In December 2014, the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC or Commission) Wireless Telecommunications Bureau announced that revised final rules governing the 800 MHz Cellular Service would take effect on January 4, 2015. However, three of the revised rules required a modified information collection and would not be effective until they were approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and published in the Federal Register. These rules address when a cellular transmitter may be added without FCC approval, the mandatory electronic filing of maps with certain applications, and the removal of 16 exhibits and technical information in new-system and Cellular Geographic Service Area (CGSA) expansion applications.
OMB recently approved the information collection requirements associated with the remaining rules, and the Commission published notice of the approvals in the Federal Register on April 28, 2015. These three revised rules will take effect on May 19, 2015.