T-Mobile Asks FCC to Use 2.5 GHz Licenses Under Special Temporary Authority

With the FCC slamming the brakes on issuing the licenses T-Mobile won in last year's 2.5 GHz auction, after the agency’s auction authority lapsed (see 2303220077), the carrier filed a request at the FCC to use the spectrum under special temporary authority, for 180 days. “Grant of this request will serve the public interest because it would permit T-Mobile to temporarily provide wireless broadband services to the public using spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band, including many rural and underserved areas,” the undocketed filing said. Section 309(f) of the Communications Act allows the commission to grant temporary authorization when it finds “there are extraordinary circumstances requiring temporary operations in the public interest and that delay in the institution of such temporary operations would seriously prejudice the public interest,” the filing said: “The extraordinary circumstances result from the lapse, for the first time ever, of the Commission’s general authority to conduct spectrum auctions to select among mutually exclusive applications.” The filing said T-Mobile continues to believe the FCC could issue in an already-concluded auction under Section 309(a) of the act “some at the Commission have expressed doubts about that conclusion,” the carrier said. “While T-Mobile expects that the Commission’s auction authority will be restored, the timing for when that will occur is unclear,” T-Mobile said.