§  22.567   Technical channel assignment criteria.

   The rules in this section establish technical assignment criteria for
   the channels listed in § 22.561. The criteria in paragraphs (a) through
   (f) of this section permit channel assignments to be made in a manner
   such that reception by public mobile receivers of signals from base
   transmitters, within the service area of such base transmitters, is
   protected from interference caused by the operation of independent
   co-channel base and fixed transmitters in the Paging and Radiotelephone
   Service and central office stations, including Basic Exchange Telephone
   Radio Systems (BETRS), in the Rural Radiotelephone Service. Additional
   criteria in paragraph (g) of this section permit channel assignments to
   be made in a manner such that BETRS communications are protected from
   interference caused by the operation of independent co-channel base and
   fixed transmitters in the Paging and Radiotelephone Service and other
   central office stations in the Rural Radiotelephone Service. Separate
   criteria in paragraph (h) of this section apply only to assignment of
   the channels designated in § 22.561 as mobile channels to base and fixed
   transmitters, and permit these channel assignments to be made in a
   manner such that reception by public base and fixed receivers of
   signals from associated mobile and fixed transmitters is protected from
   interference caused by the operation of independent co-channel base and
   fixed transmitters.

   (a) Contour overlap. The FCC may grant an application requesting
   assignment of a channel to a proposed base, fixed or central office
   station transmitter only if:

   (1) The interfering contour of the proposed transmitter does not
   overlap the service contour of any protected co-channel transmitter
   controlled by a carrier other than the applicant, unless that carrier
   has agreed in writing to accept any interference that may result from
   operation of the proposed transmitter; and

   (2) The service contour of the proposed transmitter does not overlap
   the interfering contour of any protected co-channel transmitter
   controlled by a carrier other than the applicant, unless the
   application contains a statement that the applicant agrees to accept
   any interference that may result from operation of the protected
   co-channel transmitter; and

   (3) The area and/or population to which service would be provided by
   the proposed transmitter is substantial, and service gained would
   exceed that lost as a result of agreements to accept interference.

   (b) Protected transmitter. For the purposes of this section, protected
   transmitters are authorized transmitters for which there is a current
   FCC public record and transmitters proposed in prior-filed pending
   applications, in the Paging and Radiotelephone Service and the Rural
   Radiotelephone Service.

   (c) VHF service contour. For base stations transmitting on the VHF
   channels, the radial distance from the transmitting antenna to the
   service contour along each cardinal radial is calculated as follows:

   d=1.609×h^0.40 ×p^0.20

   where:

   d is the radial distance in kilometers

   h is the radial antenna HAAT in meters

   p is the radial ERP in Watts

   (1) Whenever the actual HAAT is less than 30 meters (98 feet), 30 must
   be used as the value for h in the above formula.

   (2) The value used for p in the above formula must not be less than 27
   dB less than the maximum ERP in any direction, or 0.1 Watt, whichever
   is more.

   (3) The distance from the transmitting antenna to the service contour
   along any radial other than the eight cardinal radials is routinely
   calculated by linear interpolation of distance as a function of angle.
   However, in resolving petitions to deny, the FCC may calculate the
   distance to the service contour using the formula in paragraph (c) of
   this section with actual HAAT and ERP data for the inter-station radial
   and additional radials above and below the inter-station radial at 2.5°
   intervals.

   (d) VHF interfering contour. For base and fixed stations transmitting
   on the VHF channels, the radial distance from the transmitting antenna
   to the interfering contour along each cardinal radial is calculated as
   follows:

   (1) If the radial antenna HAAT is less than 150 meters:

   d=8.577×h^0.24 ×p^0.19

   where:

   d is the radial distance in kilometers

   h is the radial antenna HAAT in meters

   p is the radial ERP in Watts

   Whenever the actual HAAT is less than 30 meters (98 feet), 30 must be
   used as the value for h in the above formula.

   (2) If the radial antenna HAAT is 150 meters or more:

   d=12.306×h^0.23 ×p^0.14

   where:

   d is the radial distance in kilometers

   h is the radial antenna HAAT in meters

   p is the radial ERP in Watts

   (3) The value used for p in the above formulas must not be less than 27
   dB less than the maximum ERP in any direction, or 0.1 Watt, whichever
   is more.

