47 CFR § 22.949 - Unserved Area licensing; minimum coverage requirements.
(a) The Unserved Area licensing process described in this section is on-going and applications may be filed at any time, subject to the following coverage requirements:
(1) Applicants for authority to operate a new Cellular system or expand an existing Cellular Geographic Service Area (CGSA) in Unserved Area must propose a CGSA or CGSA expansion of at least 130 contiguous square kilometers (50 contiguous square miles) using the methodology of § 22.911.
(2) Applicants for authority to operate a new Cellular system must not propose coverage of water areas only (or water areas and uninhabited islands or reefs only), except for Unserved Area in the Gulf of Mexico Service Area.
(b) There is no limit to the number of Unserved Area applications that may be granted on each channel block of each CMA that is subject to the procedures of this section. Consequently, Unserved Area applications are mutually exclusive only if the proposed CGSAs would overlap. Mutually exclusive applications are processed using the general procedures under § 22.131.
(c) Unserved Area applications under this section may propose a CGSA covering more than one CMA. Each Unserved Area application must request authorization for only one CGSA and must not propose a CGSA overlap with an existing CGSA.
(d) Settlements among some, but not all, applicants with mutually exclusive applications for Unserved Area (partial settlements) under this section are prohibited. Settlements among all applicants with mutually exclusive applications under this section (full settlements) are allowed and must be filed no later than the date that the FCC Form 175 (short-form) is filed.