§  101.75   Involuntary relocation procedures.

   (a) If no agreement is reached during the mandatory negotiation period,
   an ET licensee may initiate involuntary relocation procedures under the
   Commission's rules. ET licensees are obligated to pay to relocated only
   the specific microwave links to which their systems pose an
   interference problem. Under involuntary relocation, the FMS licensee is
   required to relocate, provided that the ET 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 FMS 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. ET licensees are not required to
   pay FMS licensees for internal resources devoted to the relocation
   process. ET licensees are not required to pay for transaction costs
   incurred by FMS licensees during the voluntary or mandatory periods
   once the involuntary period is initiated, or for fees that cannot be
   legitimately tied to the provision of comparable facilities;

   (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; and

   (3) Builds the replacement system and tests it for comparability with
   the existing 2 GHz system.

   (b) Comparable facilities. The replacement system provided to an
   incumbent during an involuntary relocation must be at least equivalent
   to the existing FMS 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. If analog
   facilities are being replaced with analog, the ET licensee is required
   to provide the FMS licensee with an equivalent number of 4 kHz voice
   channels. If digital facilities are being replaced with digital, the ET
   licensee must provide the FMS licensee with equivalent data loading
   bits per second (bps). ET licensees must provide FMS licensees with
   enough throughput to satisfy the FMS licensee's system use at the time
   of relocation, not match the total capacity of the FMS system.

   (2) Reliability. System reliability is the degree to which information
   is transferred accurately within a system. ET licensees must provide
   FMS 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 voice transmissions, it is measured by the
   percent of time that audio signal quality meets an established
   threshold. If an analog voice system is replaced with a digital voice
   system, only the resulting frequency response, harmonic distortion,
   signal-to-noise ratio and its reliability will be considered in
   determining comparable reliability.

   (3) Operating costs. Operating costs are the cost to operate and
   maintain the FMS system. ET licensees must compensate FMS licensees for
   any increased recurring costs associated with the replacement
   facilities ( e.g., additional rental payments, increased utility fees)
   for five years after relocation. ET 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 FMS
   licensee must be equivalent to the 2 GHz system in order for the
   replacement system to be considered comparable.

   (c) The FMS licensee is not required to relocate until the alternative
   facilities are available to it for a reasonable time to make
   adjustments, determine comparability, and ensure a seamless handoff.

   (d) Twelve-month trial period. If, within one year after the relocation
   to new facilities, the FMS licensee demonstrates that the new
   facilities are not comparable to the former facilities, the ET licensee
   must remedy the defects or pay to relocate the microwave 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 FMS licensee
   begins full operation of the replacement link. If the FMS 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.
   FMS licensees relocated from the 2110–2150 and 2160–2200 MHz bands may
   not be returned to their former 2 GHz channels. All other remedies
   specified in paragraph (d) are available to FMS licensees relocated
   from the 2110–2150 MHz and 2160–2200 MHz bands, and may be invoked
   whenever the FMS licensee demonstrates that its replacement facility is
   not comparable, subject to no time limit.

   [ 61 FR 29694 , June 12, 1996, as amended at  65 FR 48183 , Aug. 7, 2000;
    68 FR 3464 , Jan. 24, 2003;  71 FR 29842 , May 24, 2006]