Sprint Corporation (Sprint) and T-Mobile US, Inc. (T-Mobile) recently sought a clarification and declaratory ruling on the certification requirement in Section 1.2105(a)(2)(ix) of the Federal Communications Commission’s rules, or in the alternative a waiver of that provision, designed to ensure that their Business Combination Agreement will not bar their independent participation in Auctions 101 and 102. The Commission’s rules generally require an auction applicant to certify that it (or any party that controls or is controlled by it) has not entered and will not enter into any arrangement or understanding of any kind relating directly or indirectly to bidding at auction with another auction applicant or a nationwide provider. The Commission’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (Bureau) has now granted the pending waiver requests in part. The waiver of Section 1.2105(a)(2)(ix) of the Commission’s rules will allow each petitioner to certify and submit a short-form application (FCC Form 175) for Auctions 101 and/or 102. The Bureau determined that it need not decide, and thus dismissed as moot, the request from T-Mobile for clarification and the petition for declaratory ruling from Sprint concerning the Commission’s prohibition on joint bidding arrangements and how it applies to the Business Combination Agreement.
