Sec.  101.1323   Spectrum aggregation, disaggregation, and partitioning.

   (a) Eligibility. (1) Parties seeking approval for partitioning and
   disaggregation shall request from the Commission an authorization for
   partial assignment of license. Geographic area licensees may participate in
   aggregation, disaggregation, and partitioning within the bands licensed on a
   geographic area basis. Site-based licensees may aggregate spectrum in any
   MAS bands, but may not disaggregate their licensed spectrum or partition
   their licensed sites.

   (2) Eligible MAS licensees may apply to the Commission to partition their
   licensed geographic service areas to eligible entities and are free to
   determine the portion of their service areas to be partitioned. Eligible MAS
   licensees may aggregate or disaggregate their licensed spectrum at any time
   following the grant of a license.

   (b) Technical standards—(1) Aggregation. (i) There is no limitation on the
   amount of spectrum that an MAS licensee may aggregate.

   (ii) Spectrum licensed to MAS licensees does not count toward the CMRS
   spectrum cap discussed in  Sec. 20.6 of this chapter.

   (2) Disaggregation. Spectrum may be disaggregated in any amount. A licensee
   need not retain a minimum amount of spectrum.

   (3) Partitioning. In the case of partitioning, applicants and licensees must
   file FCC Form 603 pursuant to  Sec. 1.948 of this chapter and list the
   partitioned service area on a schedule to the application. The geographic
   coordinates must be specified in degrees, minutes, and seconds to the
   nearest second of latitude and longitude, and must be based upon the 1983
   North American Datum (NAD83).

   (4) Combined partitioning and disaggregation. The Commission will consider
   requests from geographic area licensees for partial assignment of licenses
   that propose combinations of partitioning and disaggregation.

   (c) Construction requirements—(1) Disaggregation. Partial assignors and
   assignees for license disaggregation have two options to meet construction
   requirements. Under the first option, the disaggregator and disaggregatee
   would certify that they each will share responsibility for meeting the
   applicable construction requirements set forth in  Sec. 101.1325 for the
   geographic service area. If parties choose this option and either party
   fails to meet the applicable construction requirements, both licenses would
   be subject to forfeiture at renewal. The second option allows the parties to
   agree that either the disaggregator or disaggregatee would be responsible
   for meeting the requirements in  Sec. 101.1325 for the geographic service area.
   If parties choose this option, and the party responsible for meeting the
   construction requirement fails to do so, only the license of the
   non-performing party would be subject to forfeiture at renewal.

   (2) Partitioning. Partial assignors and assignees for license partitioning
   have two options to meet construction requirements. Under the first option,
   the partitionor and partitionee would each certify that they will
   independently satisfy the applicable construction requirements set forth in
    Sec. 101.1325 for their respective partitioned areas. If either licensee fails
   to meet its requirement in  Sec. 101.1325, only the non-performing licensee's
   renewal application would be subject to dismissal. Under the second option,
   the partitionor certifies that it has met or will meet the requirement in
    Sec. 101.1325 for the entire market. If the partitionor fails to meet the
   requirement in  Sec. 101.1325, however, only its license would be subject to
   forfeiture at renewal.

   (3) All applications requesting partial assignments of license for
   partitioning or disaggregation must certify in the appropriate portion of
   the application which construction option is selected.

   (4) Responsible parties must submit supporting documents showing compliance
   with the respective construction requirements within the appropriate
   construction benchmarks set forth in  Sec. 101.1325.

   (d) License term. The license term for a partitioned license area and for
   disaggregated spectrum shall be the remainder of the original licensee's
   license term as provided for in  Sec. 101.1313.

   [ 65 FR 17450 , Apr. 3, 2000, as amended at  67 FR 45380 , July 9, 2002]

System Requirements