[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 47, Volume 5]
[Revised as of October 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 47CFR101.91]

[Page 673-674]
 
                       TITLE 47--TELECOMMUNICATION
 
                         COMMISSION (CONTINUED)
 
PART 101_FIXED MICROWAVE SERVICES--Table of Contents
 
                   Subpart B_Applications and Licenses
 
Sec.  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

[[Page 674]]

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]