DA-06-1723

August 28, 2006

THE WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS BUREAU ANNOUNCES FCC FORM 608 IS
AVAILABLE FOR FILING SPECTRUM LEASING NOTIFICATIONS AND APPLICATIONS AND
PRIVATE COMMONS ARRANGEMENTS

By this Public Notice, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (Bureau)
announces changes to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC or
Commission) Universal Licensing System (ULS) to implement FCC Form 608,
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Application or Notification for
Spectrum Leasing Arrangement or Private Commons Arrangement (Form 608),
which will be used for the filing of spectrum leasing and private
commons arrangements effective August 28, 2006. The Bureau also
announces that certain Commission rules and policies regarding spectrum
leasing and private commons arrangements will take effect with the
release of Form 608.

**Background and Overview**

On July 8, 2004, the Commission adopted a *Second Report and Order*[^1]
in its *Secondary Markets* proceeding that, among other things:

1\) created a new form (Form 608) for spectrum leasing and private
commons arrangements;

2\) further streamlined the processing of certain long-term *de facto*
transfer leases by providing for immediate processing of applications
where the parties certify that the proposed transaction meets specific
criteria indicating the absence of potential public interest concerns
relating to eligibility, use restrictions, foreign ownership, designated
entity policies, and competition;

3\) further streamlined the processing of short-term *de facto* transfer
leases by replacing the Special Temporary Authority (STA) procedures
with immediate approval procedures that are similar to long-term *de
facto* transfer leases;

4\) further streamlined the processing of certain spectrum manager
leases that do not raise public interest concerns consistent with *de
facto* transfer leases; and

5\) created a new type of secondary market arrangement for both licensed
and leased spectrum called a "private commons."

In the *Second Report and Order*, the Commission stated that the Form
608 shall be used for spectrum leasing and private commons
arrangements.[^2] The Commission also delegated authority to the Bureau
to make the necessary software changes to ULS in order to implement the
new immediate approval procedures outlined above and further indicated
that the Bureau would release a public notice advising the public once
these procedures have been implemented and are available to the
public.[^3] **By this public notice, the Bureau announces the
availability of Form 608 and that the changes necessary to implement the
immediate approval procedures described above will be effective as of
August 28, 2006.**

**Replacing FCC Form 603-T with Form 608**

With the deployment of Form 608, FCC Form 603-T will become obsolete and
will not be accepted as of August 28, 2006.

**Submitting Form 608 Filings via ULS**

The new online filing module for the Form 608 is launched from within
the existing License Manager application of the ULS
(<http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls>) to support electronic filing for the
following purposes:

-   New Lease

-   Transfer of Control of a Lessee

-   Extend Term of a Lease

-   Cancel a Lease

-   Administrative Update of a Lease

-   Modification of a Lease

Once logged in to ULS License Manager, users will see several changes as
a result of the implementation of Form 608.

On the *My Licenses* screen, two new links have been added:

1\) The [Lease Spectrum]{.underline} link initiates the application
wizard for filing new leases; and

2\) The [My Leases]{.underline} link provides an environment for
managing existing leases.

-   The *My Leases* page works similar to the *My Licenses* page already
    present in ULS. Users can access links directly on the page to
    initiate the application wizards for submitting Transfer of Control
    of a Lessee, Extend Term of a Lease, Cancel a Lease, Administrative
    Update of a Lease, and Modification of a Lease.

-   Also like *My Licenses*, existing leases are displayed in the center
    of the page, and by clicking on a Lease ID, users access the *Lease
    at a Glance* screen. Lease at a Glance, based on the existing
    *License at a Glance* screen, displays basic information about the
    lease and also contains a link to view the complete lease record. 
    Depending on the status of the logged-in user and the classification
    of the lease, the logged-in party is able to perform actions on
    the lease.

-   *My Leases* also contains a search function called *Find My Leases*,
    which allows users to search their leases based on the Lease ID.

