FCC: Licenses soon to come for Auction 40 winners

It could be almost any time, now, that the FCC will grant applications for licenses for the frequencies it sold in auction No. 40 that ended on Dec. 5, 2001.

The federal agency said that it is prepared to grant the applications for the licenses upon payment of the remaining balance of each applicant’s winning bids. Bidders who paid in a lump sum already sent the FCC their money by Aug. 20. Those who want a little more time—in exchange for a 5 percent late fee—have until Sept. 4 to pay the balance due.

The frequencies involved are in the “upper and lower paging bands.” A number of bidders expect to deploy two-way radio systems on the channels they bought. The exclusive coverage areas afforded by the frequencies lend themselves to trunked airtime service systems.