WASHINGTON-By denying a waiver request last week, the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau has reiterated the importance of potential auction bidders to review their applications and submit proper and accurate applications on time.
The action means potential auction participant Cleartone Corp. cannot bid on the licenses for which it originally had planned to bid.
Cleartone apparently meant to apply to participate in the auction for the licenses for America Samoa that were set aside for small businesses-the C- and F-blocks. Instead it applied for the license (A-block) that is open to all bidders. Cleartone said it made the error due to “confusion regarding the display format of the Federal Communications Commission auction software.” When the error was discovered, it immediately sought a waiver.
“We believe that Cleartone failed to exercise reasonable diligence by verifying its license selection, as listed on its application, either before officially submitting the application or after submitting the application but before the final deadline,” said William Huber, associate chief of the auctions and spectrum access division of the wireless bureau. “Beyond making a generalized assertion of software-caused confusion, Cleartone has not explained how the software contributed to its confusion. In fact, we note the FCC software used for short-form applications has been updated to clearly indicate the market, frequency block, license frequency size, and market type of the licenses that an applicant may select.”
The FCC will begin auctioning 242 licenses Jan. 26. The bulk of these licenses were returned by bankrupt NextWave Telecom Corp. in a settlement agreement that ended its lengthy litigation with the FCC.
