July 11, 2006

Late Friday, the Federal Communications Commission said 81 applications for the advanced wireless services auction were accepted for filing.

However, 171 applications were deemed incomplete and must be corrected to remain eligible for the scheduled Aug. 9 start of bidding for 1,122 licenses.

Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile USA Inc. and Cingular Wireless L.L.C. all filed short-form applications, though Cingular is one of the applicants that must resubmit its filing with corrections by July 18. Upfront payments are required of all applicants by July 17.

The Sprint Nextel Corp. cable venture did file a short-form application as they intended to. The filing was listed under SprectrumCo L.L.C. and is one of the 171 AWS applications that need to be corrected and re-submitted.

Forty-six of the 81 AWS applications accepted for filing by the FCC are seeking small business, or designated entity, license discounts.

In recent litigation, the FCC said 166 of the total 252 AWS applications submitted seek DE status. A federal appeals court in Philadelphia rejected a lawsuit seeking a stay of the AWS auction, but will still entertain a legal challenge of revised DE rules.

In that trial, an administrative law judge is set to make recommendations to the Commission next month.

Source: RCR News