§ 80.60 Partitioned licenses and disaggregated spectrum. ( a ) Except as specified in § 20.15(c) of this chapter with respect to commercial mobile radio service providers, charges must not be made for service of: ( 1 ) VHF Public Coast area licensees, *see* § 80.371(c)(1)(ii), may partition their geographic service area or disaggregate their spectrum pursuant to the procedures set forth in this section.
( 2 ) AMTS geographic area licensees, *see* § 80.385(a)(3), may partition their geographic service area or disaggregate their spectrum pursuant to the procedures set forth in this section. Site-based AMTS public coast station licensees may partition their license or disaggregate their spectrum pursuant to the procedures set forth in this section, provided that the partitionee or disaggregatee's predicted 38 dBu signal level contour does not extend beyond the partitioner or disaggregator's predicted 38 dBu signal level contour. The predicted 38 dBu signal level contours shall be calculated using the F(50, 50) field strength chart for Channels 7-13 in § 73.699 (Fig. 10) of this chapter, with a 9 dB correction for antenna height differential.
( 3 ) Nationwide or multi-region LF, MF, and HF public coast station licensees, *see* §§ 80.357(b)(1), 80.361(a), 80.363(a)(2), 80.371(b), and 80.374, may partition their spectrum pursuant to the procedures set forth in this section, except that frequencies or frequency pairs licensed to more than one licensee as of March 13, 2002 may be partitioned only by the earliest licensee, and only on the condition that the partitionee shall operate on a secondary, non-interference basis to stations licensed as of March 13, 2002 other than the earliest licensee. Coordination with government users is required for partitioning of spectrum the licensing of which is subject to coordination with government users.
( b ) *Technical standards* — ( 1 ) *Partitioning.* In the case of partitioning, all requests for authorization for partial assignment of a license must include, as an attachment, a description of the partitioned 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 (e.g., Metropolitan Service Area, Rural Service Area, or Economic Area) or county lines are used. 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). In a 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.* VHF (156-162 MHz) spectrum may only be disaggregated according to frequency pairs. AMTS 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 ) *License term.* The license term for a partitioned license area and for disaggregated spectrum shall be the remainder of the original licensee's term as provided for in § 80.25 of this part.
( d ) *Partitioning and disaggregation construction requirements for site-based AMTS, and nationwide or multi-region LF, MF, and HF public coast.* Parties seeking to acquire a partitioned license or disaggregated spectrum from a site-based AMTS, or nationwide or multi-region LF, MF, and HF public coast licensee will be required to construct and commence “service to subscribers” in all facilities acquired through such transactions within the original construction deadline for each facility as set forth in § 80.49. Failure to meet the individual construction deadline will result in the automatic termination of the facility's authorization.
[63 FR 40063, July 27, 1998, as amended at 67 FR 48563, July 25, 2002; 69 FR 64671, Nov. 8, 2004; 82 FR 41548, Sept. 1, 2017]