Under *My Applications* the user can access *Leases*, which facilitates
multi-party filing by allowing second- or third- parties to complete the
application. The first party in a multi-party application is able to
access the next step in its part of filing process only after the second
party and/or third party has completed its portion of the form by
selecting *Saved* on the *My Applications* page. For more details on the
parties responsible for completing, certifying, and submitting filings,
see Attachment A or the Spectrum Leasing web page at
<http://wireless.fcc.gov/licensing/spectrumleasing/>.

**Alternatives for Submitting Certain Types of Filings**

[Assignment of a Lease]{.underline}: The Commission's rules provide for
a spectrum lessee to assign its spectrum lease to another party,
provided that the licensee agrees to such an assignment and is in
privity with the prospective lessee.[^4] A filing purpose of "Assignment
of a Lease" does not exist on the Form 608. In order to file for an
assignment of a lease, a new lease filing must be submitted between the
licensee and prospective lessee. If the new lease filing is granted (if
*de facto* transfer) or accepted (if spectrum manager), then the
previous lease should be cancelled by the licensee.

[Conversion of a Short-Term *De Facto* Transfer Lease to a Long-Term *De
Facto* Transfer Lease:]{.underline} The Commission's rules provide for a
short-term *de facto* transfer lease to be converted to a long-term *de
facto* transfer lease provided that the rules and policies for a
long-term *de facto* transfer lease are met.[^5] A filing purpose of
"Conversion of a Short-Term *de facto* Transfer Lease" does not exist on
the Form 608. In order to convert a short-term *de facto* transfer lease
to a long-term *de facto* transfer lease, a new lease filing must be
submitted. If the new lease filing is granted, then the short-term *de
facto* transfer lease should be cancelled by the licensee.

[Leases that Never Commenced:]{.underline} The Commission's rules
provide that a licensee must notify the Commission if a lease never
commenced.[^6] A filing purpose of "Never Commenced" does not exist on
the Form 608. In order to notify the Commission that a lease never
commenced, a cancellation notification must be submitted in the same
manner as a lease that was effective and cancelled prior to the
expiration date. The online Cancel a Lease application contains a
checkbox for the applicant to indicate the lease never commenced as
opposed to a cancellation of an effective lease.

**Filings that Must be Submitted Manually**

At this time, filings involving subleases and private commons
arrangements cannot be submitted electronically via ULS and must be
filed on the paper version of Form 608 and submitted manually to the
FCC.[^7] If, at a later date, it is determined that electronic filing
for subleases and/or private commons arrangements is needed, the Bureau
will issue a public notice regarding when it would become available.

If the filing is for a [Sublease]{.underline} (all purposes - New,
Modification, Administrative Update, Cancel, Extend Term, or Transfer of
Control of a Sublessee), the application will be scanned and attached to
the [Lease]{.underline} Record under the \"Attachments\" heading on the
\"Admin\" Tab.

If the filing is for a Private Commons Arrangement of a
[License]{.underline} (all purposes - New, Modification, Extend or
Cancel), the application will be scanned and attached to the
[License]{.underline} Record under the \"Attachments\" heading on the
\"Admin\" Tab.

If the filing is for a Private Commons Arrangement of a
[Lease]{.underline} or a [Sublease]{.underline} (all purposes - New,
Modification, Extend or Cancel), the application will be scanned and
attached to the [Lease]{.underline} Record under the \"Attachments\"
heading on the \"Admin\" Tab.

Absent a waiver of the Commission's rules, certain applicants and
licensees must submit Form 608 electronically via ULS.[^8] In order to
allow all subleases and private commons arrangements to be submitted
manually, the Bureau, pursuant to delegated authority, waives section
1.913(b), on its own motion, until such time as electronic filing
becomes available for subleases and private commons arrangements.[^9]
The Bureau reminds parties that are subject to the mandatory electronic
filing provisions of section 1.913(b) of the Commission's rules that all
other Form 608 filings must be submitted electronically via ULS.

