On February 12, 2019, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (“Bureau”) released a Public Notice (“Notice”) announcing the process for relicensing 700 MHz band spectrum in unserved areas (WT Docket No. 06-15). For certain spectrum blocks in the 700 MHz band, licensees that fail to meet the Commission’s construction benchmarks will keep the areas of the license that they serve, and the remaining unserved areas will be returned to FCC inventory for relicensing. This Notice describes the process for relicensing these unserved areas.
The Commission previously established interim and end-of-term construction benchmarks and status reporting requirements for 700 MHz wireless licenses, and subsequently extended the interim deadlines for certain blocks. The Notice provides the current interim and end-of-term construction requirements and deadlines for the Lower A and B Block, Lower E Block, and Upper C Block. This Notice adopts several of the Bureau’s proposals contained in the 2017 700 MHz Relicensing Comment Public Notice including the keep what you serve (“KWYS”) approach, the two-phased relicensing process, and requirements and restrictions for relicensed areas. The Bureau notes that this Notice is not inclusive of all relevant information, but should be carefully reviewed in coordination with all public notices pertaining to the 700 MHz band.
The Notice is effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
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