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License View API (v1.0)

Overview

The FCC issues licenses for use of the nation's airwaves and other purposes. License View API provides snapshots such as the number of licenses across different services, how many licenses different entities have, and how many licenses are up for renewal in the near future. The following APIs represent a step toward reform of our licensing systems and improvement in how the FCC makes licensing information available to the public.

Disclaimer:

The FCC License View contains licenses that have been granted by the Federal Communications Commission, and is intended solely to demonstrate some of the changes envisioned for the Commission's new Consolidated Licensing System. Users are cautioned that this system does not necessarily constitute the complete record in any particular license and, as such, the FCC makes no representations regarding the accuracy or completeness of the information maintained in the FCC License View. Users seeking a record of a particular license are urged to utilize the Commission's official databases, such as the Cable Operations and Licensing System (COALS), Consolidated Data Base System (CDBS), Experimental Licensing System (ELS), International Bureau Filing System (IBFS) and Universal Licensing System (ULS), instead.

The information contained herein has not been relied upon by the Commission to analyze the competitive marketplace or assessing the spectrum holdings of service providers in any particular geographic area. Furthermore, users should be aware that matters not reflected in the FCC License View may relate to and affect the status of FCC licenses, including spectrum leasing arrangements, transactions pending before the FCC, transactions approved by the FCC but not consummated by applicants, future proceedings before the FCC, or actions in the courts. The FCC License View is also not an endorsement by the FCC of any particular service, technology, product, or service provider, and the FCC makes no representations or warranties about the provision of service on the data included in this database.

Reference Files

  • Data Dictionary

    Read a brief explanation of each field included in the data set. Download

  • Sample Data Set

    View a small subset of data as an example of the file download layout. Download (74kb)

  • Full Data Set

    Download the complete set of data in the License View database. Download (577Mb)

getLicenses

Description

This API returns high level license information including name, FRN, call sign, category, service, status, expiration date and license id, based on the search criteria passed. The API returns data where the search criteria match a name, FRN, or call sign.

Why We Provide It

This API provides a high level overview of license data across the Commission and flexibility in accessing data by centralizing license information that currently resides in various systems.

Additional Information

Users seeking a record of a particular license are urged to utilize the Commission's official databases, such as the Universal Licensing System (ULS), International Bureau Filing System (IBFS), Experimental Licensing System (ELS) Cable Operations and Licensing System (COALS) and Consolidated Data Base System (CDBS), instead.

  • api call
    http://data.fcc.gov/api/license-view/basicSearch/getLicenses
    sample call
    http://data.fcc.gov/api/license-view/basicSearch/getLicenses?searchValue=Verizon Wireless&format=jsonp&callback=?
    parameters
    • searchValue (Required)
    • pageNum (Optional) – Default is 1.
    • sortColumn (Optional) – Default is licName. Valid values are: licName, frn, callsign, service, status, expdate
    • sortOrder (Optional) – Default is asc. Valid values are: asc, desc
    • pageSize (Optional) – Default is 100.
    • format (Optional) – Default is xml. Valid values are: xml, json, jsonp
    • jsonCallback (Optional) – Default is callback.
    response
    Error Response Codes
    • 1: The searchValue field is required
    • 4: The pageNum field must be between 1 and 500,000
    • 5: The sortColumn field must be licName, frn, callsign, categoryDesc, serviceDesc, statusDesc, or expiredDate
    • 6: The sortOrder field must be either asc or desc
    • 7: The pageSize field must be between 1 to 1,000
    • 8: The format is incorrect. The proper formats are xml, json or jsonp
    • 110: No matches found for quick search

getCommonNames

Description

This API returns a list of currently known licensee names associated with a common name. This API is currently available for top ten license holders. With no parameters, this API returns list of top ten common names.

Why We Provide It

This API provides information on which entities, based on common name, hold active licenses with the commission. The common name refers to an entity that either wholly owns or has majority interest in the license; is the general partner of the limited partnership or manager of an LLC that holds the license; or is the name under which the service being provided via the license is marketed to the public.

Additional Information

Not all license holders are currently associated with a common name. As part of the Spectrum Dashboard, common names were manually identified for licenses in the following bands: 700 MHz, 800 MHz Cellular, Advanced Wireless Service (AWS), Broadband Personal Communications Service (PCS), Broadband Radio Service (BRS) and Educational Broadband Service (EBS), and 2.3 GHz Wireless Communications Service (WCS). Confirmed associations were then mapped to all license data within License View. Currently, less than 10% of all licenses have a confirmed association with a common name. Users seeking a record of a particular license are urged to utilize the Commission's official databases.

getStatuses

Description

This API returns the license counts and percent distribution by status. A license falls into one of the following statuses: active, expired, cancelled or terminated.

Why We Provide It

We are providing this API to offer greater visibility into license data across the Commission. Every license in the Commission has an associated status; however, the status codes and terminology vary across the different systems. Rolling up the statuses into four broad groups provides a consolidated summary of the license distribution.

getCategories

Description

This API returns the counts and percent distribution of active licenses by category. A license falls into only one category.

Why We Provide It

This API provides a view of the distribution of licenses by general usage categories. A category is a grouping of radio services.

Additional Information

For general overview purposes, we have associated each radio service with a specific usage category. Categories are based on most common usage by industry and may not reflect the actual use of an individual license. The data dictionary provides a mapping of the radio service to its respective category.

getEntities

Description

This API returns the counts and percent distribution of active licenses by entity type. There are four entity categories: Individual, Business, Government and Other.

Why We Provide It

This API provides information on the number of licenses held by various entities. Many different types of entities hold licenses with the Commission; these have been categorized into four groups: Individual, Business, Government and Other.

getRenewals

Description

This API returns the number of licenses up for renewal in a given month. The API returns 12 months worth of data.

Why We Provide It

This API provides summary information on the volume of licenses that are eligible for renewal in the upcoming months. This information is based solely on the expiration date on file with the license.

getIssued

Description

This API returns the number of licenses that were issued by the Commission on a yearly basis. The data returned includes the year and the total number of licenses issued.

Why We Provide It

This API provides summary information on the volume of licenses issued by the Commission in the past.

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