First Incentive Auction Licenses Accepted for Filing by FCC

as the post-incentive auction transition gets underway. The FCC said other applications will be addressed in later notices. The licenses include many purchased by T-Mobile, Dish Network through ParkerB.com, Comcast through CC Wireless Investment, and AT&T. Other parties can file petitions to deny the grant of the licenses, but must do so by May 30, the public notice said. The Incentive Auction Task Force and the Wireless Bureau released the notice. Meanwhile, stations that will be changing channels during repacking but aren’t eligible for reimbursement will need to file progress reports the same as stations that can be reimbursed, said the FCC Media Bureau and IATF in a PN. Nonreimbursable stations include band changing stations, stations that “accept a waiver of the Commission’s service rules to allow them to make flexible use of their reassigned spectrum to provide services other than broadcast television services in lieu of receiving reimbursement” and a small number of Class A's, the PN said. Requiring all broadcasters changing channels to file will give the FCC and the wireless and broadcast industries a more complete picture of the progress of the post-incentive auction transition, it said. The filing “will permit the Commission, broadcasters, and other interested parties to get a snapshot of progress at regular intervals and critical periods within each transition phase,” the PN said. IATF released a user guide for the commission registration system (Cores) incentive auction financial module. Full-power stations, Class A broadcasters and MVPDs that “anticipate receiving incentive and/or reimbursement payment(s) following the incentive auction” must “use the Financial Module to submit bank account information electronically,” the PN said. The user guide is available on the auction website.