47 U.S.C. § 342 — Process for issuing qualified carrier certification

(a) Certification. The FCC must certify a satellite carrier if it determines that (1) the carrier provides local TV service under the statutory license in section 122 of title 17, in every designated market area, and (2) for each market area the carrier did not already serve as of the enactment date of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act of 2010, (A) the carrier's satellite beams are designed — and predicted by the manufacturer's pre-launch test data — to provide a good quality satellite signal to at least 90 percent of that market area's households, based on the latest Census Bureau data, and (B) there is no material evidence of a satellite or sub-system failure since launch that would stop the carrier from meeting that 90-percent standard. (b) Information required. To seek certification, an entity must submit: (1) an affidavit stating, to the best of the affiant's knowledge, that the carrier provides local service in all designated market areas under section 122 of title 17, and listing the market areas where it provided local service as of the 2010 Act's enactment date. (2) For each market area not on that list: (A) identifying the market area and its local receive facility's location; (B) data and maps showing the number and geographic distribution of households in that market area, based on the latest Census data; (C) maps, overlaid with the manufacturer's pre-launch signal-strength predictions, showing that the carrier's satellite beams as designed are predicted to provide a good quality signal to at least 90 percent of that market area's households; (D) for any satellite relied on for certification, an affidavit stating that, to the affiant's knowledge, no satellite or sub-system failure since launch has degraded performance enough to stop any transponder used for local service from delivering a good quality signal to 90 percent of that market area's households; and (E) any additional engineering, market-area, or other information the FCC considers necessary to decide the request. (c) Certification issuance. (1) The FCC must give the public 30 days to comment on a certification request. (2) The FCC must grant or deny the request within 90 days after it is filed. (d) Subsequent affirmation. An entity granted qualified-carrier status under section 119(g) of title 17 must file an affidavit with the FCC 30 months after that status was granted, stating that, to the best of its knowledge, it still complies with the requirements for a qualified carrier. (e) Definitions. (1) "Designated market area" means what section 122(j)(2)(C) of title 17 says it means. (2)(A) "Good quality satellite signal" means (i) a satellite signal whose designed power level achieves reception and demodulation at an availability level of at least 99.7 percent, using models of satellite antennas normally used by the carrier's subscribers and the same calculation method the carrier uses to predict signal availability in the top 100 designated market areas; and (ii) — taking into account whether the signal is standard or high definition, compression, modulation, error correction, power level, and use of technology that doesn't defeat this section's goal of treating comparable stations the same — a video signal transmitted such that (I) the carrier treats all television broadcast stations' signals the same for statistical multiplexer prioritization, and (II) the number of video signals in the relevant transponder is no more than the current greatest number carried on any equivalent transponder serving the top 100 designated market areas. (B) The "top 100 designated market areas" are as determined by Nielsen Media Research and published in the Nielsen Station Index Directory and Nielsen Station Index United States Television Household Estimates, or any successor publication, as of the date the carrier applies for certification under this section.