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 into
   operation within five (5) years of the initial license grant. Except for SMR
   systems licensed in the 809–816/854–861 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 cancel 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,
   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 loading
   requirements of this section will not be authorized additional channels to
   expand that same system for a period of six 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 (referenced to North American Datum 1983 (NAD83)) for
   Tampa-St. Petersburg are latitude 28 °00'01.1" N, longitude 82 °26'59.3" 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. 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 is presumed to have permanently discontinued operations, unless the
   licensee notifies the Commission otherwise, using FCC Form 601, 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
   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
    Sec.  Sec. 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;  63 FR 68969 , Dec. 14, 1998;
    69 FR 67849 , Nov. 22, 2004]