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 NEWS  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974).  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE  News  Media  Contact:  April  12,  2006  Bruce  Romano  (202)  418-  2124 
 E-  mail:  bruce.  romano@  fcc.  gov 
 FCC  ADOPTS  RELOCATION  PROCEDURES  AND  COST  SHARING  RULES  TO  FACILITATE  ACCESS  OF  SPECTRUM  FOR  ADVANCED  WIRELESS  SERVICES 


 Washington,  DC  –  Today,  the  Federal  Communications  Commission  adopted  a  Ninth  Report  and  Order  establishing  procedures  by  which  new  Advanced  Wireless  Service  (AWS) 
 licensees  may  relocate  incumbent  Broadband  Radio  Service  (BRS)  and  Fixed  Microwave  Service  (FS)  operations  in  spectrum  that  has  been  allocated  for  AWS.  These  procedures  will 
 promote  the  rapid  deployment  of  broadband,  voice,  and  data  services  to  the  public  by  new  AWS  licensees,  and  also  will  minimize  the  disruption  to  incumbent  BRS  and  FS  licensees  during  the 
 relocation  process.  The  relocation  rules  affect  existing  BRS  operations  in  the  2150-  2160/  62  MHz  band  and  FS  operations  in  the  2110-  2150  MHz  and  2160-  2200  MHz  bands.  The 
 Commission  also  established  cost  sharing  obligations  for  AWS  and  Mobile  Satellite  Service  (MSS)  entrants  that  benefit  from  the  relocation  of  FS  and  BRS  operations  in  these  bands. 


 The  relocation  procedures  in  this  item  generally  follow  the  Commission’s  Emerging  Technologies  relocation  policy,  with  modifications  to  accommodate  the  unique  characteristics  of 
 the  incumbent  BRS  and  FS  operations  in  the  bands.  The  procedures  are  designed  to  balance  –  on  one  hand  –  the  new  entrant’s  interest  to  quickly  deploy  new  services  in  the  band,  and  –  on  the 
 other  –  the  need  to  minimize  disruption,  during  the  transition,  to  incumbent  operations  and  their  associated  customers.  The  primary  characteristics  of  this  policy  are  as  follows:  (1)  as  the  new 
 entrant  builds  out  its  network,  it  will  relocate  incumbents;  (2)  a  new  entrant  does  not  begin  operations  in  a  particular  geographic  area  before  relocating  the  incumbents  with  which  it  would 
 cause  interference;  and  (3)  new  entrants  and  incumbents  are  allowed  a  period  of  time  to  negotiate  the  terms  of  the  incumbents’  move  to  comparable  facilities  and,  if  the  parties  are  unable  to  reach 
 an  agreement,  the  new  entrant  may  involuntarily  relocate  the  incumbent. 
 With  respect  to  the  Fixed  Service,  the  Ninth  R&  O  adopts  unified  relocation  procedures,  generally  based  on  existing  relocation  procedures,  for  FS  incumbents  in  the  2110-  2150  MHz, 
 2160-  2175  MHz,  and  2175-  2180  MHz  bands.  The  item  adopts  mandatory  negotiation  periods  that  are  individually  triggered  for  each  FS  licensee  in  all  of  these  AWS  bands  and  aligns  the 
 relocation  procedures  for  FS  incumbents  under  Parts  101  and  22  of  the  Commission’s  rules. 
 The  Ninth  Report  and  Order  also  establishes  cost  sharing  rules  for  AWS  and  MSS  entrants  that  we  believe  will  serve  the  public  interest  by  distributing  relocation  costs  more 
 equitably  among  the  beneficiaries  of  the  relocation,  encouraging  the  simultaneous  relocation  of 
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 multi-  link  communications  systems,  and  accelerating  the  relocation  process,  thereby  promoting  more  rapid  deployment  of  new  services.  These  rules  are  based  on  the  procedures  previously 
 used  for  FS  relocations  by  Personal  Communications  Service  licensees,  and  will  be  administered  by  one  or  more  clearinghouses  to  be  selected  at  a  later  time. 


 The  adoption  of  relocation  procedures  for  BRS  also  permitted  the  Commission  to  issue  an  Order  dismissing  as  moot  a  petition  for  reconsideration  of  the  service  rules  for  AWS. 


 Action  by  the  Commission  on  April  12,  2006,  by  Ninth  Report  and  Order  and  Order  in  ET  Docket  No.  00-  258  and  WT  Docket  No.  02-  353  (FCC  06-  45).  Chairman  Martin, 
 Commisisoners  Copps,  Adelstein,  and  Tate.  Statements  issued  by  Commissioners  Adelstein  and  Tate. 


 Office  of  Engineering  &  Technology  contacts:  Priya  Shrinivasan  at  (202)  418-  7005  or  priya.  shrinivasan@  fcc.  gov;  Patrick  Forster  at  (202)  418-  7061  or  patrick.  forster@  fcc.  gov. 
 Wireless  Telecommunications  Bureau  contact:  Chelsea  Fallon  at  (202)  418-  7991  or  chelsea.  fallon@  fcc.  gov. 


 ET  Docket  No.  00-  258.  WT  Docket  No.  02-  353. 
 –  FCC  – 
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