§  90.699   Transition of the upper 200 channels in the 800 MHz band to EA
licensing.

   In order to facilitate provision of service throughout an EA, an EA
   licensee may relocate incumbent licensees in its EA by providing
   “comparable facilities” on other frequencies in the 800 MHz band. Such
   relocation is subject to the following provisions:

   (a)-(c) [Reserved]

   (d) Comparable facilities. The replacement system provided to an
   incumbent during an involuntary relocation must be at least equivalent
   to the existing 800 MHz system with respect to the following four
   factors:

   (1) System. System is defined functionally from the end user's point of
   view ( i.e., a system is comprised of base station facilities that
   operate on an integrated basis to provide service to a common end user,
   and all mobile units associated with those base stations). A system may
   include multiple-licensed facilities that share a common switch or are
   otherwise operated as a unitary system, provided that the end user has
   the ability to access all such facilities. A system may cover more than
   one EA if its existing geographic coverage extends beyond the EA
   borders.

   (2) Capacity. To meet the comparable facilities requirement, an EA
   licensee must relocate the incumbent to facilities that provide
   equivalent channel capacity. We define channel capacity as the same
   number of channels with the same bandwidth that is currently available
   to the end user. For example, if an incumbent's system consists of five
   50 kHz (two 25 kHz paired frequencies) channels, the replacement system
   must also have five 50 kHz channels. If a different channel
   configuration is used, it must have the same overall capacity as the
   original configuration. Comparable channel capacity requires equivalent
   signaling capability, baud rate, and access time. In addition, the
   geographic coverage of the channels must be coextensive with that of
   the original system.

   (3) Quality of service. Comparable facilities must provide the same
   quality of service as the facilities being replaced. Quality of service
   is defined to mean that the end user enjoys the same level of
   interference protection on the new system as on the old system. In
   addition, where voice service is provided, the voice quality on the new
   system must be equal to the current system. Finally, reliability of
   service is considered to be integral to defining quality of service.
   Reliability is the degree to which information is transferred
   accurately within the system. Reliability is a function of equipment
   failures ( e.g., transmitters, feed lines, antennas, receivers, battery
   back-up power, etc.) and the availability of the frequency channel due
   to propagation characteristics ( e.g ., frequency, terrain, atmospheric
   conditions, radio-frequency noise, etc.) For digital data systems, this
   will be measured by the percent of time the bit error rate exceeds the
   desired value. For analog or digital voice transmissions, this will be
   measured by the percent of time that audio signal quality meets an
   established threshold. If analog voice system is replaced with a
   digital voice system the resulting frequency response, harmonic
   distortion, signal-to-noise ratio, and reliability will be considered.

   (4) Operating costs. Operating costs are those costs that affect the
   delivery of services to the end user. If the EA licensee provides
   facilities that entail higher operating cost than the incumbent's
   previous system, and the cost increase is a direct result of the
   relocation, the EA licensee must compensate the incumbent for the
   difference. Costs associated with the relocation process can fall into
   several categories. First, the incumbent must be compensated for any
   increased recurring costs associated with the replacement facilitates (
   e.g., additional rental payments, increased utility fees). Second,
   increased maintenance costs must be taken into consideration when
   determining whether operating costs are comparable. For example,
   maintenance costs associated with analog systems may be higher than the
   costs of digital equipment because manufacturers are producing mostly
   digital equipment and analog replacement parts can be difficult to
   find. An EA licensee's obligation to pay increased operating costs will
   end five years after relocation has occurred.

   (e)-(f) [Reserved]

   [ 62 FR 41217 , July 31, 1997, as amended at  77 FR 28798 , May 16, 2012]

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Subpart T—Regulations Governing Licensing and Use of Frequencies in the
220-222 MHz Band

   Source:  56 FR 19603 , Apr. 29, 1991, unless otherwise noted.

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