Regulations last checked for updates: Feb 13, 2026

Title 47 - Telecommunication last revised: Feb 10, 2026
TECHNICAL STANDARDS
§ 27.1220 - Transmission standards.

The width of a channel in the LBS and UBS is 5.5 MHz, with the exception of BRS channels 1 and 2 which are 6.0 MHz. The width of all channels in the MBS is 6 MHz. However, the licensee may subchannelize its authorized bandwidth, provided that digital modulation is employed and the aggregate power does not exceed the authorized power for the channel. The licensee may also, jointly with other licensees, transmit utilizing bandwidth in excess of its authorized bandwidth, provided that digital modulation is employed, all power spectral density requirements set forth in this part are met and the out-of-band emissions restrictions set forth in § 27.53 are met at the edges of the channels employed.

§ 27.1221 - Interference protection.

(a) Interference protection will be afforded to BRS and EBS on a station-by-station basis based on the heights of the stations in the LBS and UBS and also on height benchmarking, although the heights of antennas utilized are not restricted.

(b) Height benchmarking. Height benchmarking is defined for pairs of base stations, one in each of two proximate geographic service areas (GSAs). The height benchmark, which is defined in meters (hbm) for a particular base station relative to a base station in another GSA, is equal to the distance, in kilometers, from the base station along a radial to the nearest point on the GSA boundary of the other base station squared (Dkm 2) and then divided by 17. That is, hb (m) = Dkm 2/17. A base station antenna will be considered to be within its applicable height benchmark relative to another base station if the height in meters of its centerline of radiation above average elevation (HAAE) calculated along the straight line between the two base stations in accordance with § 24.53(b) and (c) of this chapter does not exceed the height benchmark (hbm). A base station antenna will be considered to exceed its applicable height benchmark relative to another base station if the HAAE of its centerline of radiation calculated along the straight line between the two base stations in accordance with § 24.53(b) and (c) of this chapter exceeds the height benchmark (hbm).

(c) Protection for receiving antennas not exceeding the height benchmark. Absent agreement between the two licensees to the contrary, if a transmitting antenna of one BRS/EBS licensee's base station exceeds its applicable height benchmark and such licensee is notified by another BRS/EBS licensee that it is generating an undesired signal level in excess of −107 dBm/5.5 megahertz at the receiver of a co-channel base station that is within its applicable height benchmark, then the licensee of the base station that exceeds its applicable height benchmark shall either limit the undesired signal at the receiver of the protected base station to −107dBm/5.5 megahertz or less or reduce the height of its transmission antenna to no more than the height benchmark. If the interfering base station has been modified to increase the EIRP transmitted in the direction of the protected base station, it shall be deemed to have commenced operations on the date of such modification. Such corrective action shall be completed no later than:

(i) 24 hours after receiving such notification, if the base station that exceeds its height benchmark commenced operations after the station that is within its applicable height benchmark; or

(ii) 90 days after receiving such notification, if the base station that exceeds its height commenced operations prior to the station that is within its applicable height benchmark. For purposes of this section, if the interfering base station has been modified to increase the EIRP transmitted in the direction of the victim base station, it shall be deemed to have commenced operations on the date of such modification.

(d) No Protection from a transmitting antenna not exceeding the height benchmark. The licensee of a base station transmitting antenna less than or equal to its applicable height benchmark shall not be required pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section to limit that antennas undesired signal level to −107dBm/5.5 megahertz or less at the receiver of any co-channel base station.

(e) No protection for a receiving-antenna exceeding the height benchmark. The licensee of a base station receive antenna that exceeds its applicable height benchmark shall not be entitled pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section to insist that any co-channel base station limit its undesired signal level to −107dBm/5.5 megahertz or less at the receiver.

(f) Information exchange. A BRS/EBS licensee shall provide the geographic coordinates, the height above ground level of the center of radiation for each transmit and receive antenna, and the date transmissions commenced for each of the base stations in its GSA within 30 days of receipt of a request from a co-channel BRS/EBS licensee with an operational base station located in a proximate GSA. Information shared pursuant to this section shall not be disclosed to other parties except as required to ensure compliance with this section.

