Sec. 25.144  Licensing provisions for the 2.3 GHz satellite digital 
          audio radio service.

    (a) Qualification Requirements:
    (1) Satellite CD Radio, Primosphere Limited Partnership, Digital 
Satellite Broadcasting Corporation, and American Mobile Radio 
Corporation are the applicants eligible for licensing in the satellite 
digital audio radio service.
    (2) General Requirements: Each application for a system 
authorization in the satellite digital audio radio service in the 2310-
2360 MHz band shall describe in detail the proposed satellite digital 
audio radio system, setting forth all pertinent technical and 
operational aspects of the system, and the technical, legal, and 
financial qualifications of the applicant. In particular, applicants 
must file information demonstrating compliance with Sec. 25.114 and all 
of the requirements of this section.
    (3) Technical Qualifications: In addition to the information 
specified in

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paragraph (a)(1) of this section, each applicant shall:
    (i) Demonstrate that its system will, at a minimum, service the 48 
contiguous states of the United States (full CONUS);
    (ii) Certify that its satellite DARS system includes a receiver that 
will permit end users to access all licensed satellite DARS systems that 
are operational or under construction; and
    (iii) Identify the compression rate it will use to transmit audio 
programming. If applicable, the applicant shall identify the compression 
rate it will use to transmit services that are ancillary to satellite 
DARS.
    (b) Milestone Requirements. Each applicant for system authorization 
in the satellite digital audio radio service must demonstrate within 10 
days after a required implementation milestone as specified in the 
system authorization, and on the basis of the documentation contained in 
its application, certify to the Commission by affidavit that the 
milestone has been met or notify the Commission by letter that it has 
not been met. At its discretion, the Commission may require the 
submission of additional information (supported by affidavit of a person 
or persons with knowledge thereof) to demonstrate that the milestone has 
been met. This showing shall include all information described in 
Sec. 25.140 (c), (d) and (e). The satellite DARS milestones are as 
follows, based on the date of authorization:
    (1) One year: Complete contracting for construction of first space 
station or begin space station construction;
    (2) Two years: If applied for, complete contracting for construction 
of second space station or begin second space station construction;
    (3) Four years: In orbit operation of at least one space station; 
and
    (4) Six years: Full operation of the satellite system.
    (c) Reporting requirements. All licensees of satellite digital audio 
radio service systems shall, on June 30 of each year, file a report with 
the International Bureau and the Commission's Laurel, Maryland field 
office containing the following information:
    (1) Status of space station construction and anticipated launch 
date, including any major problems or delay encountered;
    (2) A listing of any non-scheduled space station outages for more 
than thirty minutes and the cause(s) of such outages; and
    (3) Identification of any space station(s) not available for service 
or otherwise not performing to specifications, the cause(s) of these 
difficulties, and the date any space station was taken out of service or 
the malfunction identified.
    (d) The license term for each digital audio radio service satellite 
shall commence when the satellite is launched and put into operation and 
the term will run for eight years.
[ 62 FR 11105 , Mar. 11, 1997]

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