§  80.60   Partitioned licenses and disaggregated spectrum.

   (a) Except as specified in § 20.15(c) of this chapter with respect to
   commercial mobile radio service providers, charges must not be made for
   service of:

   (1) VHF Public Coast area licensees, see § 80.371(c)(1)(ii), may
   partition their geographic service area or disaggregate their spectrum
   pursuant to the procedures set forth in this section.

   (2) AMTS geographic area licensees, see § 80.385(a)(3), may partition
   their geographic service area or disaggregate their spectrum pursuant
   to the procedures set forth in this section. Site-based AMTS public
   coast station licensees may partition their license or disaggregate
   their spectrum pursuant to the procedures set forth in this section,
   provided that the partitionee or disaggregatee's predicted 38 dBu
   signal level contour does not extend beyond the partitioner or
   disaggregator's predicted 38 dBu signal level contour. The predicted 38
   dBu signal level contours shall be calculated using the F(50, 50) field
   strength chart for Channels 7–13 in § 73.699 (Fig. 10) of this chapter,
   with a 9 dB correction for antenna height differential.

   (3) Nationwide or multi-region LF, MF, and HF public coast station
   licensees, see § § 80.357(b)(1), 80.361(a), 80.363(a)(2), 80.371(b), and
   80.374, may partition their spectrum pursuant to the procedures set
   forth in this section, except that frequencies or frequency pairs
   licensed to more than one licensee as of March 13, 2002 may be
   partitioned only by the earliest licensee, and only on the condition
   that the partitionee shall operate on a secondary, non-interference
   basis to stations licensed as of March 13, 2002 other than the earliest
   licensee. Coordination with government users is required for
   partitioning of spectrum the licensing of which is subject to
   coordination with government users.

   (b) Technical standards —(1) Partitioning. In the case of partitioning,
   all requests for authorization for partial assignment of a license must
   include, as an attachment, a description of the partitioned service
   area. The partitioned service area shall be defined by coordinate
   points at every 3 degrees along the partitioned service area unless an
   FCC-recognized service area is utilized (e.g., Metropolitan Service
   Area, Rural Service Area, or Economic Area) or county lines are used.
   The geographic coordinates must be specified in degrees, minutes, and
   seconds to the nearest second of latitude and longitude, and must be
   based upon the 1983 North American Datum (NAD83). In a case where an
   FCC-recognized service area or county lines are utilized, applicants
   need only list the specific area(s) (through use of FCC designations or
   county names) that constitute the partitioned area.

   (2) Disaggregation. VHF (156–162 MHz) spectrum may only be
   disaggregated according to frequency pairs. AMTS spectrum may be
   disaggregated in any amount.

   (3) Combined partitioning and disaggregation. The Commission will
   consider requests for partial assignment of licenses that propose
   combinations of partitioning and disaggregation.

   (c) License term. The license term for a partitioned license area and
   for disaggregated spectrum shall be the remainder of the original
   licensee's term as provided for in § 80.25 of this part.

   (d) Construction Requirements —(1) Partitioning. Partial assignors and
   assignees for license partitioning have two options to meet
   construction requirements. Under the first option, the partitionor and
   partitionee would each certify that they will independently satisfy the
   substantial service requirement for their respective partitioned areas.
   If either licensee failed to meet its substantial service showing
   requirement, only the non-performing licensee's renewal application
   would be subject to dismissal. Under the second option, the partitioner
   certifies that it has met or will meet the substantial service
   requirement for the entire market. If the partitioner fails to meet the
   substantial service standard, however, only its renewal application
   would be subject to forfeiture at renewal.

   (2) Disaggregation. Partial assignors and assignees for license
   disaggregation have two options to meet construction requirements.
   Under the first option, the disaggregator and disaggregatee would
   certify that they each will share responsibility for meeting the
   substantial service requirement for the geographic service area. If
   parties choose this option and either party fails to do so, both
   licenses would be subject to forfeiture at renewal. The second option
   would allow the parties to agree that either the disaggregator or the
   disaggregatee would be responsible for meeting the substantial service
   requirement for the geographic service area. If parties choose this
   option, and the party responsible for meeting the construction
   requirement fails to do so, only the license of the nonperforming party
   would be subject to forfeiture at renewal.

   (3) Site-based AMTS, and nationwide or multi-region LF, MF, and HF
   public coast. Parties seeking to acquire a partitioned license or
   disaggregated spectrum from a site-based AMTS, or nationwide or
   multi-region LF, MF, and HF public coast licensee will be required to
   construct and commence “service to subscribers” in all facilities
   acquired through such transactions within the original construction
   deadline for each facility as set forth in § 80.49. Failure to meet the
   individual construction deadline will result in the automatic
   termination of the facility's authorization.

   [ 63 FR 40063 , July 27, 1998, as amended at  67 FR 48563 , July 25, 2002;
    69 FR 64671 , Nov. 8, 2004]

Subpart C—Operating Requirements and Procedures

Station Requirements—General