[69 FR 72034, Dec. 10, 2004, as amended at 70 FR 1190, Jan. 6, 2005; 71 FR 35191, June 19, 2006; 73 FR 26041, May 8, 2008]
§ 27.1222 - Operations in the 2568-2572 and 2614-2618 bands.

All operations in the 2568-2572 and 2614-2618 MHz bands shall be secondary to adjacent-channel operations. Stations operating in the 2568-2572 and 2614-2618 MHz must not cause interference to licensees in operation in the LBS, MBS, and UBS and must accept any interference from any station operating in the LBS, MBS, and UBS in compliance with the rules established in this subpart. Stations operating in the 2568-2572 and 2614-2618 bands may cause interference to stations in operation in the LBS, MBS, and UBS if the affected licensees consent to such interference.

§§ 27.1250-27.1255 - §[Reserved]
§ 27.1200 - [Reserved]
§ 27.1201 - [Reserved]
§ 27.1202 - Cable/BRS cross-ownership.

(a) Initial or modified authorizations for BRS stations may not be granted to a cable operator if a portion of the BRS station's protected services area is within the portion of the franchise area actually served by the cable operator's cable system and the cable operator will be using the BRS station as a multichannel video programming distributor (as defined in § 76.64(d) of this chapter). No cable operator may acquire such authorization either directly, or indirectly through an affiliate owned, operated, or controlled by or under common control with a cable operator if the cable operator will use the BRS station as a multichannel video programming distributor.

(b) No licensee of a station in this service may lease transmission time or capacity to a cable operator either directly, or indirectly through an affiliate owned, operated, controlled by, or under common control with a cable operator, if a portion of the BRS station's protected services area is within the portion of the franchise area actually served by the cable operator's cable system the cable operator will use the BRS station as a multichannel video programming distributor.

(c) Applications for new stations, station modifications, assignments or transfers of control by cable operators of BRS stations shall include a showing that no portion of the GSA of the BRS station is within the portion of the franchise area actually served by the cable operator's cable system, or of any entity indirectly affiliated, owned, operated, controlled by, or under common control with the cable operator. Alternatively, the cable operator may certify that it will not use the BRS station to distribute multichannel video programming.

(d) In applying the provisions of this section, ownership and other interests in BRS licensees or cable television systems will be attributed to their holders and deemed cognizable pursuant to the following criteria:

(1) Except as otherwise provided herein, partnership and direct ownership interests and any voting stock interest amounting to 5% or more of the outstanding voting stock of a corporate BRS licensee or cable television system will be cognizable;

(2) Investment companies, as defined in 15 U.S.C. 80a-3,insurance,or,insurance. 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.

(3) Attribution of ownership interests in a BRS licensee or cable television system 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 wherever the ownership percentage for any link in the chain exceeds 50%, it shall not be included for purposes of this multiplication. For purposes of paragraph (d)(9) of this section, attribution of ownership interests in a BRS licensee or cable television system that are held indirectly by any party through one or more intervening organizations 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, and the ownership percentage for any link in the chain that exceeds 50% shall be included for purposes of this multiplication. For example, except for purposes of paragraph (d)(9) of this section, if A owns 10% of company X, which owns 60% of company Y, which owns 25% of “Licensee,” then X's interest in “Licensee” would be 25% (the same as Y's interest because X's interest in Y exceeds 50%), and A's interest in “Licensee” would be 2.5% (0.1 × 0.25). Under the 5% attribution benchmark, X's interest in “Licensee” would be cognizable, while A's interest would not be cognizable. For purposes of paragraph (d)(9) of this section, X's interest in “Licensee” would be 15% (0.6 × 0.25) and A's interest in “Licensee” would be 1.5% (0.1 × 0.6 × 0.25). Neither interest would be attributed under paragraph (d)(9) of this section.

(4) Voting stock interests held in trust shall be attributed to any person who holds or shares the power to vote such stock, to any person who has the sole power to sell such stock, and to any person who has the right to revoke the trust at will or to replace the trustee at will. If the trustee has a familial, personal or extra-trust business relationship to the grantor or the beneficiary, the grantor or beneficiary, as appropriate, will be attributed with the stock interests held in trust. An otherwise qualified trust will be ineffective to insulate the grantor or beneficiary from attribution with the trust's assets unless all voting stock interests held by the grantor or beneficiary in the relevant BRS licensee or cable television system are subject to said trust.

