47 CFR § 80.15 - Eligibility for station license.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t47/s80.15"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "47 CFR § 80.15 - Eligibility for station license."
title_number: 47
title_name: "Telecommunication"
section_number: "80.15"
section_name: "Eligibility for station license."
chapter_name: "FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION"
subchapter_number: "D"
subchapter_name: "SAFETY AND SPECIAL RADIO SERVICES"
part_number: "80"
part_name: "STATIONS IN THE MARITIME SERVICES"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "47 U.S.C. 151-155, 301-609; 3 U.S.T. 3450, 3 U.S.T. 4726, 12 U.S.T. 2377."
regulatory_source: "51 FR 31213, Sept. 2, 1986, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "80"
---


# 80.15 Eligibility for station license.

(a) *General.* A station license cannot be granted to or held by a foreign government or its representative.

(b) *Public coast stations and Alaska-public fixed stations.* A station license for a public coast station or an Alaska-public fixed station cannot be granted to or held by:

(1) Any alien or the representative of any alien;

(2) [Reserved]

(3) Any corporation organized under the laws of any foreign government;

(4) Any corporation of which more than one-fifth of the capital stock is owned of record or voted by aliens or their representatives or by a foreign government or its representative, or by a corporation organized under the laws of a foreign country; or

(5) Any corporation directly or indirectly controlled by any other corporation of which more than one-fourth of the capital stock is owned of record or voted by aliens, their representatives, or by a foreign government or its representatives, or by any corporation organized under the laws of a foreign country, if the Commission finds that the public interest will be served by the refusal or revocation of such license.

(c) *Private coast and marine utility stations.* The supplemental eligibility requirements for private coast and marine utility stations are contained in § 80.501(a).

(d) *Ship stations.* A ship station license may only be granted to:

(1) The owner or operator of the vessel;

(2) A subsidiary communications corporation of the owner or operator of the vessel;

(3) A State or local government subdivision; or

(e) A 406.0-406.1 MHz EPIRB may be used by any ship required by U.S. Coast Guard regulations to carry an EPIRB or by any ship that is equipped with a VHF ship radio station.

[51 FR 31213, Sept. 2, 1986, as amended at 53 FR 37308, Sept. 26, 1988; 58 FR 33344, June 17, 1993; 61 FR 55581, Oct. 28, 1996; 68 FR 46960, Aug. 7, 2003; 69 FR 64671, Nov. 8, 2004; 73 FR 4480, Jan. 25, 2008; 76 FR 67610, Nov. 2, 2011; 90 FR 57707, Dec. 12, 2025]