The FCC has affirmed the Auctions and Spectrum Access Division’s (Division) order denying NBVDS Investment, L.L.C.’s (NBVDS) request for waiver of the deadline to file a short-form application to participate in Auction 101. The short-form application window to participate in Auction 101 and/or 102 ran concurrently over two weeks opening and closing the same day. NBVDS timely submitted a short-form application to participate in Auction 102, but did not submit an application for Auction 101. NBVDS requested a waiver of the deadline to submit an application for Auction 101 asserting that a distributed denial of service event prevented it from timely submitting its application. The Division denied the waiver finding NBVDS failed to meet the waiver standard. NBVDS challenged the Division’s denial alleging that the FCC should recognize the network disruption as an unusual circumstance supportive of a waiver. The FCC disagreed stating that network disruptions are common and not an unusual and compelling circumstance. By waiting until the last five minutes to submit its short-form application, the FCC stated that NBVDS assumed the risk that the application could not be completed. Thus, the FCC concluded that NBVDS’s arguments did not merit reversal of the Division order.