   (4) The distance from the transmitting antenna to the interfering
   contour along any radial other than the eight cardinal radials is
   routinely calculated by linear interpolation of distance as a function
   of angle. However, in resolving petitions to deny, the FCC may
   calculate the distance to the interfering contour using the appropriate
   formula in paragraph (d) of this section with actual HAAT and ERP data
   for the inter-station radial and additional radials above and below the
   inter-station radial at 2.5° intervals.

   (e) UHF service contour. For base stations transmitting on the UHF
   channels, the radial distance from the transmitting antenna to the
   service contour along each cardinal radial is calculated as follows:

   d=1.726×h^0.35 ×p^0.18

   where:

   d is the radial distance in kilometers

   h is the radial antenna HAAT in meters

   p is the radial ERP in Watts

   (1) Whenever the actual HAAT is less than 30 meters (98 feet), 30 must
   be used as the value for h in the above formula.

   (2) The value used for p in the above formula must not be less than 27
   dB less than the maximum ERP in any direction, or 0.1 Watt, whichever
   is more.

   (3) The distance from the transmitting antenna to the service contour
   along any radial other than the eight cardinal radials is routinely
   calculated by linear interpolation of distance as a function of angle.
   However, in resolving petitions to deny, the FCC may calculate the
   distance to the service contour using the formula in paragraph (e) of
   this section with actual HAAT and ERP data for the inter-station radial
   and addition radials above and below the below the inter-station radial
   at 2.5° intervals.

   (f) UHF interfering contour. For base and fixed stations transmitting
   on the UHF channels, the radial distance from the transmitting antenna
   to the interfering contour along each cardinal radial is calculated as
   follows:

   (1) If the radial antenna HAAT is less than 150 meters:

   d=9.471×h^0.23 ×p^0.15

   where:

   d is the radial distance in kilometers

   h is the radial antenna HAAT in meters

   p is the radial ERP in Watts

   Whenever the actual HAAT is less than 30 meters (98 feet), 30 must be
   used as the value for h in the above formula.

   (2) If the radial antenna HAAT is 150 meters or more:

   d=6.336×h^0.31 ×p^0.15

   where:

   d is the radial distance in kilometers

   h is the radial antenna HAAT in meters

   p is the radial ERP in Watts

   (3) The value used for p in the above formula must not be less than 27
   dB less than the maximum ERP in any direction, or 0.1 Watt, whichever
   is more.

   (4) The distance from the transmitting antenna to the interfering
   contour along any radial other than the eight cardinal radials is
   routinely calculated by linear interpolation of distance as a function
   of angle. However, in resolving petitions to deny, the FCC may
   calculate the distance to the interfering contour using the appropriate
   formula in paragraph (f) of this section with actual HAAT and ERP data
   for the inter-station radial and additional radials above and below the
   inter-station radial at 2.5° intervals.

   (g) Protection for BETRS. In applying the provisions of paragraph (a)
   of this section, if either or both of the transmitters involved is a
   BETRS central office station, the following contour substitutions must
   be used:

   (1) The service contour of the BETRS central office station(s) is a
   circle, centered on the central office station antenna, with a radius
   of 40 kilometers (25 miles).

   (2) The interfering contour of any station of any type, when
   determining whether it would overlap the service contour of a BETRS
   central office station, is calculated as follows:

   d=36.364×h^0.2 × p^0.1

   where:

   d is the radial distance in kilometers

   h is the radial antenna HAAT in meters

   p is the radial ERP in Watts

   Whenever the actual HAAT is less than 30 meters (98 feet), 30 must be
   used as the value for h in the above formula. The value used for p in
   the above formula must not be less than 27 dB less than the maximum ERP
   in any direction, or 0.1 Watt, whichever is more.

   (h) Assignment of mobile channels to base or fixed transmitters. Mobile
   channels may be assigned to base or fixed transmitters if the following
   criteria are met:

   (1) The paired base channel, as designated in § 22.561, is assigned to
   base transmitters in the same geographical area operated by the same
   licensee.

   (2) The authorization is granted subject to the condition that no
   interference be caused to fixed receivers in use on or prior to the
   date of the grant.