WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission has accepted the applications of 16 bidders to participate in the Sept. 6 auction of guard-band manager licenses.
The FCC said six applications were incomplete. All applicants have until Aug. 18 to make upfront payments and, if necessary, resubmit complete and correct applications. The agency is expected to announce by Aug. 25 the list of qualified auction participants.
The auction of 104 licenses is necessitated by the FCC’s decision to split six megahertz off from the 36 megahertz Congress deemed as commercial spectrum. The FCC split off the spectrum to protect the public-safety operations in the other 24 megahertz. The 60 megahertz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band is being returned as TV broadcasters transition to digital service.
As guard-band managers, winning bidders will lease the spectrum for private internal use. Private systems are similar to public-safety systems, so it is believed there will be less interference.
There were some surprises in the list. For example, Nextel Communications Inc., through its subsidiary Nextel Spectrum Acquisition Corp., has applied to bid on all of the licenses. Nextel consistently has urged the FCC to allow it to use spectrum allocated for private uses for its commercial operations.
Also, FreeSpace Communications Inc.-which urged the FCC to allow all technologies, not just private wireless, to use the guard-band frequencies-is listed as an affiliate of Spectrum Innovations L.L.C., which has applied to bid for all of the licenses.
As previously reported in RCR, Mark E. Crosby, president of the Industrial Telecommunications Association, will participate in the auction under the auspices of Access Spectrum L.L.C. Access Spectrum’s application shows that it has received commitments of investment from Motorola Inc.,notwithstanding the fact that Motorola has also applied to participate in the auction.
Some of the other bidders include Day Management Corp., Triton PCS Holdings Inc., Sparkee Communications L.L.C., Tower Link Inc., SpectrumEx L.L.C. and Spectrum Holdings I L.P.
Day Management Corp. is interested in bidding for licenses in Oregon and Washington. Day Management is run by Gordon D. Day, who owns Mobile Radio Engineers, which sells and services wireless communications. Day also has interests in other wireless sales and services organizations, a 900 MHz specialized mobile radio provider and two landline telephone companies.
Triton PCS License Co. L.L.C. acknowledges that its chairman of the board and chief executive officer, Michael Kalogris, owns a 5.9-percent interest in the publicly traded company while being the sole owner of Sparkee Communications. Due to this relationship, Triton and Sparkee have agreed to discuss bids, bidding strategies and post-auction market structure during the auction. It is unclear, however, whether Triton will be deemed a qualified bidder since its application was said to be incomplete because of invalid attachments.
Tower Link’s president, Paul E. Spurgeon, owns a 50-percent interest in a personal communications services C-block license for Logan, Utah.
SpectrumEx’s partnership structure shows two Washington-area lawyers with specialized mobile radio and private radio business clients. Alan S. Tilles owns a 5.08-percent interest and David E. Wiesman owns a 2.54-percent interest.
The partners in Spectrum Holdings have interests in a Virginia rural cellular license, a Los Angeles 220 MHz license and an FM radio station.
