The FCC asked the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia C...
The FCC asked the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to reject a case brought against it by designated entity Council Tree, seeking to overturn the 700 MHz auction. Council Tree argued that the designated entity…
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rules approved for the 700 MHz auction nearly guaranteed that the largest carriers won almost all licenses for sale in the auction. “Council Tree asks the court to nullify the 700 MHz auction, a step that would require the return of $19 billion from the U.S. Treasury and the cancellation of numerous spectrum licenses just as the innocent third parties that won them are planning to deploy wireless broadband service to the public,” the FCC said. The commission said the court should reject the appeal because it’s an “untimely challenge” to the FCC’s 700 MHz report and order “rather than a challenge to any action taken in the Order that is the nominal subject of Council Tree’s petition.” Council Tree challenges to the order “are insubstantial in any event” since designated entities are not guaranteed any “particular level of… success in wireless auctions,” the regulator said.