§ 22.913   Effective radiated power limits.

   Licensees in the Cellular Radiotelephone Service are subject to the
   effective radiated power (ERP) limits and other requirements in this
   Section. See also § 22.169.

   (a) Maximum ERP. The ERP of transmitters in the Cellular Radiotelephone
   Service must not exceed the limits in this section.

   (1) Except as described in paragraphs (a)(2), (3), and (4) of this
   section, the ERP of base stations and repeaters must not exceed—

   (i) 500 watts per emission; or

   (ii) 400 watts/MHz (PSD) per sector.

   (2) Except as described in paragraphs (a)(3) and (4) of this section,
   for systems operating in areas more than 72 kilometers (45 miles) from
   international borders that:

   (i) Are located in counties with population densities of 100 persons or
   fewer per square mile, based upon the most recently available
   population statistics from the Bureau of the Census; or

   (ii) Extend coverage into Unserved Area on a secondary basis (see
   § 22.949), the ERP of base transmitters and repeaters must not exceed—

   (A) 1000 watts per emission; or

   (B) 800 watts/MHz (PSD) per sector.

   (3) Provided that they also comply with paragraphs (b) and (c) of this
   section, licensees are permitted to operate their base transmitters and
   repeaters with an ERP greater than 400 watts/MHz (PSD) per sector, up
   to a maximum ERP of 1000 watts/MHz (PSD) per sector unless they meet
   the conditions in paragraph (a)(4) of this section.

   (4) Provided that they also comply with paragraphs (b) and (c) of this
   section, licensees of systems operating in areas more than 72
   kilometers (45 miles) from international borders that:

   (i) Are located in counties with population densities of 100 persons or
   fewer per square mile, based upon the most recently available
   population statistics from the Bureau of the Census; or

   (ii) Extend coverage into Unserved Area on a secondary basis (see
   § 22.949), are permitted to operate base transmitters and repeaters with
   an ERP greater than 800 watts/MHz (PSD) per sector, up to a maximum of
   2000 watts/MHz (PSD) per sector.

   (5) The ERP of mobile transmitters and auxiliary test transmitters must
   not exceed 7 watts.

   (b) Power flux density (PFD). Until May 12, 2024, each Cellular base
   station that operates at the higher ERP limits permitted under
   paragraphs (a)(3) and (4) of this section must be designed and deployed
   so as not to exceed a modeled PFD of 3000 microwatts/m2/MHz over at
   least 98% of the area within 1 km of the base station antenna, at 1.6
   meters above ground level. To ensure its compliance with this
   requirement, the licensee must perform predictive modeling of the PFD
   values within at least 1 km of each base station antenna prior to
   commencing such operations and, thereafter, prior to making any site
   modifications that may increase the PFD levels around the base station.
   The modeling tools must take into consideration terrain and other local
   conditions and must use good engineering practices for the 800 MHz
   band.

   (c) Advance notification requirement. At least 30 days but not more
   than 90 days prior to activating a base station at the higher ERP
   limits permitted under paragraphs (a)(3) and (4) of this section, the
   Cellular licensee must provide written advance notice to any public
   safety licensee authorized in the frequency range 806-816 MHz/851-861
   MHz with a base station located within a radius of 113 km of the
   Cellular base station to be deployed. The written notice shall be
   required only one time for each such cell site and is for informational
   purposes only; the public safety licensees are not afforded the right
   to accept or reject the activation or to unilaterally require changes
   in the operating parameters. The written notification must include the
   base station's location, ERP level, height of the transmitting
   antenna's center of radiation above ground level, and the timeframe for
   activation, as well as the Cellular licensee's contact information.
   Additional information shall be provided by the Cellular licensee upon
   request of a public safety licensee required to be notified under this
   paragraph (c). See also § § 22.970 through 22.973.

   (d) Power measurement. Measurement of the ERP of Cellular base
   transmitters and repeaters must be made using an average power
   measurement technique. The peak-to-average ratio (PAR) of the
   transmission must not exceed 13 dB. Power measurements for base
   transmitters and repeaters must be made in accordance with either of
   the following:

   (1) A Commission-approved average power technique (see FCC Laboratory's
   Knowledge Database); or

   (2) For purposes of this section, peak transmit power must be measured
   over an interval of continuous transmission using instrumentation
   calibrated in terms of an rms-equivalent voltage. The measurement
   results shall be properly adjusted for any instrument limitations, such
   as detector response times, limited resolution bandwidth capability
   when compared to the emission bandwidth, sensitivity, etc., so as to
   obtain a true peak measurement for the emission in question over the
   full bandwidth of the channel.

   (e) Height-power limit. The ERP of base transmitters must not exceed
   the amount that would result in an average distance to the service area
   boundary of 79.1 kilometers (49 miles) for Cellular systems authorized
   to serve the Gulf of Mexico MSA and 40.2 kilometers (25 miles) for all
   other Cellular systems. The average distance to the service area
   boundary is calculated by taking the arithmetic mean of the distances
   determined using the procedures specified in § 22.911 for the eight
   cardinal radial directions.

   (f) Exemptions from height-power limit. Licensees need not comply with
   the height-power limit in paragraph (e) of this section if either of
   the following conditions is met:

   (1) The proposed operation is coordinated with the licensees of all
   affected Cellular systems on the same channel block within 121
   kilometers (75 miles) and concurrence is obtained; or

   (2) The licensee's base transmitter or repeater is operated at the ERP
   limits (W/MHz) specified above in paragraph (a)(1)(ii), (a)(2)(ii),
   (a)(3), or (a)(4) of this section.

   [ 82 FR 17582 , Apr. 12, 2017]

   return arrow Back to Top