* Wireless Telecommunications Bureau announced (See DA 08-1166) the removal of a mutually exclusive application group (FGN 002) from the inventory for Auction 77, a closed auction of Cellular Radiotelephone Service licenses for unserved areas.

Participation in this auction is limited to only those applicants that filed the mutually exclusive applications for the areas listed above. General information and associated licensing parameters are provided below. Public notices provide specific information regarding this auction.

Auction 77 is being held to resolve two groups of mutually exclusive applications for unserved area licenses in the Cellular Radiotelephone Service. (One of the groups of mutually exclusive applications was settled, see DA 08-1166, prior to the auction. Thus, the auction included only one group.) The applications are for authority to operate new cellular systems in or to expand existing cellular systems into unserved areas.

The cellular radio service is a mobile radiotelephone service in which common carriers are authorized to offer and provide a mobile telecommunications service for hire to the general public using cellular systems. A cellular radio system is an automated, high-capacity system of one or more multichannel base stations designed to provide radio telecommunications services to mobile stations over a wide area in a spectrally efficient manner. Cellular systems employ techniques such as low transmitting power and automatic hand-off between base stations of communications in progress to enable channels to be re-used at relatively short distances. Cellular systems may also employ digital techniques such as voice encoding and decoding, data compression, error correction, and time or code division multiple access in order to increase system capacity.

Licenses will be issued for a ten-year term from the initial license grant date. The licensee has a renewal expectancy based on the provision of substantial service to the public and substantial compliance with applicable Commission rules, policies, and the Communications Act. (See 47 C.F.R. § 22.940(a)). Unserved area licensees must construct and provide service to subscribers within one year after grant of the authorization.

Bidding credits for designated entities will not be available in Auction 77.

Tribal lands bidding credits will not be available to winning bidders in Auction 77.

1. A cellular RSA licensee that holds a controlling interest in a license operating on one cellular channel block is limited on the amount of interest they may hold in a license for the other channel block in an overlapping cellular geographic service area (CGSA). (47 C.F.R. § 22.942).
2. A cellular RSA licensee operating transmitters within 72 kilometers (45 miles) of the U.S. – Canadian border must coordinate with the adjacent Canadian licensee to eliminate any harmful interference. (See 47 C.F.R. § 22.955).
3. Partitioning and/or disaggregation is permitted. (See 47 C.F.R. § 22.948).