20.6—CMRS spectrum aggregation limit.

(a) Spectrum limitation. No licensee in the broadband PCS, cellular, or SMR services (including all parties under common control) regulated as CMRS (see 47 CFR 20.9) shall have an attributable interest in a total of more than 55 MHz of licensed broadband PCS, cellular, and SMR spectrum regulated as CMRS with significant overlap in any geographic area.

(b) SMR spectrum. To calculate the amount of attributable SMR spectrum for purposes of paragraph (a) of this section, an entity must count all 800 MHz and 900 MHz channels located at any SMR base station inside the geographic area (MTA or BTA) where there is significant overlap. All 800 MHz channels located on at least one of those identified base stations count as 50 kHz (25 kHz paired), and all 900 MHz channels located on at least one of those identified base stations count as 25 kHz (12.5 kHz paired); provided that any discrete 800 or 900 MHz channel shall be counted only once per licensee within the geographic area, even if the licensee in question utilizes the same channel at more than one location within the relevant geographic area. No more than 10 MHz of SMR spectrum in the 800 and 900 MHz SMR services will be attributed to an entity when determining compliance with the cap.

(c) Significant overlap. (1) For purposes of paragraph (a) of this section, significant overlap of a PCS licensed service area and CGSA(s) (as defined in § 22.911 of this chapter) or SMR service area(s) occurs when at least 10 percent of the population of the PCS licensed service area for the counties contained therein, as determined by the latest available decennial census figures as complied by the Bureau of the Census, is within the CGSA(s) and/or SMR service area(s).

(2) The Commission shall presume that an SMR service area covers less than 10 percent of the population of a PCS service area if none of the base stations of the SMR licensee are located within the PCS service area. For an SMR licensee's base stations that are located within a PCS service area, the channels licensed at those sites will be presumed to cover 10 percent of the population of the PCS service area, unless the licensee shows that its protected service contour for all of its base stations covers less than 10 percent of the population of the PCS service area.

(d) Ownership attribution. For purposes of paragraph (a) of this section, ownership and other interests in broadband PCS licensees, cellular licensees, or SMR licensees will be attributed to their holders pursuant to the following criteria:

(1) Controlling interest shall be attributable. Controlling interest means majority voting equity ownership, any general partnership interest, or any means of actual working control (including negative control) over the operation of the licensee, in whatever manner exercised.

(2) Partnership and other ownership interests and any stock interest amounting to 20 percent or more of the equity, or outstanding stock, or outstanding voting stock of a broadband PCS, cellular or SMR licensee shall be attributed, except that ownership will not be attributed unless the partnership and other ownership interests and any stock interest amount to at least 40 percent of the equity, or outstanding stock, or outstanding voting stock of a broadband PCS, cellular or SMR licensee if the ownership interest is held by a small business or a rural telephone company, as these terms are defined in § 1.2110 of this chapter or other related provisions of the Commission's rules, or if the ownership interest is held by an entity with a non-controlling equity interest in a broadband PCS licensee or applicant that is a small business.

(3) Investment companies, as defined in 15 U.S.C. 80a-3, insurance companies and banks holding stock through their trust departments in trust accounts will be considered to have an attributable interest only if they hold 40 percent or more of the outstanding voting stock of a corporate broadband PCS, cellular or SMR licensee, or if any of the officers or directors of the broadband PCS, cellular or SMR licensee are representatives of the investment company, insurance company or bank concerned. Holdings by a bank or insurance company will be aggregated if the bank or insurance company has any right to determine how the stock will be voted. Holdings by investment companies will be aggregated if under common management.

(4) Non-voting stock shall be attributed as an interest in the issuing entity if in excess of the amounts set forth in paragraph (d)(2) of this section.

(5) Debt and instruments such as warrants, convertible debentures, options, or other interests (except non-voting stock) with rights of conversion to voting interests shall not be attributed unless and until converted, except that this provision does not apply in determining whether an entity is a small business, a rural telephone company, or a business owned by minorities and/or women, as these terms are defined in § 1.2110 of this chapter or other related provisions of the Commission's rules.

(6) Limited partnership interests shall be attributed to limited partners and shall be calculated according to both the percentage of equity paid in and the percentage of distribution of profits and losses.

(7) Officers and directors of a broadband PCS licensee or applicant, cellular licensee, or SMR licensee shall be considered to have an attributable interest in the entity with which they are so associated. The officers and directors of an entity that controls a broadband PCS licensee or applicant, a cellular licensee, or an SMR licensee shall be considered to have an attributable interest in the broadband PCS licensee or applicant, cellular licensee, or SMR licensee.

(8) Ownership interests that are held indirectly by any party through one or more intervening corporations will be determined by successive multiplication of the ownership percentages for each link in the vertical ownership chain and application of the relevant attribution benchmark to the resulting product, except that if the ownership percentage for an interest in any link in the chain exceeds 50 percent or represents actual control, it shall be treated as if it were a 100 percent interest. (For example, if A owns 20% of B, and B owns 40% of licensee C, then A's interest in licensee C would be 8%. If A owns 20% of B, and B owns 51% of licensee C, then A's interest in licensee C would be 20% because B's ownership of C exceeds 50%.)

