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700 MHz Commercial and Public Safety Spectrum
SERVICE RULES
The FCC mandated a build out requirement that 75 percent of the population must be covered within 4 years, 95 percent of the population within seven (7) years, and 99.3 percent of the population within ten (10) years of the commencement of the license term (February 17, 2009). A specific build-out schedule is to be included in the NSA.
c. Reimbursement for Relocation of Public Safety Narrowband Licensees
There are some public safety narrowband licensees who have already built out their wireless systems who will be required to retune their equipment to operate on the lower frequencies. The FCC's rules require that the Upper 700 MHz Block D licensee reimburse the public safety entities for the actual cost of retuning equipment, provided that such equipment is operational and the cost information is provided to the FCC no later than 30 days after adoption of the new rules. The FCC capped the total reimbursement amount at $10 million.
d. Protection of the Public Safety Network
The FCC's rules require the Upper 700 MHz D Block licensee to set up bankruptcy remote special purpose entities to hold the Block D license, the network assets, and to lease the spectrum associated with the Block D license. Opinion letters will be required to ensure the bankruptcy protection provided by the special purpose entities. The FCC further established procedures for special temporary operation, transfer of the network assets and issuance of a new license in the event of cancellation of the Upper 700 MHz Block D license for failure to comply with the FCC’s rules or in the event of business failure. Partitioning and disaggregation of the spectrum will not be permitted.
IV. BUILD-OUT REQUIREMENTS
In the new rules, the FCC replaced its current “substantial service” performance requirement with new, more stringent performance requirements for the commercial licenses in the 700 MHz Band. These substantial service requirements include the use of interim and end-of-term benchmarks, with geographic area benchmarks for licenses based on CMAs and EAs, and population benchmarks for licenses based on REAGs. Licensees must meet the interim requirements within four
