22.401—Description and purposes of developmental authorizations.

Eligible entities (see § 22.7) may apply for, and the FCC may grant, authority to construct and operate one or more transmitters subject to the rules in this subpart and other limitations, waivers and/or conditions that may be prescribed. Authorizations granted on this basis are developmental authorizations. In general, the FCC grants developmental authorizations in situations and circumstances where it cannot reasonably be determined in advance whether a particular transmitter can be operated or a particular service can be provided without causing interference to the service of existing stations. For example, the FCC may grant developmental authorizations for:
(a) Field strength surveys to evaluate the technical suitability of antenna locations for stations in the Public Mobile Services;
(b) Experimentation leading to the potential development of a new Public Mobile Service or technology; or,
(c) Stations transmitting on channels in certain frequency ranges, to provide a trial period during which it can be individually determined whether such stations can operate without causing excessive interference to existing services.
[59 FR 59507, Nov. 17, 1994, as amended at 70 FR 19309, Apr. 13, 2005]