(5) Subject to paragraph (d)(9) of this section, holders of non-voting stock shall not be attributed an interest in the issuing entity. Subject to paragraph (d)(9) of this section, holders of debt and instruments such as warrants, convertible debentures, options or other non-voting interests with rights of conversion to voting interests shall not be attributed unless and until conversion is effected.

(6)(i) A limited partnership interest shall be attributed to a limited partner unless that partner is not materially involved, directly or indirectly, in the management or operation of the BRS or cable television activities of the partnership and the licensee or system so certifies. An interest in a Limited Liability Company (“LLC”) or Registered Limited Liability Partnership (“RLLP”) shall be attributed to the interest holder unless that interest holder is not materially involved, directly or indirectly, in the management or operation of the BRS or cable television activities of the partnership and the licensee or system so certifies.

(ii) For a licensee or system that is a limited partnership to make the certification set forth in paragraph (d)(6)(i) of this section, it must verify that the partnership agreement or certificate of limited partnership, with respect to the particular limited partner exempt from attribution, establishes that the exempt limited partner has no material involvement, directly or indirectly, in the management or operation of the BRS or cable television activities of the partnership. For a licensee or system that is an LLC or RLLP to make the certification set forth in paragraph (d)(6)(i) of this section, it must verify that the organizational document, with respect to the particular interest holder exempt from attribution, establishes that the exempt interest holder has no material involvement, directly or indirectly, in the management or operation of the BRS or cable television activities of the LLC or RLLP. Irrespective of the terms of the certificate of limited partnership or partnership agreement, or other organizational document in the case of an LLC or RLLP, however, no such certification shall be made if the individual or entity making the certification has actual knowledge of any material involvement of the limited partners, or other interest holders in the case of an LLC or RLLP, in the management or operation of the BRS or cable television businesses of the partnership or LLC or RLLP.

(iii) In the case of an LLC or RLLP, the licensee or system seeking installation shall certify, in addition, that the relevant state statute authorizing LLCs permits an LLC member to insulate itself as required by our criteria.

(7) Officers and directors of a BRS licensee or cable television system are considered to have a cognizable interest in the entity with which they are so associated. If any such entity engages in businesses in addition to its primary business of BRS or cable television service, it may request the Commission to waive attribution for any officer or director whose duties and responsibilities are wholly unrelated to its primary business. The officers and directors of a parent company of a BRS licensee or cable television system, with an attributable interest in any such subsidiary entity, shall be deemed to have a cognizable interest in the subsidiary unless the duties and responsibilities of the officer or director involved are wholly unrelated to the BRS licensee or cable television system subsidiary, and a statement properly documenting this fact is submitted to the Commission. The officers and directors of a sister corporation of a BRS licensee or cable television system shall not be attributed with ownership of these entities by virtue of such status.

(8) Discrete ownership interests will be aggregated in determining whether or not an interest is cognizable under this section. An individual or entity will be deemed to have a cognizable investment if:

(i) The sum of the interests held by or through “passive investors” is equal to or exceeds 20 percent; or

(ii) The sum of the interests other than those held by or through “passive investors” is equal to or exceeds 5 percent; or

(iii) The sum of the interests computed under paragraph (d)(8)(i) of this section plus the sum of the interests computed under paragraph (d)(8)(ii) of this section equal to or exceeds 20 percent.

(9) Notwithstanding paragraphs (d)(5) and (d)(6) of this section, the holder of an equity or debt interest or interests in a BRS licensee or cable television system subject to the BRS/cable cross-ownership rule (“interest holder”) shall have that interest attributed if:

(i) The equity (including all stockholdings, whether voting or nonvoting, common or preferred) and debt interest or interests, in the aggregate, exceed 33 percent of the total asset value (all equity plus all debt) of that BRS licensee or cable television system; and

(ii) The interest holder also holds an interest in a BRS licensee or cable television system that is attributable under this section (other than this paragraph) and which operates in any portion of the franchise area served by that cable operator's cable system.

(10) The term “area served by a cable system” means any area actually passed by the cable operator's cable system and which can be connected for a standard connection fee.

(11) As used in this section “cable operator” shall have the same definition as in § 76.5 of this chapter.

