§  90.685   Authorization, construction and implementation of EA licenses.

   (a) EA licenses in the 809-824/854-869 MHz band will be issued for a
   term not to exceed ten years.

   (b) EA licensees in the 809-824/854-869 MHz band must, within three
   years of the grant of their initial license, construct and place into
   operation a sufficient number of base stations to provide coverage to
   at least one-third of the population of its EA-based service area.
   Further, each EA licensee must provide coverage to at least two-thirds
   of the population of the EA-based service area within five years of the
   grant of their initial license. EA-based licensees may, in the
   alternative, provide substantial service to their markets within five
   years of the grant of their initial license. Substantial service shall
   be defined as: “Service which is sound, favorable, and substantially
   above a level of mediocre service.”

   (c) Channel use requirement. In addition to the population coverage
   requirements described in this section, we will require EA licensees in
   Channel blocks A, B and C in the 816-821/861-866 MHz band to construct
   50 percent of the total channels included in their spectrum block in at
   least one location in their respective EA-based service area within
   three years of initial license grant and to retain such channel usage
   for the remainder of the construction period.

   (d) An EA licensee's failure to meet the population coverage
   requirements of paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, will result in
   forfeiture of the entire EA license. Forfeiture of the EA license,
   however, would not result in the loss of any constructed facilities
   authorized to the licensee prior to the date of the commencement of the
   auction for the EA licenses.

   (e) EA licensees operating on channels listed in § 90.614(b) and (c)
   must implement an Enhanced Specialized Mobile Radio (ESMR) system—as
   defined in § 90.7—on their EA license and any associated site-based
   licenses prior to the expiration date of the EA license. EA licensees
   operating on these channels shall follow the construction notification
   procedures set forth in § 1.946(d) of this chapter. Failure to implement
   an ESMR system on their EA and site-based licenses before the
   expiration date of the EA license will result in termination of the EA
   license and any associated site-based licenses pursuant to § 1.946(c) of
   this chapter.

   [ 62 FR 41216 , July 31, 1997, as amended at  69 FR 67852 , Nov. 22, 2004;
    70 FR 6760 , Feb. 8, 2005;  70 FR 76712 , Dec. 28, 2005;  82 FR 41548 ,
   Sept. 1, 2017]