Cingular Wireless told FCC last week, before it adopted order on ...

as changes to facilitate operation of through-wall imaging systems by rescue personnel in emergencies. Cingular argued that adoption of Part 15 rules hinged on idea that Sec. 301 of Communications Act applied only to interstate transmissions and that low-power operations could be allowed on unlicensed basis because such transmissions generally lacked interstate component. Sec. 301 sets out licensing provisions for communications systems. “Although Section 301 did not expressly provide the Commission with jurisdiction over intrastate radio emissions at the time Part 15 was created, Congress always intended Section 301 to apply to intrastate emissions,” Cingular said. In 1982, carrier said, Congress amended Sec. 301 to clarify that FCC jurisdiction over radio communications extended to intrastate, as well as interstate, transmissions. Congress at that time spelled out that Sec. 301 should be in line with court opinions finding that all radio signals inherently were interstate, company said. “Thus, low-power, intrastate transmission requires a license under Section 301,” it said. “Accordingly, the Commission cannot authorize UWB operations on an unlicensed basis.”