(e) The Commission will entertain requests to waive the restrictions in paragraph (a) of this section where necessary to ensure that all significant portions of the franchise area are able to obtain multichannel video service.

(f) The provisions of paragraphs (a) through (e) of this section will not apply to one BRS channel used to provide locally-produced programming to cable headends. Locally-produced programming is programming produced in or near the cable operator's franchise area and not broadcast on a television station available within that franchise area. A cable operator will be permitted one BRS channel for this purpose, and no more than one BRS channel may be used by a cable television company or its affiliate or lessor pursuant to this paragraph. The licensee for a cable operator providing local programming pursuant to a lease must include in a notice filed with the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau a cover letter explicitly identifying itself or its lessees as a local cable operator and stating that the lease was executed to facilitate the provision of local programming. The first application or the first lease notification in an area filed with the Commission will be entitled to the exemption. The limitations on one BRS channel per party and per area include any cable/BRS operations or cable/EBS operations. The cable operator must demonstrate in its BRS application that the proposed local programming will be provided within one year from the date its application is granted. Local programming service pursuant to a lease must be provided within one year of the date of the lease or one year of grant of the licensee's application for the leased channel, whichever is later. If a BRS license for these purposes is granted and the programming is subsequently discontinued, the license will be automatically forfeited the day after local programming service is discontinued.

(g) Applications filed by cable television companies, or affiliates, for BRS channels prior to February 8, 1990, will not be subject to the prohibitions of this section. Applications filed on February 8, 1990, or thereafter will be returned. Lease arrangements between cable and BRS entities for which a lease or a firm agreement was signed prior to February 8, 1990, will also not be subject to the prohibitions of this section. Leases between cable television companies, or affiliates, and BRS station licensees, conditional licensees, or applicants executed on February 8, 1990, or thereafter, are invalid.

(1) Applications filed by cable operators, or affiliates, for BRS channels prior to February 8, 1990, will not be subject to the prohibitions of this section. Except as provided in paragraph (g)(2)of this section, applications filed on February 8, 1990, or thereafter will be returned. Lease arrangements between cable and BRS entities for which a lease or a firm agreement was signed prior to February 8, 1990, will also not be subject to the prohibitions of this section. Except as provided in paragraph (g)(2) of this section, leases between cable operators, or affiliates, and BRS/EBS station licensees, conditional licensees, or applicants executed on or before February 8, 1990, or thereafter are invalid.

(2) Applications filed by cable operators, or affiliates for BRS channels after February 8, 1990, and prior to October 5, 1992, will not be subject to the prohibition of this section, if, pursuant to the then existing overbuild or rural exceptions, the applications were allowed under the then existing cable/BRS cross-ownership prohibitions. Lease arrangements between cable operators and BRS entities for which a lease or firm agreement was signed after February 8, 1990, and prior to October 5, 1992, will not be subject to the prohibitions of this section, if, pursuant to the then existing rural and overbuild exceptions, the lease arrangements were allowed.

(3) The limitations on cable television ownership in this section do not apply to any cable operator in any franchise area in which a cable operator is subject to effective competition as determined under section 623(l) of the Communications Act.

[69 FR 72034, Dec. 10, 2004, as amended at 71 FR 35190, June 19, 2006]
§ 27.1203 - [Reserved]
§ 27.1204 - EBS Tribal priority filing window.

(a) The Commission will specify by public notice a window filing period for applications for new EBS stations on rural Tribal Lands. EBS applications for new facilities will be accepted only during this window. Applications submitted prior to the window opening date identified in the public notice will be returned as premature. Applications submitted after the deadline will be dismissed with prejudice as untimely.

(b) Applicants in the Tribal priority filing window must demonstrate that they are eligible to file in that window. To be considered eligible for the Tribal priority window, an applicant must be:

(1) A federally recognized American Indian Tribe or Alaska Native Village; or an entity that is owned and controlled by a federally-recognized Tribe or a consortium of federally-recognized Tribes;

(2) Requesting a license on Tribal Land, which is defined to be any federally recognized Indian Tribe's reservation, pueblo or colony, including former reservations in Oklahoma, Alaska Native regions established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (85 Stat. 688) and Indian Allotments, see § 54.400(e) of this chapter, as well as Hawaiian Home Lands—areas held in trust for native Hawaiians by the State of Hawaii, pursuant to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, July 9, 1921, 42 Stat 108, et seq., as amended; and any lands designated prior to July 10, 2019, as Tribal Lands pursuant to the designation process contained in § 54.412 of this chapter;

(3) Requesting a GSA in a rural area, which is defined to be lands that are not part of an urbanized area or urban cluster area with a population equal to or greater than 50,000; and

(4) Have a local presence on the Tribal Land for which they are applying.

