§  74.799   Low power television and TV translator channel sharing.

   (a) Channel sharing generally. (1) Subject to the provisions of this
   section, low power television and TV translator stations may
   voluntarily seek Commission approval to share a single six megahertz
   channel with other low power television and TV translator stations,
   Class A television stations, and full power television stations.

   (2) Each station sharing a single channel pursuant to this section
   shall continue to be licensed and operated separately, have its own
   call sign and be separately subject to all of the Commission's
   obligations, rules, and policies.

   (b) Licensing of channel sharing stations. The low power television or
   TV translator channel sharing station relinquishing its channel must
   file an application for the initial channel sharing construction
   permit, include a copy of the channel sharing agreement as an exhibit,
   and cross reference the other sharing station(s). Any engineering
   changes necessitated by the channel sharing arrangement may be included
   in the station's application. Upon initiation of shared operations, the
   station relinquishing its channel must notify the Commission that it
   has terminated operation pursuant to § 73.1750 of this part and each
   sharing station must file an application for license.

   (c) Deadline for implementing channel sharing arrangements. Channel
   sharing arrangements submitted pursuant to this section must be
   implemented within three years of the grant of the initial channel
   sharing construction permit.

   (d) Channel sharing agreements. (1) Channel sharing agreements (CSAs)
   submitted under this section must contain provisions outlining each
   licensee's rights and responsibilities regarding:

   (i) Access to facilities, including whether each licensee will have
   unrestrained access to the shared transmission facilities;

   (ii) Allocation of bandwidth within the shared channel;

   (iii) Operation, maintenance, repair, and modification of facilities,
   including a list of all relevant equipment, a description of each
   party's financial obligations, and any relevant notice provisions;

   (iv) Transfer/assignment of a shared license, including the ability of
   a new licensee to assume the existing CSA; and

   (v) Termination of the license of a party to the CSA, including
   reversion of spectrum usage rights to the remaining parties to the CSA.

   (2) CSAs must include provisions:

   (i) Affirming compliance with the channel sharing requirements in
   paragraph (d)(1) of this section and all relevant Commission rules and
   policies; and

   (ii) Requiring that each channel sharing licensee shall retain spectrum
   usage rights adequate to ensure a sufficient amount of the shared
   channel capacity to allow it to provide at least one Standard
   Definition program stream at all times.

   (e) Upon termination of the license of a party to a CSA, the spectrum
   usage rights covered by that license may revert to the remaining
   parties to the CSA. Such reversion shall be governed by the terms of
   the CSA in accordance with paragraph (d)(1)(v) of this section. If upon
   termination of the license of a party to a CSA only one party to the
   CSA remains, the remaining licensee may file an application to change
   its license to non-shared status using FCC Form 2100, Schedule D.

   (f) If the rights under a CSA are transferred or assigned, the assignee
   or the transferee must comply with the terms of the CSA in accordance
   with paragraph (d)(1)(iv) of this section. If the transferee or
   assignee and the licensees of the remaining channel sharing station or
   stations agree to amend the terms of the existing CSA, the agreement
   may be amended, subject to Commission approval.

   (g) Channel sharing between low power television or TV translator
   stations and Class A television stations or full power television
   stations. (1) A low power television or TV translator sharee station
   (defined as a station relinquishing a channel in order to share) that
   is a party to a CSA with a full power television sharer station
   (defined as the station hosting a sharee pursuant to a CSA) must comply
   with the rules of part 73 of this chapter governing power levels and
   interference, and must comply in all other respects with the rules and
   policies applicable to low power television or TV translator stations
   set forth in this part.

   (2) A low power television or TV translator sharee station that is a
   party to a CSA with a Class A television sharer station must comply
   with the rules governing power levels and interference that are
   applicable to Class A television stations, and must comply in all other
   respects with the rules and policies applicable to low power television
   or TV translator stations set forth in this part.

   (h) Notice to cable systems. (1) Stations participating in channel
   sharing agreements must provide notice to cable systems that:

   (i) No longer will be required to carry the station because of the
   relocation of the station;

   (ii) Currently carry and will continue to be obligated to carry a
   station that will change channels; or

   (iii) Will become obligated to carry the station due to a channel
   sharing relocation.

   (2) The notice required by this section must contain the following
   information:

   (i) Date and time of any channel changes;

   (ii) The channel occupied by the station before and after
   implementation of the CSA;

   (iii) Modification, if any, to antenna position, location, or power
   levels;

   (iv) Stream identification information; and

   (v) Engineering staff contact information.

   (3) Should any of the information in paragraph (h)(2) of this section
   change, an amended notification must be sent.

   (4) Sharee stations must provide notice as required by this section at
   least 90 days prior to terminating operations on the sharee's channel.
   Sharer stations and sharee stations must provide notice as required by
   this section at least 90 days prior to initiation of operations on the
   sharer channel. Should the anticipated date to either cease operations
   or commence channel sharing operations change, the stations must send a
   further notice to affected cable systems informing them of the new
   anticipated date(s).

   (5) Notifications provided to cable systems pursuant to this section
   must be either mailed to the system's official address of record
   provided in the cable system's most recent filing in the FCC's Cable
   Operations and Licensing System (COALS) Form 322, or emailed to the
   system if the system has provided an email address.

   [ 81 FR 5053 , Feb. 1, 2016. Redesignated and amended at  82 FR 18251 ,
   Apr. 18, 2017]

   

Subpart H—Low Power Auxiliary Stations