[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 47, Volume 5]

[Revised as of October 1, 2005]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 47CFR101.91]



[Page 627-628]

 

                       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 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



[[Page 628]]



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]