*Pages 1--5 from Microsoft Word - 22842.doc* PUBLIC NOTICE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 445 TWELFTH STREET, S. W. WASHINGTON, D. C. 20554 DA 02- 3081 News media information 202/ 418- 0500 Fax- On- Demand 202/ 418- 2830 Internet: http:// www. fcc. gov ftp. fcc. gov Released: November 8, 2002 AT& T WIRELESS SERVICES, INC. AND CINGULAR WIRELESS LLC SEEK FCC CONSENT TO ASSIGN AND TRANSFER CONTROL OF PCS LICENSES WT Dkt. No. 02- 354 PLEADING CYCLE ESTABLISHED Petitions/ Comments Due: December 9, 2002 Oppositions Due: December 19, 2002 Replies Due: December 27, 2002 AT& T Wireless Services, Inc. (“ AWS”) and Cingular Wireless LLC (“ Cingular”) have filed applications pursuant to Section 310( d) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 1 seeking Commission consent to the full and partial assignment and transfer of control of licenses in the Personal Communications Services (“ PCS”). Consent is necessary to implement a joint venture – GSM Corridor, LLC (“ GSM Corridor”) – to build infrastructure using GSM technology that will enable the joint venture partners to provide service to subscribers along approximately 4,000 miles of select highways in rural parts of the country. Licenses to be controlled by GSM Corridor will consist of portions of licenses currently held by AWS or its subsidiaries, licenses acquired from third parties, and a license held by a subsidiary of Cingular. APPLICATIONS This Public Notice lists four groups of applications for the assignment or transfer of control of licenses granted pursuant to Part 24 of the Commission’s rules. The first group consists of applications related to the assignment of certain authorizations from third parties to AT& T Wireless PCS, LLC (“ AWP”), a wholly- owned subsidiary of AWS. The second group consists of applications related to the pro forma partitioning or partitioning and disaggregation of licenses into BTA- specific 10 MHz authorizations for the highways to be served (the “highway partitions”). The highway partitions will be assigned (1) from AWP to one of two wholly- owned subsidiaries of AWS, AT& T Wireless Roadrunner License Sub, LLC (“ SUB- A”) or Roadrunner Cingular License Sub, LLC (“ SUB- C”), or (2) from Pacific Telesis Mobile Systems, LLC (“ Pacific Telesis”), an indirect wholly- owned subsidiary of Cingular, to Cingular New England License Sub LLC (“ SUB- NE”), an indirect wholly- owned subsidiary of Cingular. 1 47 U. S. C. § 310( d). 1 2 The third group consists of applications related to the transfer of control of SUB- A, SUB- C, and SUB- NE to GSM Corridor, a joint venture entity directly owned equally by AT& T Wireless Roadrunner, LLC, a wholly- owned subsidiary of AWS, and Cingular Wireless Roadrunner, LLC, a wholly- owned subsidiary of Cingular. The fourth and final group consists of applications related to the assignment of certain non-highway portions of the 10 MHz BTA licenses to Southwestern Bell Wireless, LLC (“ Southwestern Bell Wireless”), an indirect wholly- owned subsidiary of Cingular. I. ASSIGNMENT APPLICATIONS FROM THIRD PARTIES TO AWP The following are applications for consent to assign PCS licenses from Lewis and Clark Communications, LLC (“ Lewis and Clark”), Royal Wireless, L. L. C. (“ Royal”), and Southwest Wireless, L. L. C (“ Southwest”) to AWP. The applications have been assigned the file numbers below. File Number Licensee Lead Call Sign 0001053809 Lewis and Clark Communications, LLC KNLF929 0001053817 Royal Wireless, L. L. C. KNLG715 0001053811 Southwest Wireless, L. L. C. KNLF766 II. PRO FORMA ASSIGNMENT APPLICATIONS TO PARTITION OR PARTITION AND DISAGGREGATE THE HIGHWAY AREAS The following are pro forma assignment applications for consent to partition or partition and disaggregate licenses in order to create the highway partitions. In this second application group, AWP will partition or partition and disaggregate certain licenses to two different wholly- owned subsidiaries of AWS, SUB- A and SUB- C. In addition, an authorization held by Pacific Telesis, a subsidiary of Cingular, will be partitioned and disaggregated to SUB- NE. The applications have been assigned the file numbers below. File Number Assignee Lead Call Sign 0001056342 AT& T Wireless Roadrunner License Sub, LLC KNLG464 50000- CW- AA- 03 2 AT& T Wireless Roadrunner License Sub, LLC KNLG207 0001056322 Roadrunner Cingular License Sub, LLC KNLF291 50001- CW- AA- 03 3 Roadrunner Cingular License Sub, LLC KNLF766 0001056309 4 Cingular New England License Sub LLC WPSL626 III. TRANSFER OF CONTROL APPLICATIONS OF SUB- A, SUB- C, AND SUB- NE TO GSM CORRIDOR 2 This application is attached to file no. 0001056309. This application involves licenses that concurrently are being assigned from Lewis and Clark, Royal, and Southwest to AWP. See File Nos. 0001053809, 0001053817, 0001053811; see also Assignment Applications from Third Parties to AWP, supra Section I. Since these assignment applications are still pending, the licenses are not shown as belonging to AWP in the Universal Licensing System (“ ULS”) database. Thus, it was necessary to file this application manually with a request for waiver of the ULS electronic filing requirement. Furthermore, Exhibit A to this application is identical to Exhibit A of lead application File No. 0001056309; therefore, Exhibit A to this application has not been scanned into ULS. 3 See supra note 2. 