OMNu*
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WAS HI N G TO N
OFFICE OF
THE CHAIRMAN
June 17, 2015
The Honorable Steve Chabot
Chairman
Committee on Small Business
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairman Chabot:
Thank you very much for your June 8, 2015, letter about the Federal Communications
Commission's (FCC) Auction of Advanced Wireless Services (AWS-3) Licenses (Auction 97).
Attached to this letter is a copy of the correspondence between the FCC and the Small Business
Administration you requested in your letter.
The two AWS-3 bidders you discuss in your letter - Northstar Wireless, LLC, and SNR
Wireless LicenseCo, LLC - have submitted "long-form" license applications to the FCC. The
FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau is currently reviewing these two bidders'
applications to make sure they are in compliance with FCC rules, including rules pertaining to
ownership interests and eligibility for small business bidding credits. Under FCC rules, the
review of a license application is a "restricted proceeding," during which ex parte presentations
are prohibited.' The Commission' s decision to grant or deny these applications will be based on
the totality of circumstances in the record about each application. A number of parties have filed
petitions to deny these applications, and these filings are part of the record the Bureau is
considering.
In addition to adjudicating individual license applications, the Commission is engaged in
a more general effort to address the role of small businesses in spectrum auctions. On October
10, 2014, the Commission issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to revise many of the
so-called "Part I" competitive bidding rules about which you and others have recently raised
concerns, including small-business eligibility for bidding credits and joint bidding agreements.2
On April 17, 2015, the Commission released a request for further comment on this proposed
rulemaking, specifically asking interested parties to incorporate "lessons learned" from the
Auction 97 into their coniments.3
1 47 C.F.R. §1.120.
2 Updating Part I Competitive Bidding Rules, WT Docket No, 14-170, Notice ofProposedRulemaking,
29 FCC Rcd 12426 (2014).
for Further Comment on Issues Related to Competitive Bidding Proceeding, Updating Part I
Competitive Bidding Rules, Public Notice, WT Docket No. 14-170 (Apr. 17, 2015).
The Honorable Steve Chabot
Page 2 of 2
It is my expectation that any new rules that are adopted will both reflect the dynamics of
the current spectrum marketplace, and fulfill our statutory obligation to ensure that small
businesses, rural telephone companies and minority and women-owned businesses have the
opportunity to compete in spectrum auctions.4
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have further questions.
Sincerely,
Tom Wheeler
Enclosure
Cc (with enclosure): The Honorable Nydia M. Velázquez
Ranking Member
47 U.S.C. §309(j)(4)(D).
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