Sec. 90.685  Authorization, construction and implementation of EA 
          licenses.

    (a) EA licenses in the 806-821/851-866 MHz band will be issued for a 
term not to exceed ten years. Additionally, EA

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licensees generally will be afforded a renewal expectancy only for those 
stations put into service after August 10, 1996.
    (b) EA licensees in the 806-821/851-866 MHz band must, within three 
years of the grant of their initial license, construct and place into 
operation a sufficient number of base stations to provide coverage to at 
least one-third of the population of its EA-based service area. Further, 
each EA licensee must provide coverage to at least two-thirds of the 
population of the EA-based service area within five years of the grant 
of their initial license. Alternatively, EA licensees in Channel blocks 
D through V in the 806-821/851-866 MHz band must provide substantial 
service to their markets within five years of the grant of their initial 
license. Substantial service shall be defined as: ``Service which is 
sound, favorable, and substantially above a level of mediocre service.''
    (c) Channel use requirement. In addition to the population coverage 
requirements described in this section, we will require EA licensees in 
Channel blocks A, B and C in the 816-821/861-866 MHz band to construct 
50 percent of the total channels included in their spectrum block in at 
least one location in their respective EA-based service area within 
three years of initial license grant and to retain such channel usage 
for the remainder of the construction period.
    (d) An EA licensee's failure to meet the population coverage 
requirements of paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, will result in 
forfeiture of the entire EA license. Forfeiture of the EA license, 
however, would not result in the loss of any constructed facilities 
authorized to the licensee prior to the date of the commencement of the 
auction for the EA licenses.
[ 62 FR 41216 , July 31, 1997]