4 File No. 0001056309 has been designated as the lead application in this transaction, and all pleadings and other submissions filed in this matter that pertain generally to the transaction and not to a particular application will be available through this file number. 2 3 The following are applications for consent to transfer control of licenses held by the wholly-owned subsidiaries of AWS, SUB- A and SUB- C, and the wholly- owned subsidiary of Cingular, SUB-NE, to GSM Corridor. The applications have been assigned the file numbers below. File Number Licensee Lead Call Sign 50002- CW- TC- 03 5 AT& T Wireless Roadrunner License Sub, LLC KNLG534 50003- CW- TC- 03 6 Roadrunner Cingular License Sub, LLC KNLF291 50004- CW- TC- 03 7 Cingular New England License Sub LLC WPSL626 IV. APPLICATIONS TO ASSIGN CERTAIN NON- HIGHWAY AREAS TO SOUTHWESTERN BELL WIRELESS, LLC The following are applications for consent to assign certain licenses from AWP to Southwestern Bell Wireless. These authorizations are the remaining 10 MHz portions of some of the BTAs following the highway partitions that were the subject of the pro forma assignment applications from AWP to SUB-C. 8 The applications have been assigned the file numbers below. File Number Assignee Lead Call Sign 50005- CW- AA- 03 9 Southwestern Bell Wireless, LLC KNLF291 50006- CW- AA- 03 10 Southwestern Bell Wireless, LLC KNLG715 DESIGNATED ENTITY AND ENTREPRENEURIAL ELIGIBILITY ISSUES AWS and Cingular state that this transaction will include the transfer of C and F Block PCS licenses to AWP. 11 The Commission’s rules state that “[ n] o assignment or transfer of control of a license for frequency Block C or frequency Block F won in closed bidding pursuant to the eligibility 5 This application is attached to file no. 0001056309. All of the authorizations that will be held by SUB- A, SUB- C, and SUB- NE are the result of partitions or partitions and disaggregations of licenses from AWP and Pacific Telesis. See File Nos. 0001056309, 0001056322, 0001056342, 50000- CW- AA- 03, 50001- CW- AA- 03, see also Pro Forma Assignment Applications to Partition or Partition and Disaggregate the Highway Areas, supra Section II. These transfer of control applications were filed on paper with a request for waiver of the ULS electronic filing requirement. In addition, new call signs will be assigned upon the creation of the partitions or partitions and disaggregations; therefore, the call signs shown above are merely for informational purposes and designate the originating call sign of the license that was partitioned or partitioned and disaggregated. Furthermore, Exhibit A to this application is identical to Exhibit A of lead application File No. 0001056309; therefore, Exhibit A to this application has not been scanned into ULS. 6 See supra note 5. 7 See id. 8 See File Nos. 0001056322, 50001- CW- AA- 03. 9 This application is attached to file no. 0001056309. These licenses are involved in earlier phases of the transaction; therefore, the licenses are not available to be transferred directly from AWP to Southwestern Bell Wireless via ULS. Accordingly, these applications have been filed on paper with a request for waiver of the ULS electronic filing requirement. Furthermore, Exhibit A to this application is identical to Exhibit A of lead application File No. 0001056309; therefore, Exhibit A to this application has not been scanned into ULS. 10 See supra note 9. 11 See File Nos. 0001053809, 0001053817, 0001053811 (assigning licenses from Lewis and Clark, Royal, and Southwest to AWP); see also Assignment Applications from Third Parties to AWP, supra Section I. 3 4 requirements of § 24.709 will be granted,” 12 except when, among other things, “[ t] he application for assignment or transfer of control is filed on or after the date the licensee has notified the Commission pursuant to § 24.203( c) that its five- year construction requirement has been satisfied.” 13 AWS and Cingular state that five- year build- out notifications have been filed for all the C and F block licenses implicated in the assignment applications. AWS and Cingular acknowledge that full payment of the remaining unpaid principal and any unpaid interest accrued through the eventual date of the assignments or transfers of control and any other payments otherwise required by Section 1.2111 of the Commission’s rules will be required to be made immediately prior to closing. 14 GENERAL INFORMATION The assignment and transfer of control applications referenced herein have been found, upon initial review, to be acceptable for filing. The Commission reserves the right to return any application if, upon further examination, it is determined to be defective and not in conformance with the Commission’s rules or policies. Final action on these applications will not be taken earlier than thirty- one days following the date of this Public Notice. 