§  101.91   Involuntary relocation procedures.

   (a) If no agreement is reached during the negotiations period, an FSS
   licensee may initiate relocation procedures under the Commission's
   rules. FSS licensees are obligated to pay to relocate only the specific
   microwave links from which their systems may receive interference.
   Under these procedures, the FS licensee is required to relocate,
   provided that the FSS 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 FS licensee that are directly
   attributable to the 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. FSS licensees are not required to pay FS
   licensees for internal resources devoted to the relocation process. FSS
   licensees are not required to pay for transaction costs incurred by FS
   licensees during the negotiations once the negotiation 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 18 GHz system.

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

   (2) Reliability. System reliability is the degree to which information
   is transferred accurately within a system. FSS licensees must provide
   FS 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 FS system. FSS licensees must compensate FS licensees for
   any increased recurring costs associated with the replacement
   facilities (e.g., additional rental payments, increased utility fees)
   for five years after relocation. FSS 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 FS
   licensee must be equivalent to the 18 GHz system in order for the
   replacement system to be considered comparable.

   (c) The FS 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.
   The FS licensee may take up to 12 months to make such adjustments and
   perform such testing.

   (d) If the FS licensee demonstrates to the Commission that the new
   facilities are not comparable to the former facilities, the Commission
   may require the FSS licensee to further modify or replace the FS
   licensee's equipment.

   [ 65 FR 54173 , Sept. 7, 2000, as amended at  66 FR 63516 , Dec. 7, 2001]

   return arrow Back to Top