Goto Section: 90.693 | 90.701 | Table of Contents
FCC 90.699
Revised as of October 2, 2015
Goto Year:2014 |
2016
§ 90.699 Transition of the upper 200 channels in the 800 MHz band to EA
licensing.
In order to facilitate provision of service throughout an EA, an EA licensee
may relocate incumbent licensees in its EA by providing “comparable
facilities” on other frequencies in the 800 MHz band. Such relocation is
subject to the following provisions:
(a)-(c) [Reserved]
(d) Comparable facilities. The replacement system provided to an incumbent
during an involuntary relocation must be at least equivalent to the existing
800 MHz system with respect to the following four factors:
(1) System. System is defined functionally from the end user's point of view
(i.e., a system is comprised of base station facilities that operate on an
integrated basis to provide service to a common end user, and all mobile
units associated with those base stations). A system may include
multiple-licensed facilities that share a common switch or are otherwise
operated as a unitary system, provided that the end user has the ability to
access all such facilities. A system may cover more than one EA if its
existing geographic coverage extends beyond the EA borders.
(2) Capacity. To meet the comparable facilities requirement, an EA licensee
must relocate the incumbent to facilities that provide equivalent channel
capacity. We define channel capacity as the same number of channels with the
same bandwidth that is currently available to the end user. For example, if
an incumbent's system consists of five 50 kHz (two 25 kHz paired
frequencies) channels, the replacement system must also have five 50 kHz
channels. If a different channel configuration is used, it must have the
same overall capacity as the original configuration. Comparable channel
capacity requires equivalent signaling capability, baud rate, and access
time. In addition, the geographic coverage of the channels must be
coextensive with that of the original system.
(3) Quality of service. Comparable facilities must provide the same quality
of service as the facilities being replaced. Quality of service is defined
to mean that the end user enjoys the same level of interference protection
on the new system as on the old system. In addition, where voice service is
provided, the voice quality on the new system must be equal to the current
system. Finally, reliability of service is considered to be integral to
defining quality of service. Reliability is the degree to which information
is transferred accurately within the system. Reliability is a function of
equipment failures (e.g., transmitters, feed lines, antennas, receivers,
battery back-up power, etc.) and the availability of the frequency channel
due to propagation characteristics (e.g., frequency, terrain, atmospheric
conditions, radio-frequency noise, etc.) For digital data systems, this will
be measured by the percent of time the bit error rate exceeds the desired
value. For analog or digital voice transmissions, this will be measured by
the percent of time that audio signal quality meets an established
threshold. If analog voice system is replaced with a digital voice system
the resulting frequency response, harmonic distortion, signal-to-noise
ratio, and reliability will be considered.
(4) Operating costs. Operating costs are those costs that affect the
delivery of services to the end user. If the EA licensee provides facilities
that entail higher operating cost than the incumbent's previous system, and
the cost increase is a direct result of the relocation, the EA licensee must
compensate the incumbent for the difference. Costs associated with the
relocation process can fall into several categories. First, the incumbent
must be compensated for any increased recurring costs associated with the
replacement facilitates (e.g., additional rental payments, increased utility
fees). Second, increased maintenance costs must be taken into consideration
when determining whether operating costs are comparable. For example,
maintenance costs associated with analog systems may be higher than the
costs of digital equipment because manufacturers are producing mostly
digital equipment and analog replacement parts can be difficult to find. An
EA licensee's obligation to pay increased operating costs will end five
years after relocation has occurred.
(e)-(f) [Reserved]
[ 62 FR 41217 , July 31, 1997, as amended at 77 FR 28798 , May 16, 2012]
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Subpart T—Regulations Governing Licensing and Use of Frequencies in the 220-222
MHz Band
Source: 56 FR 19603 , Apr. 29, 1991, unless otherwise noted.
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Goto Section: 90.693 | 90.701
Goto Year: 2014 |
2016
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