15 Interested parties may file comments or petitions to deny no later than December 9, 2002. Replies to such pleadings may be filed no later than December 19, 2002. Oppositions to such pleadings may be filed no later than December 27, 2002. All filings concerning matters referenced in this Public Notice should refer to DA 02- 3081 and WT Docket No. 02- 354, as well as the specific file numbers of the individual applications or other matters to which the filings pertain. All documents filed in the proceeding should indicate in the caption that this matter is before the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Commercial Wireless Division, Policy and Rules Branch. Pursuant to Section 1.1200( a) of the Commission’s rules, 16 which permits the Commission to adopt modified or more stringent ex parte procedures in particular proceedings if the public interest so requires, we announce that this proceeding will be governed by permit- but- disclose ex parte procedures that are applicable to non- restricted proceedings. 17 Under the Commission’s current procedures for the submission of filings and other documents, 18 submissions in this matter may be filed electronically (i. e., by the Commission’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS)) or by hand delivery to the Commission’s Massachusetts Avenue location. 12 47 C. F. R. § 24.839( a). 13 See id. § 24.839( a)( 6). 14 See 47 C. F. R. § 1.2111( c), (d). 15 See 47 U. S. C. § 309( b). 16 47 C. F. R. § 1.1200( a). 17 See id. § 1.1206. 18 See In the Matter of Implementation of Interim Electronic Filing Procedures for Certain Commission Filings, Order, FCC 01- 345 (rel. Nov. 29, 2001); see also FCC Announces a New Filing Location for Paper Documents and a New Fax Number for General Correspondence, Public Notice, DA 01- 2919 (rel. Dec. 14, 2001). 4 5 € If filed by ECFS, 19 comments shall be sent as an electronic file via the Internet to http:// www. fcc. gov/ e- file/ ecfs. html. Generally, only one copy of an electronic submission must be filed. If multiple docket numbers appear in the caption of this proceeding, however, commenters must transmit one electronic copy of the comments to each docket number referenced in the caption. In completing the transmittal screen, commenters should include their full name, Postal Service mailing address, and the applicable docket number. Parties may also submit an electronic comment by Internet e- mail. To get filing instructions for e- mail comments, commenters should send an e- mail to ecfs@ fcc. gov, and should include the following words in the body of the message, “get form .” A sample form and directions will be sent in reply. € If filed by paper, the original and four copies of each filing must be filed by hand or messenger delivery, by commercial overnight courier, or by first- class or overnight U. S. Postal Service mail (although we continue to experience delays in receiving U. S. Postal Service mail). The Commission's contractor, Vistronix, Inc., will receive hand- delivered or messenger- delivered paper filings for the Commission's Secretary at 236 Massachusetts Avenue, N. E., Suite 110, Washington, D. C. 20002. The filing hours at this location are 8: 00 a. m. to 7: 00 p. m. All hand deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes must be disposed of before entering the building. Commercial overnight mail (other than U. S. Postal Service Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743. U. S. Postal Service first- class mail, Express Mail, and Priority Mail should be addressed to 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, D. C. 20554. All filings must be addressed to the Commission's Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission. One copy of each pleading must be delivered electronically, by e- mail or facsimile, or if delivered as paper copy, by hand or messenger delivery, by commercial overnight courier, or by first- class or overnight U. S. Postal Service mail (according to the procedures set forth above for paper filings) to: (1) the Commission’s duplicating contractor, Qualex International, at qualexint@ aol. com or (202) 863- 2898 (facsimile); (2) Kathy Harris, Commercial Wireless Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, at kharris@ fcc. gov, or (202) 418- 7224 (facsimile); (3) Erin McGrath, Commercial Wireless Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, at emcgrath@ fcc. gov or (202) 418- 7447 (facsimile); and (4) Rita Cookmeyer, Auctions and Industry Analysis Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, at rcookmey@ fcc. gov or (202) 418- 2923 (facsimile). For further information, contact Kathy Harris or Erin McGrath, Commercial Wireless Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, at (202) 418- 7240, or Rita Cookmeyer, Auctions and Industry Analysis Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, at (202) 418- 0660. -FCC- 19 See Electronic Filing of Documents in Rulemaking Proceedings, 63 Fed. Reg. 24,121 (1998). 5