§ 90.813   Partitioned licenses and disaggregated spectrum.

   (a) Eligibility. Parties seeking approval for partitioning and
   disaggregation shall request an authorization for partial assignment of
   a license pursuant to § 1.948 of this chapter.

   (b) Technical standards—(1) Partitioning. In the case of partitioning,
   requests for authorization for partial assignment of a license must
   include, as attachments, a description of the partitioned service area
   and a calculation of the population of the partitioned service area and
   the licensed geographic 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 (i.e., Major Trading Area, Basic Trading Area, Metropolitan
   Service Area, Rural Service Area or Economic Area) or county lines are
   followed. 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 1927 North American Datum (NAD27).
   Applicants may supply geographical coordinates based on 1983 North
   American Datum (NAD83) in addition to those required (NAD27). In the
   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. 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 § 90.812, 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) 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.

   (ii) 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.

   (iii) 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 obligation, as calculated according to paragraph (d)(1) of
   this section.

   (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 § 90.665(a).

   (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 § 90.665 for the partitioned
   license area; or

   (ii) The original licensee may certify that it has or will meet the
   construction requirements set forth in § 90.665 for the entire market.
   In that case, the partitionee must only meet the requirements for
   renewal of its license for the partitioned license area.

   (iii) Applications requesting partial assignments of license for
   partitioning must include a certification by each geographic area 800
   MHz SMR licenses in the lower 230 channels will be awarded to small
   entities, as that term is defined by the SBA.

   (iv) Partitionees must submit supporting documents showing compliance
   with the respective construction requirements within the appropriate
   time frames set forth in § 90.665.

   (v) Failure by any partitionee to meet its respective performance
   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 construction requirements for the market
   as set forth in § 90.665. 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 41219 , July 31, 1997, as amended at  67 FR 45376 , July 9, 2002;
    68 FR 43001 , July 21, 2003]

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