Federal Communications Commission DA 22-419 DA 22-419 Released: April 15, 2022 REVISION OF INVENTORY FOR AUCTION OF FLEXIBLE-USE LICENSES IN THE 2.5 GHz BAND FOR NEXT-GENERATION WIRELESS SERVICES (AUCTION 108) AU Docket No. 20-429 1. By this Public Notice, the Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA) and the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) announce the availability of an updated “Attachment A” file listing the Auction 108 inventory, which reflects the removal of 19 licenses. 2. On March 21, 2022, the Commission released a public notice establishing the procedures to be used for Auction 108, along with a listing of all county and channel block combinations for approximately 8,000 new flexible-use geographic overlay licenses for unassigned spectrum in the 2.5 GHz (2496–2690 MHz) band. See generally Auction of Flexible-Use Licenses in the 2.5 GHz Band for Next-Generation Wireless Services; Notice and Filing Requirements, Minimum Opening Bids, Upfront Payments, and Other Procedures for Auction 108; Bidding Scheduled to Begin July 29, 2022, AU Docket No. 20-429, Public Notice, FCC 22-24 (Mar. 21, 2022) (modified by Erratum (OEA/WTB Apr. 1, 2022)) (Auction 108 Procedures Public Notice). The Commission also made available a new mapping tool to help identify and view existing licenses and pending applications to assist applicants in conducting due diligence research regarding potential encumbrances in the band. Id. at 9, para. 17. 3. The inventory released on March 21, 2022, did not account for all canceled, terminated, or expired licenses that were granted waivers for late-filed renewals. Specifically, those licenses were subject to a condition that the licensee’s geographic service shall not include any portion of its geographic service area that overlapped with another licensee whose license was in active status on both January 10, 2005, and on the date the expired licensee’s late-filed renewal application was granted. See, e.g., 116 Late-Filed Applications for Renewal of Educational Broadband Service Stations, Memorandum Opinion and Order, 24 FCC Rcd 8108 (WTB 2009). In those instances, the licenses subject to that condition would not have reduced the geographic service area of an active neighboring co-channel license through the process known as “splitting the football.” See 47 CFR § 27.1206(b)(1)(ii). Accordingly, the analysis that resulted in the March 21 inventory incorrectly reduced the geographic service area of certain active licenses because it assumed that those active licenses had their geographic service areas reduced by the canceled, expired, or terminated licenses. Upon further analysis, Commission staff found 19 instances where county/channel block combinations that had been listed in the March 21 inventory in fact had no unassigned spectrum. The 19 licenses being removed from inventory are as follows: Limestone County, AL, Channel 1; Limestone County, AL, Channel 3; Tuscaloosa County, AL, Channel 3; Litchfield County, CT, Channel 1; New Haven County, CT, Channel 1; Escambia County, FL, Channel 3; Henderson County, IL, Channel 2; Monroe County, IL, Channel 2; Monroe County, IL, Channel 3; Todd County, MN, Channel 1; George County, MS, Channel 3; Sullivan County, NH, Channel 1; Sullivan County, NH, Channel 2; Putnam County, NY, Channel 1; Lincoln County, TN, Channel 3; Lamoille County, VT, Channel 1; Lamoille County, VT, Channel 2; Washington County, VT, Channel 1; and Windsor County, VT, Channel 1. 4. The updated “Attachment A” file that reflects the revisions to the inventory discussed herein has been posted on the Auction 108 website at www.fcc.gov/auction/108. These revisions have also been incorporated into the Commission’s mapping tool, which is available under the Education tab on the Auction 108 website. 5. Interested parties should review the Auction 108 Procedures Public Notice, which details application requirements, minimum opening bids, upfront payments, and other procedures for Auction 108. Bidding in Auction 108 is scheduled to begin on July 29, 2022. Interested parties may submit a short-form application for Auction 108 between 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on April 27, 2022, and 6:00 p.m. ET on May 10, 2022. 6. We remind interested parties to conduct their own due diligence regarding licenses available in Auction 108. We note in particular that there will be a substantial number of licenses in inventory where the amount of unassigned area or unassigned spectrum is very small. Interested parties should consult ULS to confirm all information in the mapping tool and to determine the amount of white space available in the license areas contained in Attachment A. 7. For further information concerning this proceeding, contact the offices listed below: Broadband Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau 2.5 GHz band questions: Madelaine Maior or Nadja Sodos-Wallace at (202) 4182487 Inventory questions: John Schauble at (202) 418-0797 Auctions Division, Office of Economics and Analytics Auction legal questions: Lyndsey Grunewald, Daniel Habif, or Scott Mackoul at (202) 418-0660 - FCC - 2