(c) Following the close of the Tribal priority window, the Commission will issue a public notice of acceptance for filing of applications submitted pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section that meet technical and legal requirements and that are not in conflict with any other application filed during the window. Petitions to deny such applications may be filed within 30 days of such public notice. A copy of any petition to deny must be served on the applicant.

(d) If applications are filed in the Tribal priority window that are mutually exclusive, the Commission will use competitive bidding to resolve the mutual exclusivity. Two or more pending applications are mutually exclusive if the grant of one application would effectively preclude the grant of one or more of the others under Commission rules in this chapter.

(e) For non-mutually exclusive applications, the applications will be processed in accordance with procedures to be specified by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.

[84 FR 57365, Oct. 25, 2019, as amended at 85 FR 1284, Jan. 10, 2020]
§ 27.1205 - EBS renewal standard.

In applying the renewal standard contained in § 1.949 of this chapter to EBS, for licenses initially issued after October 25, 2019, the applicable safe harbors are the buildout standards contained in § 27.14(u). For licenses initially issued before October 25, 2019, the applicable safe harbors are the buildout standards contained in § 27.14(o); provided, however, that the educational use safe harbor contained in § 27.14(o)(2) may only be used by a licensee that meets the eligibility requirements to hold an EBS license pursuant to the provisions of § 27.1201(a) contained in the edition of 47 CFR parts 20 through 39, revised as of October 1, 2017.

[84 FR 57365, Oct. 25, 2019]
§ 27.1206 - Geographic service area.

(a) BRS:

(1) For BRS incumbent licenses granted before September 15, 1995, the geographic service area (GSA) is the area that is bounded by a circle having a 35 mile radius and centered at the station's reference coordinates, which was the previous PSA entitled to incumbent licensees prior to January 10, 2005, and is bounded by the chord(s) drawn between intersection points of the licensee's previous 35 mile PSA and those of respective adjacent market, co-channel licensees;

(2) For BRS BTA authorization holders, the GSA for a channel is the BTA, subject to the exclusion of overlapping, co-channel incumbent GSAs created on January 10, 2005.

(3) If an incumbent BRS license is cancelled or is forfeited, the GSA area of the incumbent station shall dissolve and the right to operate in that area automatically reverts to the GSA licensee that held the corresponding BTA.

(b) EBS:

(1) Existing EBS licensees. (i) The GSA of EBS licenses on the E and F channel groups is defined in § 27.1216. EBS licensees on the E and F channel groups are prohibited from expanding their GSAs.

(ii) For incumbent EBS licenses not in the E and F channel groups in effect as of October 25, 2019, the geographic service area (GSA) is the area that is bounded by a circle having a 35 mile radius and centered at the station's reference coordinates, which was the previous PSA entitled to incumbent licensees prior to January 10, 2005, and is bounded by the chord(s) drawn between intersection points of the licensee's previous 35 mile PSA and those of respective adjacent market, co-channel licensees.

(2) New initial EBS licenses. (i) For EBS licenses issued in the Tribal Priority Window, the GSA consists of the rural Tribal Land (as defined in § 27.1204(b)(3)) specified in the application.

(ii) For all other new initial licenses issued after April 27, 2020, the GSA is the county for which the license is issued, subject to the exclusion of overlapping, co-channel incumbent GSAs.

[84 FR 57365, Oct. 25, 2019]
§ 27.1207 - Service areas and authorizations.

