CFR

1.946—Construction and coverage requirements.

(a) Construction and commencement of service requirements. For each of the Wireless Radio Services, requirements for construction and commencement of service or commencement of operations are set forth in the rule part governing the specific service. For purposes of this section, the period between the date of grant of an authorization and the date of required commencement of service or operations is referred to as the construction period.

(b) Coverage and substantial service requirements. In certain Wireless Radio Services, licensees must comply with geographic coverage requirements or substantial service requirements within a specified time period. These requirements are set forth in the rule part governing each specific service. For purposes of this section, the period between the date of grant of an authorization and the date that a particular degree of coverage or substantial service is required is referred to as the coverage period.

(c) Termination of authorizations. If a licensee fails to commence service or operations by the expiration of its construction period or to meet its coverage or substantial service obligations by the expiration of its coverage period, its authorization terminates automatically (in whole or in part as set forth in the service rules), without specific Commission action, on the date the construction or coverage period expires.

(d) Licensee notification of compliance. A licensee who commences service or operations within the construction period or meets its coverage or substantial services obligations within the coverage period must notify the Commission by filing FCC Form 601. The notification must be filed within 15 days of the expiration of the applicable construction or coverage period. Where the authorization is site-specific, if service or operations have begun using some, but not all, of the authorized transmitters, the notification must show to which specific transmitters it applies.

(e) Requests for extension of time. Licensees may request to extend a construction period or coverage period by filing FCC Form 601. The request must be filed before the expiration of the construction or coverage period.

(1) An extension request may be granted if the licensee shows that failure to meet the construction or coverage deadline is due to involuntary loss of site or other causes beyond its control.

(2) Extension requests will not be granted for failure to meet a construction or coverage deadline due to delays caused by a failure to obtain financing, to obtain an antenna site, or to order equipment in a timely manner. If the licensee orders equipment within 90 days of its initial license grant, a presumption of diligence is established.

(3) Extension requests will not be granted for failure to meet a construction or coverage deadline because the licensee undergoes a transfer of control or because the licensee intends to assign the authorization. The Commission will not grant extension requests solely to allow a transferee or assignee to complete facilities that the transferor or assignor failed to construct.

(4) The filing of an extension request does not automatically extend the construction or coverage period unless the request is based on involuntary loss of site or other circumstances beyond the licensee's control, in which case the construction period is automatically extended pending disposition of the extension request.

(5) A request for extension of time to construct a particular transmitter or other facility does not extend the construction period for other transmitters and facilities under the same authorization.

[63 FR 68933, Dec. 14, 1998, as amended at 69 FR 46397, Aug. 3, 2004; 71 FR 52749, Sept. 7, 2006; 72 FR 48842, Aug. 24, 2007]

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