Scope of service.

§ 80.507 Scope of service. (a) A private coast station or marine utility station using telephony serves the operational and business needs of ships including the transmission of safety communication. (b) In areas where environmental communications are provided by U.S. Government stations or by public coast stations, private coast stations and marine utility stations on shore must not duplicate that service. In other areas, private coast stations and marine utility stations on shore may transmit weather and hydrographic information required for the ships with which they normally communicate. Private coast stations may provide environmental communication service in areas where adequate service is not available. (c) Each marine utility station on shore must be operated as a private coast station except that it may be operated at temporary unspecified locations. Marine utility stations on ships are operated as ship stations. (d) Each private coast station is authorized by rule to use hand-held marine radios in the vicinity of the station's fixed transmitter site on those frequencies assigned to the private coast station. Hand-held communications must conform to those normally permitted under a marine utility station authorization and must be limited to contact with the associated private coast station and ship stations in the vicinity of the private coast station. [51 FR 31213, Sept. 2, 1986, as amended at 62 FR 40307, July 28, 1997]