§  27.1252   Involuntary relocation procedures.

   (a) If no agreement is reached during the mandatory negotiation period,
   an AWS licensee may initiate involuntary relocation procedures under
   the Commission's rules. AWS licensees are obligated to pay to relocate
   BRS systems to which the AWS system poses an interference problem.
   Under involuntary relocation, the BRS licensee is required to relocate,
   provided that the AWS licensee:

   (1) Guarantees payment of relocation costs, including all engineering,
   equipment, site and FCC fees, as well as any legitimate and prudent
   transaction expenses incurred by the BRS licensee that are directly
   attributable to an involuntary relocation, subject to a cap of two
   percent of the "hard" costs involved. Hard costs are defined as the
   actual costs associated with providing a replacement system, such as
   equipment and engineering expenses. There is no cap on the actual costs
   of relocation. AWS licensees are not required to pay BRS licensees for
   internal resources devoted to the relocation process. AWS licensees are
   not required to pay for transaction costs incurred by BRS licensees
   during the mandatory period once the involuntary period is initiated,
   or for fees that cannot be legitimately tied to the provision of
   comparable facilities; and

   (2) Completes all activities necessary for implementing the replacement
   facilities, including engineering and cost analysis of the relocation
   procedure and, if radio facilities are used, identifying and obtaining,
   on the incumbents' behalf, new microwave frequencies and frequency
   coordination.

   (b) Comparable facilities. The replacement system provided to an
   incumbent during an involuntary relocation must be at least equivalent
   to the existing BRS system with respect to the following three factors:

   (1) Throughput. Communications throughput is the amount of information
   transferred within a system in a given amount of time. System is
   defined as a base station and all end user units served by that base
   station. If analog facilities are being replaced with analog, the AWS
   licensee is required to provide the BRS licensee with a comparable
   number of channels. If digital facilities are being replaced with
   digital, the AWS licensee must provide the BRS licensee with equivalent
   data loading bits per second (bps). AWS licensees must provide BRS
   licensees with enough throughput to satisfy the BRS licensee's system
   use at the time of relocation, not match the total capacity of the BRS
   system.

   (2) Reliability. System reliability is the degree to which information
   is transferred accurately within a system. AWS licensees must provide
   BRS licensees with reliability equal to the overall reliability of
   their system. For digital data systems, reliability is measured by the
   percent of time the bit error rate (BER) exceeds a desired value, and
   for analog or digital video transmissions, it is measured by whether
   the end-to-end transmission delay is within the required delay bound.

   (3) Operating costs. Operating costs are the cost to operate and
   maintain the BRS system. AWS licensees must compensate BRS licensees
   for any increased recurring costs associated with the replacement
   facilities (e.g., additional rental payments, increased utility fees)
   for five years after relocation. AWS licensees may satisfy this
   obligation by making a lump-sum payment based on present value using
   current interest rates. Additionally, the maintenance costs to the BRS
   licensee must be equivalent to the replaced system in order for the
   replacement system to be considered comparable.

   (c) AWS licensees are responsible for the relocation costs of end user
   units served by the BRS base station that is being relocated. If a
   lessee is operating under a BRS license, the AWS licensee shall on the
   throughput, reliability, and operating costs of facilities in use by a
   lessee at the time of relocation in determining comparable facilities
   for involuntary relocation purposes.

   (d) Twelve-month trial period. If, within one year after the relocation
   to new facilities, the BRS licensee demonstrates that the new
   facilities are not comparable to the former facilities, the AWS
   licensee must remedy the defects or pay to relocate the BRS licensee to
   one of the following: Its former or equivalent 2 GHz channels, another
   comparable frequency band, a land-line system, or any other facility
   that satisfies the requirements specified in paragraph (b) of this
   section. This trial period commences on the date that the BRS licensee
   begins full operation of the replacement system. If the BRS licensee
   has retained its 2 GHz authorization during the trial period, it must
   return the license to the Commission at the end of the twelve months.