(a) Initial authorizations for BRS granted after January 1, 2008, shall be blanket licenses for all BRS frequencies identified in § 27.5(i)(2). Except for incumbent BRS licenses, BRS service areas are the 1992 version of Basic Trading Areas (BTAs) defined by Rand McNally, or additional service areas similar to BTAs adopted by the Commission. The market area for each license will be listed on the license authorization. The following are additional BRS service areas in places where Rand McNally has not defined BTAs: American Samoa; Guam; Gulf of Mexico Zone A; Gulf of Mexico Zone B; Gulf of Mexico Zone C; Northern Mariana Islands; Mayaguez/Aguadilla-Ponce, Puerto Rico; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and the United States Virgin Islands. The boundaries of Gulf of Mexico Zone A are from an area twelve nautical miles from the shoreline at mean high tide on the north and east, to the limit of the Outer Continental Shelf to the south, and to longitude 91°00′ to the west. The boundaries of Gulf of Mexico Zone B are from an area twelve nautical miles from the shoreline at mean high tide on the north, to the limit of the Outer Continental Shelf to the south, to longitude 91°00′ to the east, and to longitude 94°00′ to the west. The boundaries of Gulf of Mexico Zone C are from an area twelve nautical miles from the shoreline at mean high tide on the north and west, to longitude 94°00′ to the east, and to a line 281 kilometers from the reference point at Linares, N.L., Mexico on the southwest. The Mayaguez/Aguadilla-Ponce, PR, service area consists of the following municipios: Adjuntas, Aguada, Aguadilla, Anasco, Arroyo, Cabo Rojo, Coamo, Guanica, Guayama, Guayanilla, Hormigueros, Isabela, Jayuya, Juana Diaz, Lajas, Las Marias, Maricao, Maunabo, Mayaguez, Moca, Patillas, Penuelas, Ponce, Quebradillas, Rincón, Sabana Grande, Salinas, San German, Santa Isabel, Villalba and Yauco. The San Juan service area consists of all other municipios in Puerto Rico.

(b) For EBS initial licenses issued after October 25, 2019, except for licenses issued in the Tribal Priority Window, the GSA is the county for which the license is issued, subject to the exclusion of overlapping, co-channel incumbent GSAs. For purposes of this subpart, counties are defined using the United States Census Bureau's data reflecting county legal boundaries and names valid through January 1, 2017. Except for licenses issued in the Tribal Priority Window, there shall be three initial authorizations issued in each county: One authorization for channels A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3, C1, C2, and C3; the second authorization for channels D1, D2, D3, JA1, JA2, JA3, JB1, JB2, JB3, JC1, JC2, JC3, JD1, JD2, JD3, A4, B4, C4, D4, and G4; the third authorization for channels G1, G2, G3, KG1, KG2, and KG3.

[84 FR 57366, Oct. 25, 2019]
§ 27.1208 - Geographic area licensing.

(a) All BRS and EBS licenses are geographic area licenses. Blanket licenses cover all mobile and response stations. Pursuant to that geographic area license, incumbent licensees may modify their systems provided the modified system complies with the applicable rules in this chapter. The blanket license covers all fixed stations anywhere within the authorized service area, except a station must be individually licensed if:

(1) International agreements require coordination;

(2) Submission of an Environmental Assessment is required under § 1.1307 of this chapter; and

(3) The station would affect the radio quiet zones under § 1.924 of this chapter.

(b) Any antenna structure that requires notification to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) must be registered with the Commission prior to construction under § 17.4 of this chapter.

[84 FR 57366, Oct. 25, 2019]
§ 27.1209 - Reversion and overlay rights.

(a) The frequencies associated with BRS incumbent authorizations that have cancelled automatically or otherwise recovered by the Commission automatically revert to the applicable BRS BTA licensee.

(b) The frequencies associated with EBS incumbent authorizations with a geographic service area that have cancelled automatically or otherwise recovered by the Commission automatically revert to a co-channel EBS county-based licensee, except that if the area in question is Tribal Land as defined in § 27.1204(b)(3) and is contiguous to the GSA of a co-channel authorization issued in the Tribal Priority Window, the area consisting of Tribal Land reverts to the co-channel license issued in the Tribal Priority Window.

(c) The frequencies associated with EBS authorizations issued in the Tribal Priority Window with a geographic service area that have cancelled automatically or otherwise recovered by the Commission automatically revert to a co-channel EBS county-based authorization.

[84 FR 57366, Oct. 25, 2019]
§ 27.1210 - Remote control operation.

Licensed BRS/EBS stations may be operated by remote control without further authority.

§ 27.1211 - Unattended operation.

