§  22.537   Technical channel assignment criteria.

   The rules in this section establish technical assignment criteria for
   the channels listed in § 22.531. These criteria permit channel
   assignments to be made in a manner such that reception by public paging
   receivers of signals from base transmitters, within the service area of
   such base transmitters, is protected from interference caused by the
   operation of independent co-channel base transmitters.

   (a) Contour overlap. The FCC may grant an application requesting
   assignment of a channel to a proposed base transmitter only if:

   (1) The interfering contour of the proposed transmitter does not
   overlap the service contour of any protected co-channel transmitter
   controlled by a carrier other than the applicant, unless that carrier
   has agreed in writing to accept any interference that may result from
   operation of the proposed transmitter; and,

   (2) The service contour of the proposed transmitter does not overlap
   the interfering contour of any protected co-channel transmitter
   controlled by a carrier other than the applicant, unless the applicant
   agrees to accept any interference that may result from operation of the
   protected co-channel transmitter; and,

   (3) The area and/or population to which service would be provided by
   the proposed transmitter is substantial, and service gained would
   exceed that lost as a result of agreements to accept interference.

   (b) Protected transmitter. For the purposes of this section, protected
   transmitters are authorized transmitters for which there is a current
   FCC public record and transmitters proposed in prior-filed pending
   applications.

   (c) VHF service contour. For paging stations transmitting on the VHF
   channels, the distance from the transmitting antenna to the service
   contour along each cardinal radial is calculated as follows:

   d = 1.243 × h0.40 × p0.20

   where d is the radial distance in kilometers

   h is the radial antenna HAAT in meters

   p is the radial ERP in Watts

   (1) Whenever the actual HAAT is less than 30 meters (98 feet), 30 must
   be used as the value for h in the above formula.

   (2) The value used for p in the above formula must not be less than 27
   dB less than the maximum ERP in any direction or 0.1 Watt, whichever is
   more.

   (3) The distance from the transmitting antenna to the service contour
   along any radial other than the eight cardinal radials is routinely
   calculated by linear interpolation of distance as a function of angle.
   However, in resolving petitions to deny, the FCC may calculate the
   distance to the service contour using the formula in paragraph (c) of
   this section with actual HAAT and ERP data for the inter-station radial
   and additional radials above and below the inter-station radial at 2.5°
   intervals.

   (d) VHF interfering contour. For paging stations transmitting on the
   VHF channels, the distance from the transmitting antenna to the
   interfering contour along each cardinal radial is calculated as
   follows:

   d = 6.509 × h0.28 × p0.17

   where d is the radial distance in kilometers

   h is the radial antenna HAAT in meters

   p is the radial ERP in Watts

   (1) Whenever the actual HAAT is less than 30 meters (98 feet), 30 must
   be used as the value for h in the above formula.

   (2) The value used for p in the above formula must not be less than 27
   dB less than the maximum ERP in any direction or 0.1 Watt, whichever is
   more.

   (3) The distance from the transmitting antenna to the interfering
   contour along any radial other than the eight cardinal radials is
   routinely calculated by linear interpolation of distance as a function
   of angle. In resolving petitions to deny, however, the FCC may
   calculate the distance to the interfering contour using the formula in
   paragraph (d) of this section with actual HAAT and ERP data for the
   inter-station radial and additional radials above and below the
   inter-station radial at 2.5° intervals.

   (e) 931 MHz service contour. For paging stations transmitting on the
   931 MHz channels, the service contour is a circle, centered on the
   transmitting antenna, with a radius determined from Table E-1 of this
   section.

   Table E--1-931 MHz Paging Service Radii
   Service radius km (miles) Effective radiated power (Watts)
   Antenna HAAT meters (feet) 0-125 126-250 251-500 501-1000 1001-1860
   1861-3500
   0-177 32.2 (20) 32.2 (20) 32.2 (20) 32.2 (20) 32.2 (20) 32.2 (20)
   (0-581)
   178-305 32.2 (20) 32.2 (20) 32.2 (20) 32.2 (20) 37.0 (23) 41.8 (26)
   (582-1001)
   306-427 32.2 (20) 32.2 (20) 37.0 (23) 41.8 (26) 56.3 (35) 56.3 (35)
   (1002-1401)
   428-610 32.2 (20) 37.0 (23) 41.8 (26) 56.3 (35) 56.3 (35) 56.3 (35)
   (1402-2001)
   611-861 37.0 (23) 41.8 (26) 41.8 (26) 56.3 (35) 83.7 (52) 83.7 (52)
   (2002-2825)
   862-1219 41.8 (26) 56.3 (35) 56.3 (35) 83.7 (52) 83.7 (52) 83.7 (52)
   (2826-3999)
   1220 + 56.3 (35) 56.3 (35) 83.7 (52) 83.7 (52) 83.7 (52) 83.7 (52)
   (4000 + )

   (f) 931 MHz interfering contour. For paging stations transmitting on
   the 931 MHz channels, the interfering contour is a circle, centered on
   the transmitting antenna, with a radius determined from Table E-2 of
   this section.

   Table E--2-931 MHz Paging Interfering Radii
   Interfering radius km (miles) Effective radiated power (Watts)
   Antenna HAAT meters (feet) 0-125 126-250 251-500 501-1000 1001-1860
   1861-3500
   0-177 80.5 (50) 80.5 (50) 80.5 (50) 80.5 (50) 80.5 (50) 80.5 (50)
   (0-581)
   178-305 80.5 (50) 80.5 (50) 80.5 (50) 80.5 (50) 88.5 (55) 96.6 (60)
   (582-1001)
   306-427 80.5 (50) 80.5 (50) 88.5 (55) 96.6 (60) 130.4 (81) 130.4 (81)
   (1002-1401)
   428-610 80.5 (50) 88.5 (55) 96.6 (60) 130.4 (81) 130.4 (81) 130.4 (81)
   (1402-2001)
   611-861 88.5 (55) 96.6 (60) 96.6 (60) 130.4 (81) 191.5 (119) 191.5
   (119)
   (2002-2825)
   862-1219 96.6 (60) 130.4 (81) 130.4 (81) 191.5 (119) 191.5 (119) 191.5
   (119)
   (2826-3999)
   1220 +
   (4000 + ) 130.4 (81) 130.4 (81) 191.5 (119) 191.5 (119) 191.5 (119)
   191.5 (119)

   (g) In-building radiation systems. The locations of in-building
   radiation systems must be within the service contour(s) of the
   licensee's authorized transmitter(s) on the same channel. In-building
   radiation systems are not protected facilities, and therefore do not
   have service or interfering contours.

   (h) Signal boosters on 931 MHz channels. For the purpose of compliance
   with § 22.165 and notwithstanding paragraphs (e) and (f) of this
   section, signal boosters operating on the 931 MHz channels with an
   antenna HAAT not exceeding 30 meters (98 feet) are deemed to have as a
   service contour a circle with a radius of 1.0 kilometer (0.6 mile) and
   as an interfering contour a circle with a radius of 10 kilometers (6.2
   miles).

   [ 59 FR 59507 , Nov. 17, 1994, as amended at  61 FR 31051 , June 19, 1996]