§ 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. (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 following designated centers of the following urban areas: 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 § 90.741, except that the coordinates (referenced to North American Datum 1983 (NAD83)) for Tampa-St. Petersburg are latitude 28°00′1.1″ N, longitude 82°26′59.3″ W. (e) Except as provided in § 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 § 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. (g) [Reserved] (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.