§ 24.714   Partitioned licenses and disaggregated spectrum.

   (a)  Eligibility.  (1)  Parties  seeking approval for partitioning and
   disaggregation shall request an authorization for partial assignment of a
   license pursuant to § 24.839.

   (2) Broadband PCS licensees in spectrum blocks A, B, D, and E and broadband
   PCS C and F block licenses not subject to the eligibility requirements of
   § 24.709 may apply to partition their licensed geographic service area or
   disaggregate their licensed spectrum at any time following the grant of
   their licenses.

   (3) Broadband PCS licensees that acquired C or F block licenses in closed
   bidding subject to the eligibility requirements of § 24.709 may partition
   their  licensed geographic service area or disaggregate their licensed
   spectrum at any time to an entity that meets the eligibility criteria set
   forth in § 24.709 at the time the request for partial assignment of license
   is filed or to an entity that holds license(s) for frequency blocks C and F
   that  met the eligibility criteria set forth in § 24.709 at the time of
   receipt  of  such  license(s). Partial assignment applications seeking
   partitioning or disaggregation of broadband PCS licenses in spectrum blocks
   C  and F must include an attachment demonstrating compliance with this
   section.

   (b) Technical standards—(1) Partitioning. In the case of partitioning,
   applicants and licensees must file FCC Form 603 pursuant to § 1.948 of this
   chapter  and  list  the  partitioned service area on a schedule to the
   application.  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).

   (2) Disaggregation. 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) Installment payments—(1) Apportioning the balance on installment payment
   plans.  When a winning bidder elects to pay for its license through an
   installment payment plan pursuant to § 1.2110(g) of this chapter or § 24.716,
   and partitions its licensed area or disaggregates spectrum to another party,
   the outstanding balance owed by the licensee on its installment payment plan
   (including accrued and unpaid interest) shall be apportioned between the
   licensee and partitionee or disaggregatee. Both parties will be responsible
   for paying their proportionate share of the outstanding balance to the U.S.
   Treasury. In the case of partitioning, the balance shall be apportioned
   based  upon the ratio of the population of the partitioned area to the
   population of the entire original license area calculated based upon the
   most recent census data. In the case of disaggregation, the balance shall be
   apportioned based upon the ratio of the amount of spectrum disaggregated to
   the amount of spectrum allocated to the licensed area.

   (2) Parties not qualified for installment payment plans. (i) When a winning
   bidder elects to pay for its license through an installment payment plan,
   and partitions its license or disaggregates spectrum to another party that
   would not qualify for an installment payment plan or elects not to pay its
   share of the license through installment payments, the outstanding balance
   owed  by  the licensee (including accrued and unpaid interest shall be
   apportioned according to § 24.714(c)(1)).

   (ii) The partitionee or disaggregatee shall, as a condition of the approval
   of the partial assignment application, pay its entire pro rata amount within
   30 days of Public Notice conditionally granting the partial assignment
   application. Failure to meet this condition will result in a rescission of
   the grant of the partial assignment application.

   (iii) The licensee shall be permitted to continue to pay its pro rata share
   of  the  outstanding balance and shall receive new financing documents
   (promissory note, security agreement) with a revised payment obligation,
   based on the remaining amount of time on the original installment payment
   schedule. These financing documents will replace the licensee's existing
   financing documents, which shall be marked “superseded” and returned to the
   licensee upon receipt of the new financing documents. The original interest
   rate, established pursuant to § 1.2110(g)(3)(i) of this chapter at the time
   of the grant of the initial license in the market, shall continue to be
   applied to the licensee's portion of the remaining government obligation.
   The Commission will require, as a further condition to approval of the
   partial assignment application, that the licensee execute and return to the
   U.S. Treasury the new financing documents within 30 days of the Public
   Notice conditionally granting the partial assignment application. Failure to
   meet this condition will result in the automatic cancellation of the grant
   of the partial assignment application.

   (iv) A default on the licensee's payment obligation will only affect the
   licensee's portion of the market.

   (3) Parties qualified for installment payment plans. (i) Where both parties
   to  a partitioning or disaggregation agreement qualify for installment
   payments,  the  partitionee or disaggregatee will be permitted to make
   installment payments on its portion of the remaining government obligations,
   as calculated according to § 24.714(c)(1).

   (ii) Each party will be required, as a condition to approval of the partial
   assignment application, to execute separate financing documents (promissory
   note, security agreement) agreeing to pay their pro rata portion of the
   balance  due  (including  accrued  and unpaid interest) based upon the
   installment  payment terms for which they qualify under the rules. The
   financing documents must be returned to the U.S. Treasury within thirty (30)
   days of the Public Notice conditionally granting the partial assignment
   application. Failure by either party to meet this condition will result in
   the  automatic  cancellation  of  the  grant of the partial assignment
   application. The interest rate, established pursuant to § 1.2110(g)(3)(i) of
   this chapter at the time of the grant of the initial license in the market,
   shall continue to be applied to both parties' portion of the balance due.
   Each party will receive a license for their portion of the partitioned
   market or disaggregated spectrum.

   (iii) A default on an obligation will only affect that portion of the market
   area held by the defaulting party.

   (iv) Partitionees and disaggregatees that qualify for installment payment
   plans may elect to pay some of their pro rata portion of the balance due in
   a lump sum payment to the U.S. Treasury and to pay the remaining portion of
   the balance due pursuant to an installment payment plan.

   (d) License term. The license term for a partitioned license area and for
   disaggregated spectrum shall be the remainder of the original licensee's
   license term as provided for in § 24.15.

   (e) Construction requirements—(1) Requirements for partitioning. Parties
   seeking authority to partition must meet one of the following construction
   requirements:

   (i)  The  partitionee  may certify that it will satisfy the applicable
   construction requirements set forth in § 24.203 for the partitioned license
   area; or

   (ii)  The  original  licensee may certify that it has or will meet its
   five-year construction requirement and will meet the ten-year construction
   requirement, as set forth in § 24.203, for the entire license area. In that
   case, the partitionee must only satisfy the requirements for “substantial
   service,” as set forth in § 24.16(a), for the partitioned license area by the
   end of the original ten-year license term of the licensee.

   (iii)  Applications  requesting  partial  assignments  of  license for
   partitioning must include a certification by each party as to which of the
   above construction options they select.

   (iv) Partitionees must submit supporting documents showing compliance with
   the respective construction requirements within the appropriate five- and
   ten-year construction benchmarks set forth in § 24.203.

   (v)  Failure  by  any  partitionee to meet its respective construction
   requirements will result in the automatic cancellation of the partitioned or
   disaggregated license without further Commission action.

   (2)  Requirements  for  disaggregation.  Parties  seeking authority to
   disaggregate  must  submit with their partial assignment application a
   certification signed by both parties stating which of the parties will be
   responsible for meeting the five- and ten-year construction requirements for
   the  PCS  market  as  set forth in § 24.203. Parties may agree to share
   responsibility for meeting the construction requirements. Parties that
   accept responsibility for meeting the construction requirements and later
   fail  to  do  so will be subject to license forfeiture without further
   Commission action.

   [ 62 FR 661 , Jan. 6, 1997, as amended at  63 FR 68953 , Dec. 14, 1998;  65 FR 53638 , Sept. 5, 2000;  67 FR 45371 , July 9, 2002;  68 FR 42999 , July 21, 2003]

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