Sec. 22.137  Assignment of authorization; transfer of control.

    Authorizations in the Public Mobile Services may be assigned by the 
licensee to another party, voluntarily or involuntarily, directly or 
indirectly, or by transfer of control of a licensee holding such 
authorizations, only upon approval by the FCC. The assignee is 
responsible for ascertaining that the station facilities are and will 
remain in compliance with the terms and conditions of the authorization 
to be assigned.
    (a) Application required. The assignor or transferor must file an 
application for approval of assignment or transfer of control (FCC Form 
490). In the case of involuntary assignment, such application must be 
filed no later than 30 days after the event causing the assignment. The 
assignee or transferee must file a report qualifying it as a common 
carrier (FCC Form 430) unless a current report is already on file with 
the FCC.
    (b) Notification of completion. Assignments and transfers of control 
must be completed within 60 days of FCC approval. The assignee or 
transferee must notify the FCC by letter of the date of completion of 
the assignment or transfer of control. If an assignment or transfer of 
control is not completed within this time, the assignor or transferor 
must so notify the FCC by letter, and the assignee or transferee must 
submit the authorization(s) to the FCC for cancellation or request an 
extension of time to complete the assignment or transfer of control. If 
the assignment or transfer of control is not completed, the 
authorization(s) remain with the assignor or transferor.
    (c) Partial assignment of authorization. If the authorization for 
some, but not all, of the facilities of a Public Mobile Services station 
is assigned to another party, voluntarily or involuntarily, such action 
is a partial assignment of authorization.
    (1) To request FCC approval of a partial assignment of 
authorization, the following must be filed in addition to the forms 
required by paragraph (a) of this section:
    (i) The assignor must notify the FCC (FCC Form 489) of the 
facilities to be deleted from its authorization upon completion of the 
assignment.
    (ii) The assignee must apply for authority (FCC Form 600) to operate 
a new station including the facilities for which authorization is 
assigned, or to modify the assignee's existing station to include the 
facilities for which authorization was assigned.
    (2) Partial assignments must be completed within 60 days of FCC 
approval. If an approved partial assignment is not completed within this 
time, the assignor must notify the FCC (FCC Form 489), and the assignee 
must submit the authorization(s) to the FCC for cancellation or request 
an extension of time to complete the assignment. If the assignment is 
not completed, the authorization(s) remain with the assignor.

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    (d) Limitations. The FCC may deny applications for assignment of 
authorization or consent to transfer of control if:
    (1) The FCC is unable to make the findings contained in 
Sec. 22.132(a) with respect to both parties to the assignment or 
transfer;
    (2) The authorization was obtained for the principal purpose of 
speculation or profitable resale, rather than provision of common 
carrier telecommunication services to the public; or,
    (3) The authorization is for a commercial aviation system in the 
Air-ground Radiotelephone Service or an unserved area cellular system in 
the Cellular Radiotelephone Service and the system has not been 
constructed or operated, or has been operated for less than one year.
    (i) Licensees must not enter into agreements (e.g. option agreements 
or management contracts) to assign authorizations before or during the 
first year of operation, even if the assignment is to take place after 
the first year of operation.
    (ii) Notwithstanding the introductory texts of paragraphs (d) and 
(d)(3) of this section, the FCC may grant applications for pro forma 
assignments during the first year of operation.
[ 59 FR 59507 , Nov. 17, 1994, as amended at  59 FR 59954 , Nov. 21, 1994]