The FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau released a public notice today announcing the process for relicensing 700 megahertz band spectrum in unserved areas. “We implement the Commission’s long-standing auto-termination process here, in combination with the additional filing procedures established below to address the failure of a licensee to make required filings,” the bureau said in the public notice in WT docket 06-150. “If a licensee does not file either a request for extension of time before the construction deadline or the required construction notification within 15 days after the construction deadline (as required by Section 1.946 of the Commission’s rules), we presume that the license has not been constructed or the coverage requirement has not been met.”

It also said that licensees “will be required to file an electronic coverage map that demarcates the geographic portion of the licensed area that the licensee will retain and the geographic area that will be returned to the Commission for reassignment” under the agency’s keep what you service rules. “Pursuant to the Commission’s rules, relicensing of unserved areas will occur through a two-phase application process, beginning with a 30-day Phase 1 filing window, followed by a Phase 2 rolling window for applications,” according to the public notice. “Applications for available unserved areas must be filed via ULS, and applicants must submit a shapefile describing the areas for which they seek a license.”

Courtesy TRDaily