Sec.  21.931   Partitioned service areas (PSAs).

   

   (a)(1) The holder of a BTA authorization may enter into contracts with
   eligible parties to partition any portion of its service area
   according to county boundaries, or according to other geopolitical
   subdivision boundaries, or multiple contiguous counties or
   geopolitical subdivisions within the BTA service area.

   (2)(i) Partitioning contracts must be filed with the Commission within
   30 days of the date that such agreements are reached.

   (ii) The contracts must include descriptions of the areas being
   partitioned and include any documentation necessary to convey to the
   Commission the precise boundaries of the partitioned area.

   (3) Parties to partitioning contracts must file concurrently with such
   contracts one of the following, where appropriate:

   (i) An MDS long-form application for authority to operate a new MDS
   station within the PSA;

   (ii) Applications for assignment or transfer of existing stations with
   the PSA; or

   (iii) A statement of intention as defined in Sec. 21.956(a) along with a
   completed FCC Form 430.

   (b) The eligibility requirements applicable to BTA authorization
   holders also apply to those individuals and entities seeking PSA
   authorizations.

   (c) Any individual or entity acquiring the rights to a partitioned
   area of a BTA also acquires the rights to any previously authorized
   individual stations located within the partitioned area that were held
   by the previous authorization holder, provided that grantable
   applications for assignment and transfer of control, FCC Forms 702 and
   704, are filed for existing stations and that acceptable amendments to
   pending long-form applications are filed. Pending long-form
   applications filed by the previous authorization holder for
   transmitter sites within the PSA may also be dismissed without
   prejudice at the applicant's request.

   (d) Authorizations for PSAs will be issued in accordance with Sec. 21.958;
   however, when individual stations within an PSA are assigned along
   with the partitioned area, the authorization will be granted
   concurrently with the grant of the applications for assignment and
   transfer of the existing stations.

   (e) Subsequent to issuance of the authorization for a PSA, thee
   partitioned area will be treated as a separate protected service area.

   (f)(1) When any area within a BTA becomes a PSA, the remaining
   counties and other geopolitical subdivisions within that BTA will also
   be subsequently treated and classified as a PSA(s).

   (2) At the time a BTA is partitioned, the Commission shall cancel the
   BTA authorization initially issued and issue a PSA authorization to
   the former BTA authorization holder.

   (g) The duties and responsibilities imposed upon BTA authorization
   holders in this part and throughout the Commission's rules, such as
   Sec. 21.930(c)(1), apply to the holders of PSA authorizations.

   (h) The build-out period for PSAs voluntarily partitioned shall be the
   remainder of the five-year build-out period applicable to the BTA or
   PSA from which the PSA was drawn. For PSA authorizations issued
   pursuant to Sec. 21.930(d)(2) and the competitive bidding process, the
   build-out period is five years, beginning on the date of the grant of
   the PSA authorization. The requirements of Sec. 21.930(c)(1) also apply to
   the holders of authorizations for PSAs.

   [ 60 FR 36556 , July 17, 1995]