§ 1106. — Improved cellular service in rural areas.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 47USC1106]
TITLE 47--TELEGRAPHS, TELEPHONES, AND RADIOTELEGRAPHS
CHAPTER 10--LOCAL TV
Sec. 1106. Improved cellular service in rural areas
(a) Reinstatement of applicants as tentative selectees
(1) In general
Notwithstanding the order of the Federal Communications
Commission in the proceeding described in paragraph (3), the
Commission shall--
(A) reinstate each applicant as a tentative selectee under
the covered rural service area licensing proceeding; and
(B) permit each applicant to amend its application, to the
extent necessary to update factual information and to comply
with the rules of the Commission, at any time before the
Commission's final licensing action in the covered rural service
area licensing proceeding.
(2) Exemption from petitions to deny
For purposes of the amended applications filed pursuant to
paragraph (1)(B), the provisions of section 309(d)(1) of this title
shall not apply.
(3) Proceeding
The proceeding described in this paragraph is the proceeding of
the Commission In re Applications of Cellwave Telephone Services
L.P., Futurewave General Partners L.P., and Great Western Cellular
Partners, 7 FCC Rcd No. 19 (1992).
(b) Continuation of license proceeding; fee assessment
(1) Award of licenses
The Commission shall award licenses under the covered rural
service area licensing proceeding within 90 days after December 21,
2000.
(2) Service requirements
The Commission shall provide that, as a condition of an
applicant receiving a license pursuant to the covered rural service
area licensing proceeding, the applicant shall provide cellular
radiotelephone service to subscribers in accordance with sections
22.946 and 22.947 of the Commission's rules (47 CFR 22.946, 22.947);
except that the time period applicable under section 22.947 of the
Commission's rules (or any successor rule) to the applicants
identified in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection (d)(1) of this
section shall be 3 years rather than 5 years and the waiver
authority of the Commission shall apply to such 3-year period.
(3) Calculation of license fee
(A) Fee required
The Commission shall establish a fee for each of the
licenses under the covered rural service area licensing
proceeding. In determining the amount of the fee, the Commission
shall consider--
(i) the average price paid per person served in the
Commission's Cellular Unserved Auction (Auction No. 12); and
(ii) the settlement payments required to be paid by the
permittees pursuant to the consent decree set forth in the
Commission's order, In re the Tellesis Partners (7 FCC Rcd
3168 (1992)), multiplying such payments by two.
(B) Notice of fee
Within 30 days after the date an applicant files the amended
application permitted by subsection (a)(1)(B) of this section,
the Commission shall notify each applicant of the fee
established for the license associated with its application.
(4) Payment for licenses
No later than 18 months after the date that an applicant is
granted a license, each applicant shall pay to the Commission the
fee established pursuant to paragraph (3) for the license granted to
the applicant under paragraph (1).
(5) Auction authority
If, after the amendment of an application pursuant to subsection
(a)(1)(B) of this section, the Commission finds that the applicant
is ineligible for grant of a license to provide cellular
radiotelephone services for a rural service area or the applicant
does not meet the requirements under paragraph (2) of this
subsection, the Commission shall grant the license for which the
applicant is the tentative selectee ( \1\ pursuant to subsection
(a)(1)(B) of this section by competitive bidding pursuant to section
309(j) of this title.
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\1\ So in original. No closing parenthesis was enacted.
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(c) Prohibition of transfer
During the 5-year period that begins on the date that an applicant
is granted any license pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, the
Commission may not authorize the transfer or assignment of that license
under section 310 of this title. Nothing in this chapter may be
construed to prohibit any applicant granted a license pursuant to
subsection (a) of this section from contracting with other licensees to
improve cellular telephone service.
(d) Definitions
For the purposes of this section, the following definitions shall
apply:
(1) Applicant
The term ``applicant'' means--
(A) Great Western Cellular Partners, a California general
partnership chosen by the Commission as tentative selectee for
RSA <greek-i>492 on May 4, 1989;
(B) Monroe Telephone Services L.P., a Delaware limited
partnership chosen by the Commission as tentative selectee for
RSA <greek-i>370 on August 24, 1989 (formerly Cellwave Telephone
Services L.P.); and
(C) FutureWave General Partners L.P., a Delaware limited
partnership chosen by the Commission as tentative selectee for
RSA <greek-i>615 on May 25, 1990.
(2) Commission
The term ``Commission'' means the Federal Communications
Commission.
(3) Covered rural service area licensing proceeding
The term ``covered rural service area licensing proceeding''
means the proceeding of the Commission for the grant of cellular
radiotelephone licenses for rural service areas <greek-i>492
(Minnesota 11), <greek-i>370 (Florida 11), and <greek-i>615
(Pennsylvania 4).
(4) Tentative selectee
The term ``tentative selectee'' means a party that has been
selected by the Commission under a licensing proceeding for grant of
a license, but has not yet been granted the license because the
Commission has not yet determined whether the party is qualified
under the Commission's rules for grant of the license.
(Pub. L. 106-553, Sec. 1(a)(2) [title X, Sec. 1007], Dec. 21, 2000, 114
Stat. 2762, 2762A-138.)
References in Text
This chapter, referred to subsec. (c), was in the original ``this
Act'', and was translated as reading ``this title''. See References in
Text note set out under section 1101 of this title.
