"Part 90 Biennial, WT Docket 98-182, FCC 00-235 (Adopted 6-28-00, Released 7-12-00 and effective 11-13-00, amended Section 90.149).

"9. § 90.149  License term. Part 90 authorizations generally are granted for a period not to exceed five years; however, certain Part 90 authorizations for commercial mobile radio service (CMRS) providers on the 220-222 MHz, 929-930 MHz paging, 800/900 MHz Industrial/Land Transportation and Business Radio Services, and 800/900 MHz Specialized Mobile Radio Service Pool are for ten years.  In the Notice, we proposed to amend Section 90.149(a) of the Commission's Rules to provide that licenses for all stations authorized under Part 90 will be issued for a term not to exceed ten years from the date of initial issuance or renewal. We argued that providing a ten-year period would provide economic benefits for licensees:  under the Commission's current fee schedule, the application fee for a ten-year license is same as that for a five-year license.  By having to renew licenses only every ten years, licensees would effectively have their application fees and their costs of processing the renewals halved. We also stated that standardizing the license term for all Part 90 licensees would reduce our costs of processing renewal applications. 

"10. We adopt our proposal to extend the licensing term to ten years for all Part 90 licenses. A majority of the commenters agree that extending the licensing term provides significant benefits by reducing both costs and administrative burdens for licensees and significantly reducing the administrative burden on the Commission.  APCO and American Petroleum Institute (API), however, suggest retention of the current license term on the basis that it is a cost-effective method of maintaining an accurate license database. These commenters contend that a shorter license term requires users to modify their licenses and provide necessary updates more often  and effectively clears valuable, unused spectrum by necessitating a rolling review of the license database.  In addition, while API agrees with PCIA that increased enforcement would have a positive impact on maintenance of an accurate database, it doubts that we have the resources to devote to such an increased enforcement effort. While we recognize APCO's and API's concerns regarding the accuracy of the license database, we believe they are outweighed by the benefits obtained by reducing cost and administrative burdens for licensees and the Commission, including, but not limited to, the standardization of the license term for all Part 90 licensees. Furthermore, we are confident that our recent adoption of the Universal Licensing System (ULS) rules and implementation of a comprehensive electronic filing system for wireless applications will make it easier for users to provide necessary updates and thus encourage users to notify us of any changes (as currently required). We remind licensees of their obligations under Section 90.135 of the Commission's Rules  and we will take appropriate action against licensees that do not comply with that rule. We therefore adopt our proposal to amend Section 90.149(a) to provide that licenses for stations authorized under Part 90 will be issued for a term not to exceed ten years from the date of initial issuance or renewal. Accordingly, upon grant of a current licensee's renewal application, the current licensee will receive a license for ten years."