§  22.949   Unserved Area licensing; minimum coverage requirements.

   (a) The Unserved Area licensing process described in this section is
   on-going and applications may be filed at any time, subject to the
   following coverage requirements:

   (1) Applicants for authority to operate a new Cellular system or expand
   an existing Cellular Geographic Service Area (CGSA) in Unserved Area
   must propose a CGSA or CGSA expansion of at least 130 contiguous square
   kilometers (50 contiguous square miles) using the methodology of
   § 22.911.

   (2) Applicants for authority to operate a new Cellular system must not
   propose coverage of water areas only (or water areas and uninhabited
   islands or reefs only), except for Unserved Area in the Gulf of Mexico
   Service Area.

   (b) There is no limit to the number of Unserved Area applications that
   may be granted on each channel block of each CMA that is subject to the
   procedures of this section. Consequently, Unserved Area applications
   are mutually exclusive only if the proposed CGSAs would overlap.
   Mutually exclusive applications are processed using the general
   procedures under § 22.131.

   (c) Unserved Area applications under this section may propose a CGSA
   covering more than one CMA. Each Unserved Area application must request
   authorization for only one CGSA and must not propose a CGSA overlap
   with an existing CGSA.

   (d) Settlements among some, but not all, applicants with mutually
   exclusive applications for Unserved Area (partial settlements) under
   this section are prohibited. Settlements among all applicants with
   mutually exclusive applications under this section (full settlements)
   are allowed and must be filed no later than the date that the FCC Form
   175 (short-form) is filed.

   [ 79 FR 72152 , Dec. 5, 2014]