Sec. 90.631  Trunked systems loading, construction and authorization 
          requirements.

    (a) Non-SMR trunked systems will be authorized on the basis of a 
loading criteria of one hundred (100) mobile stations per channel. For 
purposes of determining compliance with trunked system loading 
requirements under this subpart, the term ``mobile station'' includes 
vehicular and portable mobile units and control stations.
    (b) Each applicant for a non-SMR trunked system must certify that a 
minimum of seventy (70) mobiles for each channel authorized will be 
placed

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into operation within five (5) years of the initial license grant. 
Except for SMR systems licensed in the 806-821/851-866 MHz band and as 
indicated in paragraph (i) of this section, if at the end of five (5) 
years a trunked system is not loaded to the prescribed levels and all 
channels in the licensee's category are assigned in the system's 
geographic area, authorizations for trunked channels not loaded to 
seventy (70) mobile stations cancels automatically at a rate that allows 
the licensee to retain one channel for every one hundred (100) mobiles 
loaded, plus one additional channel. If a trunked system has channels 
from more than one category, Spectrum Block D frequencies in the 800 MHz 
SMR service (formerly General Category) channels are the first channels 
considered to cancel automatically. All non-SMR licensees initially 
authorized before June 1, 1993, that are within their original license 
term, or SMR licensees that are within the term of a two-year 
authorization granted in accordance with paragraph (i) of this section, 
are subject to this condition. A licensee that has authorized channels 
cancelled due to failure to meet the above loading requirements will not 
be authorized additional channels to expand that same system for a 
period of six (6) months from the date of cancellation.
    (c) Except for SMR applicants and as provided in paragraph (d) of 
this section, an applicant seeking to expand a trunked system by 
requesting additional channels from the Commission, or through 
intercategory sharing, or through an assignment, must have a loading 
level of seventy (70) mobiles per channel on the existing system that is 
the subject of the expansion request.
    (d) In rural areas, a licensee of a trunked system may request to 
increase its system capacity by five more channels than it has 
constructed without meeting the loading requirements specified in 
paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section. A rural area is defined for 
purposes of this section as being beyond a 100-mile radius of the 
designated centers of the following urbanized areas, as well as those 
areas that have a waiting list. (Rural areas may be different for 800 
and 900 MHz channels since the Commission maintains separate waiting 
lists for these frequency bands.) The identified urbanized areas are: 
New York, NY; Los Angeles, CA; Chicago, IL; Philadelphia, PA: San 
Francisco, CA; Detroit, MI; Boston, MA; Houston, TX; Washington, DC; 
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX; Miami, FL; Cleveland, OH; St. Louis, MO; Atlanta, 
GA; Pittsburgh, PA; Baltimore, MD; Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN; Seattle, 
WA; San Diego, CA; and Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL. The coordinates for the 
centers of these areas are those referenced in Sec. 90.635, except that 
the coordinates for Tampa-St. Petersburg are latitude 28 deg.00'00'' N, 
longitude 82 deg.27'00'' W. Where waiting lists determine whether an 
area is rural, the designated centers of those areas will be identified 
on the actual waiting lists released by the Commission. If a waiting 
list is later established in a rural area, licensees who have acquired 
additional channels pursuant to this paragraph will be subject to the 
automatic cancellation provisions in paragraph (b) of this section at 
the end of one year from the date the area first appears on a Commission 
waiting list, or at the end of their license term, whichever is longer.
    (e) Except as provided in Sec. 90.629, licensees of trunked 
facilities must complete construction within one year.
    (f) If a station is not placed in permanent operation, in accordance 
with the technical parameters of the station authorization, within one 
year, except as provided in Sec. 90.629, its license cancels 
automatically and must be returned to the Commission. For purposes of 
this section, a base station is not considered to be placed in operation 
unless at least two associated mobile stations, or one control station 
and one mobile station, are also placed in operation. An SMR licensee 
with facilities that have discontinued operations for 90 continuous days 
after the effective date of this rule is presumed to have permanently 
discontinued operations, unless the licensee notifies the FCC otherwise 
prior to the end of the 90 day period and provides a date on which 
operation will resume, which date must not be in excess of 30 additional 
days.
    (g) Wide area systems may be authorized to persons eligible for 
licensing

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under subparts B or C of this part upon an appropriate showing of need. 
Remote or satellite stations of wide area systems in the Public Safety, 
Special Emergency, Telephone Maintenance, and Power Radio Services may 
be authorized on a primary basis if such stations are the first to be 
authorized in their area of operation on the frequency or group of 
frequencies. Remote or satellite stations of wide area systems in all 
other services will be authorized only on a secondary, non-interference 
basis to cochannel licensees. To determine system loading, the total 
number of mobile units and control stations operating in the wide-area 
system shall be counted with respect to the total number of base station 
frequencies assigned to the system.
    (h) Regional, statewide, or ribbon configuration systems may be 
authorized to persons eligible for licensing under subparts B or C of 
this part upon an appropriate showing of need. In a ribbon, regional or 
statewide system, a mobile station will be counted for channel loading 
purposes only for the base station facility in the geographic area in 
which it primarily operates. If this cannot be determined, it will be 
counted fractionally over the number of base station facilities with 
which it communicates regularly.
    (i) For SMRS category trunked systems licensed in the 896-901/935-
940 MHz band (other than MTA-licensed systems), if at the end of the 
initial five-year license term the licensee of such a trunked system has 
not satisfied the loading requirements of paragraph (b) of this section, 
the licensee requesting renewal of its license will be granted a renewal 
for only a two-year period. Regardless of the date of grant of the two-
year renewal, the licensee will be required to comply fully with the 
minimum requirements set forth in paragraph (b) of this section at the 
end of the two-year renewal term. As an exception to this requirement, 
if the licensee obtains the MTA license covering its assigned spectrum 
in accordance with Secs. 90.661 through 90.671, these loading 
requirements will no longer be applicable and the coverage requirements 
of Sec. 90.665 will govern.
[ 47 FR 41032 , Sept. 16, 1982, as amended at  48 FR 51929 , Nov. 15, 1983; 
 49 FR 36377 , Sept. 17, 1984;  53 FR 12157 , Apr. 13, 1988;  57 FR 37731 , 
Aug. 20, 1992;  58 FR 12177 , Mar. 3, 1993;  59 FR 59966 , Nov. 21, 1994;  60 FR 21991 , May 4, 1995;  60 FR 48918 , Sept. 21, 1995;  61 FR 6157 , Feb. 16, 
1996;  61 FR 6577 , Feb. 21, 1996;  62 FR 18935 , Apr. 17, 1997]

    Effective Date Note: At  62 FR 18935 , Apr. 17, 1997, Sec. 90.631 was 
amended by revising the first sentences of paragraphs (g) and (h), 
effective Oct. 17, 1997.