Sec. 22.537  Technical channel assignment criteria.

    The rules in this section establish technical assignment criteria 
for the channels listed in Sec. 22.531. These criteria permit channel 
assignments to be made in a manner such that reception by public paging 
receivers of signals from base transmitters, within the service area of 
such base transmitters, is protected from interference caused by the 
operation of independent co-channel base transmitters.
    (a) Contour overlap. The FCC may grant an application requesting 
assignment of a channel to a proposed base transmitter only if:

[[Page 148]]

    (1) The interfering contour of the proposed transmitter does not 
overlap the service contour of any protected co-channel transmitter 
controlled by a carrier other than the applicant, unless that carrier 
has agreed in writing to accept any interference that may result from 
operation of the proposed transmitter; and,
    (2) The service contour of the proposed transmitter does not overlap 
the interfering contour of any protected co-channel transmitter 
controlled by a carrier other than the applicant, unless the applicant 
agrees to accept any interference that may result from operation of the 
protected co-channel transmitter; and,
    (3) The area and/or population to which service would be provided by 
the proposed transmitter is substantial, and service gained would exceed 
that lost as a result of agreements to accept interference.
    (b) Protected transmitter. For the purposes of this section, 
protected transmitters are authorized transmitters for which there is a 
current FCC public record and transmitters proposed in prior-filed 
pending applications.
    (c) VHF service contour. For paging stations transmitting on the VHF 
channels, the distance from the transmitting antenna to the service 
contour along each cardinal radial is calculated as follows:
d=1.243 x h0.40 x p0.20
where d is the radial distance in kilometers
h is the radial antenna HAAT in meters
p is the radial ERP in Watts
    (1) Whenever the actual HAAT is less than 30 meters (98 feet), 30 
must be used as the value for h in the above formula.
    (2) The value used for p in the above formula must not be less than 
27 dB less than the maximum ERP in any direction or 0.1 Watt, whichever 
is more.
    (3) The distance from the transmitting antenna to the service 
contour along any radial other than the eight cardinal radials is 
routinely calculated by linear interpolation of distance as a function 
of angle. However, in resolving petitions to deny, the FCC may calculate 
the distance to the service contour using the formula in paragraph (c) 
of this section with actual HAAT and ERP data for the inter-station 
radial and additional radials above and below the inter-station radial 
at 2.5 deg. intervals.
    (d) VHF interfering contour. For paging stations transmitting on the 
VHF channels, the distance from the transmitting antenna to the 
interfering contour along each cardinal radial is calculated as follows:
d=6.509 x h0.28 x p0.17
where d is the radial distance in kilometers
h is the radial antenna HAAT in meters
p is the radial ERP in Watts
    (1) Whenever the actual HAAT is less than 30 meters (98 feet), 30 
must be used as the value for h in the above formula.
    (2) The value used for p in the above formula must not be less than 
27 dB less than the maximum ERP in any direction or 0.1 Watt, whichever 
is more.
    (3) The distance from the transmitting antenna to the interfering 
contour along any radial other than the eight cardinal radials is 
routinely calculated by linear interpolation of distance as a function 
of angle. In resolving petitions to deny, however, the FCC may calculate 
the distance to the interfering contour using the formula in paragraph 
(d) of this section with actual HAAT and ERP data for the inter-station 
radial and additional radials above and below the inter-station radial 
at 2.5 deg. intervals.
    (e) 931 MHz service contour. For paging stations transmitting on the 
931 MHz channels, the service contour is a circle, centered on the 
transmitting antenna, with a radius determined from Table E-1 of this 
section.

                                    Table E-1.--931 MHz Paging Service Radii                                    
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Service radius km (miles)                            Effective radiated power (Watts)                      
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Antenna HAAT meters (feet)         0-125       126-250      251-500      501-1000    1001-1860    1861-3500 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0-177.............................    32.2 (20)    32.2 (20)    32.2 (20)    32.2 (20)    32.2 (20)    32.2 (20)

[[Page 149]]

                                                                                                                
(0-581)                                                                                                         
178-305...........................    32.2 (20)    32.2 (20)    32.2 (20)    32.2 (20)    37.0 (23)    41.8 (26)
(582-1001)                                                                                                      
306-427...........................    32.2 (20)    32.2 (20)    37.0 (23)    41.8 (26)    56.3 (35)    56.3 (35)
(1002-1401)                                                                                                     
428-610...........................    32.2 (20)    37.0 (23)    41.8 (26)    56.3 (35)    56.3 (35)    56.3 (35)
(1402-2001)                                                                                                     
611-861...........................    37.0 (23)    41.8 (26)    41.8 (26)    56.3 (35)    83.7 (52)    83.7 (52)
(2002-2825)                                                                                                     
862-1219..........................    41.8 (26)    56.3 (35)    56.3 (35)    83.7 (52)    83.7 (52)    83.7 (52)
(2826-3999)                                                                                                     
1220+.............................    56.3 (35)    56.3 (35)    83.7 (52)    83.7 (52)    83.7 (52)    83.7 (52)
(4000+)                                                                                                         
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (f) 931 MHz interfering contour. For paging stations transmitting on 
the 931 MHz channels, the interfering contour is a circle, centered on 
the transmitting antenna, with a radius determined from Table E-2 of 
this section.

                                  Table E-2.--931 MHz Paging Interfering Radii                                  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Interfering radius km (miles)                          Effective radiated power (Watts)                      
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Antenna HAAT meters (feet)         0-125       126-250      251-500      501-1000    1001-1860    1861-3500 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0-177.............................    80.5 (50)    80.5 (50)    80.5 (50)    80.5 (50)    80.5 (50)    80.5 (50)
(0-581)                                                                                                         
178-305...........................    80.5 (50)    80.5 (50)    80.5 (50)    80.5 (50)    88.5 (55)    96.6 (60)
(582-1001)                                                                                                      
306-427...........................    80.5 (50)    80.5 (50)    88.5 (55)    96.6 (60)   130.4 (81)   130.4 (81)
(1002-1401)                                                                                                     
428-610...........................    80.5 (50)    88.5 (55)    96.6 (60)   130.4 (81)   130.4 (81)   130.4 (81)
(1402-2001)                                                                                                     
611-861...........................    88.5 (55)    96.6 (60)    96.6 (60)   130.4 (81)  191.5 (119)  191.5 (119)
(2002-2825)                                                                                                     
862-1219..........................    96.6 (60)   130.4 (81)   130.4 (81)  191.5 (119)  191.5 (119)  191.5 (119)
(2826-3999)                                                                                                     
1220+                                                                                                           
(4000+)...........................   130.4 (81)   130.4 (81)  191.5 (119)  191.5 (119)  191.5 (119)  191.5 (119)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (g) In-building radiation systems. The locations of in-building 
radiation systems must be within the service contour(s) of the 
licensee's authorized transmitter(s) on the same channel. In-building 
radiation systems are not protected facilities, and therefore do not 
have service or interfering contours.
    (h) Signal boosters on 931 MHz channels. For the purpose of 
compliance with Sec. 22.165 and notwithstanding paragraphs (e) and (f) 
of this section, signal boosters operating on the 931 MHz channels with 
an antenna HAAT not exceeding 30 meters (98 feet) are deemed to have as 
a service contour a circle with a radius of 1.0 kilometer (0.6 mile) and 
as an interfering contour a circle with a radius of 10 kilometers (6.2 
miles).
[ 59 FR 59507 , Nov. 17, 1994, as amended at  61 FR 31051 , June 19, 1996]