June 28, 2006

The FCC told a federal appeals court more than half of the 252 applicants seeking to participate in the Aug. 9 advanced wireless services auction claim designated entity status.

Such a revelation would presumably be intended to refute arguments that recent changes to bidding rules could discourage small businesses from competing for the 1,122 licenses being sold by the government.

The AWS bidder data, the first solid inkling of interest in the AWS auction, was included in a letter yesterday from agency lawyers to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.

Of the 252 applications, 166 claimed DE status. The number of AWS applicants cited by the FCC is drawn from short-form applications.

That number could decrease by the time of the July 17 deadline for upfront payments. The AWS down payments will help the FCC determine whether to go forward with a blind bidding, anti-corruption approach that keeps bidders’ identities secret until the close of the auction.

A three-judge panel is expected to hear oral argument on a lawsuit to stay the AWS auction and repeal new DE guidelines.

Council Tree Communications Inc., Bethel Native Corp. and the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council filed the lawsuit at the 3rd Circuit earlier this month.

The three groups are challenging an FCC decision to extend DE license sale restrictions from five to 10 years and to deny incentives to DEs that resell or lease more than 50 percent of their spectrum capacity. DEs are entitled to wireless license discounts up to 25 percent.

CTIA, the national cell-phone carrier association, and T-Mobile USA Inc. filed briefs in support of the FCC’s opposition to the lawsuit. T-Mobile, the smallest of the four national mobile-phone operators, is anxious to bolster its relatively weak spectrum position at the AWS auction.

The AWS auction already has been postponed once.

The largest-ever sale of wireless licenses, which is expected to generate between $8 billion and $15 billion for the U.S. Treasury, had been set to begin June 29.

Source: RCR News