The Federal Communications Commission late Friday said 81 applications for the advanced wireless services auction were accepted for filing, while 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. While Sprint Nextel and four cable TV companies previously said they planned to file a short-form AWS application, it was not immediately clear from the FCC public notice whether the joint venture had done so. Likewise, it could not be discerned whether other large companies outside the wireless space plan to bid on AWS auctions.
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.
