a particular analog cell
phone, for example.

If you concur that the information I have described is fully
responsive to your question, I will recast and supplement it, and post
it as an answer.  If it is not fully responsive, I would be happy to
research further in response to your clarification.

markj-ga

---

Clarification of Question by gordonc-ga on 25 Oct 2002 14:01 PDT

I don't know if that is exactly what I was looking for becase I
thought the language I saw (a while back) was specific that a carrier
was not allowed to deny a customer who wanted to sign up for analog
service.  The portion you placed into your comment seems like it might
be it but I could not see it all, so I am comfortable enough for you
to go ahead and post the answer.  Thank you for checking first.

gordonc - 

After a recent review of its cellular telephone regulations, The
Federal Communications Commission has retained its general requirement
that all cellular carriers must continue to provide analog service
until 2007 in a nondiscriminatory manner.  Whether a specific customer
is entitled to subscribe to a carrier's service using a particular
analog-only cell phone depends on principles of common carrier law and
statutory interpretation that must be applied on a case-by-case basis.
I have summarized below the most recent Commission pronouncement on
the subject.

On September 24, 2002, the FCC released a Second Report and Order
after completing its review of cellular television rules pursuant to
the Biennial Review of its telecommunications regulations mandated by
Congress. Second Report and Order, Year 2000 Biennial Regulatory
Review, WT Docket No. 01-108,FCC-02-247, adopted September 10, 2002
(the "Order").

The following link at the FCC's website provides "plain-English"
information about cellular service and about this Biennial Review. It
also provides links to various official Commission documents relating
to this Review, including the text of the Second Report and Order, and
this may prove helpful to you in pursuing your interest in this topic:
http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/cellular/about/part22.html

Here are links to the text of the Second Report and Order:

[PDF file; requires Adobe Acrobat]
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-02-247A1.pdf

[Text file]
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-02-247A1.txt

Among the rules the Commission reviewed in the Biennial Review
proceeding are those related to the general requirement that cellular
carriers continue to provide analog service until 2007. The Commission
retained this requirement with some modifications to the language of
the relevant rules.

The following brief summary of the relevant portions of the Second
Report and Order contains citations to specific paragraphs in the
Order.  This summary is not intended or offered as legal advice but
only as a response to your request for factual information.

Carriers offering cellular telephone service to the public are subject
 to sections 201 and 202 of Title II of the Communications Act of
1934.  As the FCC says at paragraph 7 of the Order: "Those sections
require cellular carriers to provide service upon reasonable request,
. . . and to avoid unjust or unreasonable discrimination in their . .
. practices . . . ."

Section 22.901 of the Commission's Rules governs "Cellular service
requirements and limitations."

Subsection 22.901(b)1) provides in part that a cellular carrier must
"[maintain [for five years] the capability to provide compatible
analog service ('AMPS') to cellular telephones [designed in accordance
with specified standards]."

Subsection 22.901(b)(2) provides in part that "[c]ellular  licensees 
must  allot  sufficient  system  resources  such  that  the  quality 
of  [analog service] provided,  in  terms  of geographic  coverage 
and  traffic  capacity,  is  fully  adequate  to  satisfy  the 
concurrent  need for [analog service] availability."

In paragraph 9 of the Order, the Commission expresses its view "that
this rule provision, combined with the choices of wireless services
available to consumers today, will ensure that consumers of analog
services will continue to receive adequate service . . .  ."

The text of section 22.901 is in Appendix A to the Order at the above
links.

Additional Links:

The FCC site's general section on cellular services.
http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/cellular/

Search Strategy:

Internal search engine at the FCC's website:
http://www.fcc.gov 

Search terms:
analog cellular
22.901


I hope this helps.  If you need further clarification, I would be
happy to provide it.

markj-ga