[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 47, Volume 5]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 47CFR80.60]

[Page 27-28]
 
                       TITLE 47--TELECOMMUNICATION
 
                         COMMISSION (CONTINUED)
 
PART 80--STATIONS IN THE MARITIME SERVICES--Table of Contents
 
                  Subpart B--Applications and Licenses
 
Sec. 80.60  Partitioned licenses and disaggregated spectrum.

    (a) Eligibility. The following licensees may partition their service 
areas or disaggregate their spectrum. Parties seeking approval for 
partitioning and disaggregation shall request an authorization for 
partial assignment pursuant to Sec. 1.948 of this chapter.
    (1) VHF Public Coast area licensees, see Sec. 80.371(c)(1)(ii), may 
partition their geographic service area or disaggregate their spectrum 
pursuant to the procedures set forth in this section.
    (2) AMTS geographic area licensees, see Sec. 80.385(a)(3), may 
partition their geographic service area or disaggregate their spectrum 
pursuant to the procedures set forth in this section. Site-based AMTS 
public coast station licensees may partition their license or 
disaggregate their spectrum pursuant to the procedures set forth in this 
section, provided that the partitionee or disaggregatee's predicted 38 
dBu signal level contour does not extend beyond the partitioner or 
disaggregator's predicted 38 dBu signal level contour. The predicted 38 
dBu signal level contours shall be calculated using the F(50, 50) field 
strength chart for Channels 7-13 in Sec. 73.699 (Fig. 10) of this 
chapter, with a 9 dB correction for antenna height differential.
    (3) Nationwide or multi-region LF, MF, and HF public coast station 
licensees, see Secs. 80.357(b)(1), 80.361(a), 80.363(a)(2), 80.371(b), 
and 80.374, may partition their spectrum pursuant to

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the procedures set forth in this section, except that frequencies or 
frequency pairs licensed to more than one licensee as of March 13, 2002 
may be partitioned only by the earliest licensee, and only on the 
condition that the partitionee shall operate on a secondary, non-
interference basis to stations licensed as of March 13, 2002 other than 
the earliest licensee. Coordination with government users is required 
for partitioning of spectrum the licensing of which is subject to 
coordination with government users.
    (b) Technical standards. (1) Partitioning. In the case of 
partitioning, all requests for authorization for partial assignment of a 
license must include, as an attachment, a description of the partitioned 
service area. The partitioned service area shall be defined by 
coordinate points at every 3 degrees along the partitioned service area 
unless an FCC-recognized service area is utilized (e.g., Metropolitan 
Service Area, Rural Service Area, or Economic Area) or county lines are 
used. The geographic coordinates must be specified in degrees, minutes, 
and seconds to the nearest second of latitude and longitude, and must be 
based upon the 1983 North American Datum (NAD83). In a case where an 
FCC-recognized service area or county lines are utilized, applicants 
need only list the specific area(s) (through use of FCC designations or 
county names) that constitute the partitioned area.
    (2) Disaggregation. VHF (156-162 MHz) spectrum may only be 
disaggregated according to frequency pairs. AMTS spectrum may be 
disaggregated in any amount.
    (3) Combined partitioning and disaggregation. The Commission will 
consider requests for partial assignment of licenses that propose 
combinations of partitioning and disaggregation.
    (c) License term. The license term for a partitioned license area 
and for disaggregated spectrum shall be the remainder of the original 
licensee's term as provided for in Sec. 80.25 of this part.
    (d) Construction Requirements. (1) Partitioning. Partial assignors 
and assignees for license partitioning have two options to meet 
construction requirements. Under the first option, the partitionor and 
partitionee would each certify that they will independently satisfy the 
substantial service requirement for their respective partitioned areas. 
If either licensee failed to meet its substantial service showing 
requirement, only the non-performing licensee's renewal application 
would be subject to dismissal. Under the second option, the partitioner 
certifies that it has met or will meet the substantial service 
requirement for the entire market. If the partitioner fails to meet the 
substantial service standard, however, only its renewal application 
would be subject to forfeiture at renewal.
    (2) Disaggregation. Partial assignors and assignees for license 
disaggregation have two options to meet construction requirements. Under 
the first option, the disaggregator and disaggregatee would certify that 
they each will share responsibility for meeting the substantial service 
requirement for the geographic service area. If parties choose this 
option and either party fails to do so, both licenses would be subject 
to forfeiture at renewal. The second option would allow the parties to 
agree that either the disaggregator or the disaggregatee would be 
responsible for meeting the substantial service requirement for the 
geographic service area. If parties choose this option, and the party 
responsible for meeting the construction requirement fails to do so, 
only the license of the nonperforming party would be subject to 
forfeiture at renewal.
    (3) Site-based AMTS, and nationwide or multi-region LF, MF, and HF 
public coast. Parties seeking to acquire a partitioned license or 
disaggregated spectrum from a site-based AMTS, or nationwide or multi-
region LF, MF, and HF public coast licensee will be required to 
construct and commence ``service to subscribers'' in all facilities 
acquired through such transactions within the original construction 
deadline for each facility as set forth in Sec. 80.49. Failure to meet 
the individual construction deadline will result in the automatic 
termination of the facility's authorization.

[63 FR 40063, July 27, 1998, as amended at 67 FR 48563, July 25, 2002]

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