(9) Any person who manages the operations of a broadband PCS, cellular, or SMR licensee pursuant to a management agreement shall be considered to have an attributable interest in such licensee if such person, or its affiliate, has authority to make decisions or otherwise engage in practices or activities that determine, or significantly influence,

(i) The nature or types of services offered by such licensee;

(ii) The terms upon which such services are offered; or

(iii) The prices charged for such services.

(10) Any licensee or its affiliate who enters into a joint marketing arrangements with a broadband PCS, cellular, or SMR licensee, or its affiliate shall be considered to have an attributable interest, if such licensee, or its affiliate, has authority to make decisions or otherwise engage in practices or activities that determine, or significantly influence,

(i) The nature or types of services offered by such licensee;

(ii) The terms upon which such services are offered; or

(iii) The prices charged for such services.

(e) Divestiture. (1) Divestiture of interests as a result of a transfer of control or assignment of authorization must occur prior to consummating the transfer or assignment, except that a licensee that meets the requirements set forth in paragraph (e)(2) of this section shall have 90 days from final grant to come into compliance with the spectrum aggregation limit.

(2) An applicant with:

(i) Controlling or attributable ownership interests in broadband PCS, cellular, and/or SMR licenses where the geographic license areas cover 20 percent or less of the applicant's service area population;

(ii) Attributable interests in broadband PCS, cellular, and/or SMR licenses solely due to management agreements or joint marketing agreements; or

(iii) Non-controlling attributable interests in broadband PCS, cellular, and/or SMR licenses, regardless of the degree to which the geographic license areas cover the applicant's service area population, shall be eligible to have its application granted subject to a condition that the licensee shall come into compliance with the spectrum limitation set out in paragraph (a) within ninety (90) days after final grant. For purposes of this paragraph, a “non-controlling attributable interest” is one in which the holder has less than a fifty (50) percent voting interest and there is an unaffiliated single holder of a fifty (50) percent or greater voting interest.

(3) The applicant for a license that, if granted, would exceed the spectrum aggregation limitation in paragraph (a) of this section shall certify on its application that it and all parties to the application will come into compliance with this limitation. If such an applicant is a successful bidder in an auction, it must submit with its long-form application a signed statement describing its efforts to date and future plans to come into compliance with the spectrum aggregation limitation. A similar statement must also be included with any application for assignment of licenses or transfer of control that, if granted, would exceed the spectrum aggregation limit.

(4) (i) Parties holding controlling interests in broadband PCS, cellular, and/or SMR licensees that conflict with the attribution threshold or geographic overlap limitations set forth in this section will be considered to have come into compliance if they have submitted to the Commission an application for assignment of license or transfer of control of the conflicting licensee (see § 1.948 of this chapter; see also § 24.839 of this chapter (PCS)) by which, if granted, such parties no longer would have an attributable interest in the conflicting license. Divestiture may be to an interim trustee if a buyer has not been secured in the required period of time, as long as the applicant has no interest in or control of the trustee, and the trustee may dispose of the license as it sees fit. Where parties to broadband PCS, cellular, or SMR applications hold less than controlling (but still attributable) interests in broadband PCS, cellular, or SMR licensee(s), they shall submit a certification that the applicant and all parties to the application have come into compliance with the limitations on spectrum aggregation set forth in this section.

(ii) Applicants that meet the requirements of paragraph (e)(2) of this section must tender to the Commission within ninety (90) days of final grant of the initial license, such an assignment or transfer application or, in the case of less than controlling (but still attributable) interests, a written certification that the applicant and all parties to the application have come into compliance with the limitations on spectrum aggregation set forth in this section. If no such transfer or assignment application or certification is tendered to the Commission within ninety (90) days of final grant of the initial license, the Commission may consider the certification and the divestiture statement to be material, bad faith misrepresentations and shall invoke the condition on the initial license or the assignment or transfer, cancelling or rescinding it automatically, shall retain all monies paid to the Commission, and, based on the facts presented, shall take any other action it may deem appropriate.

(f) Sunset. This rule section shall cease to be effective January 1, 2003.

Code of Federal Regulations

Note 1 to § 20.6 : For purposes of the ownership attribution limit, all ownership interests in operations that serve at least 10 percent of the population of the PCS service area should be included in determining the extent of a PCS applicant's cellular or SMR ownership.

Code of Federal Regulations

Note 2 to § 20.6 : When a party owns an attributable interest in more than one cellular or SMR system that overlaps a PCS service area, the total population in the overlap area will apply on a cumulative basis.

Code of Federal Regulations

Note 3 to § 20.6 : Waivers of § 20.6(d) may be granted upon an affirmative showing: (1) That the interest holder has less than a 50 percent voting interest in the licensee and there is an unaffiliated single holder of a 50 percent or greater voting interest; (2) That the interest holder is not likely to affect the local market in an anticompetitive manner; (3) That the interest holder is not involved in the operations of the licensee and does not have the ability to influence the licensee on a regular basis; and (4) That grant of a waiver is in the public interest because the benefits to the public of common ownership outweigh any potential anticompetitive harm to the market.

[64 FR 54574, Oct. 7, 1999, as amended at 67 FR 1642, Jan. 14, 2002]