Unattended operation of licensed BRS/EBS stations is permitted without further authority. An unattended relay station may be employed to receive and retransmit signals of another station provided that the transmitter is equipped with circuits which permit it to radiate only when the signal intended to be retransmitted is present at the receiver input terminals.

§ 27.1212 - License term.

(a) BRS/EBS licenses shall be issued for a period of 10 years beginning with the date of grant.

(b) An initial BTA authorization shall be issued for a period of ten years from the date the Commission declared bidding closed in the MDS auction.

§§ 27.1213-27.1215 - §[Reserved]
§ 27.1216 - Grandfathered E and F group EBS licenses.

(a) Except as noted in paragraph (b) of this section, grandfathered EBS licensees authorized to operate E and F group co-channel licenses are granted a geographic service area (GSA) on July 19, 2006. The GSA is the area bounded by a circle having a 35 mile radius and centered at the station's reference coordinates, and is bounded by the chord(s) drawn between intersection points of that circle and those of respective adjacent market, co-channel licensees.

(b) [Reserved]

[71 FR 35191, June 16, 2006, as amended at 90 FR 57706, Dec. 12, 2025]
§ 27.1217 - Competitive bidding procedures for the Broadband Radio Service and the Educational Broadband Service.

Mutually exclusive initial applications for BRS and EBS licenses are subject to competitive bidding. For BRS auctions, the designated entity provisions of § 27.1218 apply. For EBS auctions, the designated entity provisions of § 27.1219 apply. The general competitive bidding procedures set forth in part 1, subpart Q, of this chapter apply unless otherwise provided in this subpart.

[84 FR 57366, Oct. 25, 2019]
§ 27.1218 - Broadband Radio Service designated entity provisions.

(a) Eligibility for small business provisions. (1) A small business is an entity that, together with all attributed parties, has average gross revenues that are not more than $40 million for the preceding three years.

(2) A very small business is an entity that, together with all attributed parties, has average gross revenues that are not more than $15 million for the preceding three years.

(3) An entrepreneur is an entity that, together with all attributed parties, has average gross revenues that are not more than $3 million for the preceding three years.

(b) Bidding credits. (1) A winning bidder that qualifies as a small business, as defined in this section, or a consortium of small businesses, may use a bidding credit of 15 percent, as specified in § 1.2110(f)(2)(iii) of this chapter, to lower the cost of its winning bid on any of the licenses in this subpart.

(2) A winning bidder that qualifies as a very small business, as defined in this section, or a consortium of very small businesses, may use a bidding credit of 25 percent, as specified in § 1.2110(f)(2)(ii) of this chapter, to lower the cost of its winning bid on any of the licenses in this subpart.

(3) A winning bidder that qualifies as an entrepreneur, as defined in this section, or a consortium of entrepreneurs, may use a bidding credit of 15 percent, as specified in § 1.2110(f)(2)(i) of this chapter, to lower the cost of its winning bid on any of the licenses in this subpart.

[73 FR 26041, May 8, 2008]
§ 27.1219 - Educational Broadband Service designated entity provisions.

(a) Eligibility for small business provisions. (1) A small business is an entity that, together with its affiliates, its controlling interests and the affiliates of its controlling interests, has average gross revenues that are not more than $55 million for the preceding five (5) years.

(2) A very small business is an entity that, together with its affiliates, its controlling interests and the affiliates of its controlling interests, has average gross revenues that are not more than $20 million for the preceding five (5) years.

(b) Bidding credits. A winning bidder that qualifies as a small business, as defined in this section, or a consortium of small businesses may use a bidding credit of 15 percent, as specified in § 1.2110(f)(2)(i)(C) of this chapter. A winning bidder that qualifies as a very small business, as defined in this section, or a consortium of very small businesses may use a bidding credit of 25 percent, as specified in § 1.2110(f)(2)(i)(B) of this chapter.

(c) Rural service provider credit. A rural service provider, as defined in § 1.2110(f)(4) of this chapter, who has not claimed a small business bidding credit may use a bidding credit of 15 percent bidding credit, as specified in § 1.2110(f)(4)(i) of this chapter.

[84 FR 57366, Oct. 25, 2019; 84 FR 64209, Nov. 21, 2019]
source: 62 FR 9658, Mar. 3, 1997, unless otherwise noted.
cite as: 47 CFR 27.1217