§  27.1505   Performance requirements.

   (a) 900 MHz broadband licensees shall demonstrate compliance with
   performance requirements by filing a construction notification with the
   Commission, within 15 days of the expiration of the applicable
   benchmark, in accordance with the provisions set forth in § 1.946(d) of
   this chapter.

   (1) The licensee must certify whether it has met the applicable
   performance requirements. The licensee must file a description and
   certification of the areas for which it is providing service. The
   construction notifications must include electronic coverage maps and
   supporting technical documentation regarding the type of service it is
   providing for each licensed area within its service territory and the
   type of technology used to provide such service, and certify the
   accuracy of such documentation. Supporting documentation must include
   the assumptions used to create the coverage maps, including the
   propagation model and the signal strength necessary to provide reliable
   service with the licensee's technology.

   (2) To demonstrate compliance with the population coverage requirement,
   licensees shall use the most recently available decennial U.S. Census
   Bureau data at the time of measurement and shall base their
   measurements of population served on areas no larger than the Census
   Tract level. The population within a specific Census Tract (or other
   acceptable identifier) will be deemed served by the licensee only if it
   provides reliable signal coverage to and offers service within the
   specific Census Tract (or other acceptable identifier). To the extent
   the Census Tract (or other acceptable identifier) extends beyond the
   boundaries of a license area, a licensee with authorizations for such
   areas may include only the population within the Census Tract (or other
   acceptable identifier) towards meeting the performance requirement of a
   single, individual license.

   (b) A 900 MHz broadband licensee must meet either a population coverage
   requirement or geographic coverage as follows:

   (1) Population metric. (i) A 900 MHz broadband licensee shall provide
   reliable signal coverage and offer broadband service to at least 45% of
   the population in its license area within six years of license grant.

   (ii) A 900 MHz broadband licensee shall provide reliable signal
   coverage and offer broadband service to at least 80% of the population
   in its license area within 12 years of license grant.

   (2) Geographic coverage. Alternatively, a 900 MHz broadband licensee
   may:

   (i) Demonstrate it provides reliable signal coverage and offers
   broadband service covering at least 25% of the geographic license area
   within six years of license grant.

   (ii) Demonstrate it provides reliable signal coverage and offers
   broadband service covering at least 50% of the geographic license area
   within twelve years of license grant.

   (c) Penalties. (1) If a 900 MHz broadband licensee fails to meet the
   first performance benchmark, we require the licensee to meet the final
   performance benchmark two years sooner (i.e., at 10 years into the
   license term) and reduce the license term from 15 years to 13 years.

   (2) If a 900 MHz broadband licensee fails to meet the final performance
   benchmark, its authorization for that license area will terminate
   automatically without Commission action.

   (d) License renewal. After satisfying the 12-year, final performance
   benchmark, a licensee must continue to provide coverage and offer
   broadband service at or above that level for the remaining three years
   of the 15-year license term in order to warrant license renewal.