**Converting Pending FCC Form 603-T Filings and Existing Leases**

Pending FCC Form 603-T filings and active leases will be converted to
the new spectrum leasing format available for searching in ULS. While
the Bureau is converting active leases and pending filings, all other
FCC Form 603-T filings will remain searchable as 603-T applications and
notifications.

After conversion, additional lease application purposes, including
Transfer of Control of a Lessee, Extend Term of a Lease, Administrative
Update of a Lease and Cancellation of a Lease, can be filed
electronically with respect to active leases that were converted. Upon
conversion of an already existing lease, the licensee and lessee will
receive a new Lease Arrangement Letter for the converted lease. This
letter will not indicate that the lease was converted, but will give the
licensee and lessee a new Lease ID, as described below.

Leases that are active as of August 25, 2006 will be issued a new Lease
ID consisting of the letter "L" followed by a 9-digit number. For
example, a lease that was granted on January 1, 2005, with a Lease ID of
ABC123-L1 and an expiration date of January 1, 2008, will be issued a
new Lease ID consisting of the letter "L' followed by a 9-digit number.
However, a lease that was granted on January 1, 2005, with a Lease ID of
XYZ789-L1 and an expiration date of January 1, 2006, will not be issued
a new Lease ID because the lease is expired. In the example of the
expired lease, the original Lease Arrangement Letter will continue to be
located under the "Admin" tab of the underlying call sign from which
spectrum was leased. The leases that have been converted will be
viewable in ULS License Search. For additional information on how to
search for spectrum leases, see Updates to ULS Search Interfaces below.

**Updates to ULS Search Interfaces**

[Secondary Markets Application Search]{.underline}

As part of incorporating leases into ULS, the Commission has implemented
a specialized search for secondary markets-related applications. The
Secondary Markets Search is an expansion of the former Assignments and
Transfers Search and enables users to specify search criteria related to
assignment, transfer, and lease applications. To accommodate leases,
this search has been modified with additional lease-specific fields.

[License Search]{.underline}

License Search has been changed to automatically allow users to see
leases in their search results. Leases shown in the search result will
be visibly distinct from licenses because the lease identifier begins
with a letter "L" followed by 9 digits. To further identify leases,
license records that have leases associated with that license will have
an "L" icon next to the call sign. Users can exclude leases from their
results by using the Advanced License Search and choosing the "Exclude
Leases" check box.

[Specialized Lease Search]{.underline}

ULS has been enhanced with a specialized search for leases, which is
available from the license search home page. This specialized search
provides lease-specific search fields and a refined search result that
includes only lease data.

[Query Download and Public Access]{.underline}

ULS License Search and Application Search will provide Query Download
for the new Form 608 data. Query Download allows users to save the
results of an application or license search as a single pipe-delimited
text file, which can then be imported into spreadsheet software such as
Excel. This feature is available from the ULS Application Search and
License Search results pages. Form 608 data will also be included in
Public Access after the launch of the form. Public Access database files
are available for download from the Databases page:
[[http://wireless.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/wtb-datadump.pl]{.underline}](http://wireless.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/wtb-datadump.pl)
and the Daily Transaction Files page:
[[http://wireless.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/wtb-transactions.pl]{.underline}](http://wireless.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/wtb-transactions.pl).

**Viewing Spectrum Leases in ULS**

Previously, when an FCC Form 603-T application was processed for a new
lease, a Lease Arrangement Letter was created for each call sign listed
on the application and included a unique Lease ID. The Lease Arrangement
Letter was sent to both the licensee and lessee. The only information
available in ULS regarding a specific spectrum lease was through the
Lease Arrangement Letter, which was located under the "Admin" tab of the
underlying call sign for which spectrum was leased and which had to be
downloaded.

While a Lease Arrangement Letter will continue to be sent to both the
licensee and lessee once the Form 608 is deployed, spectrum leases will
now be viewable in ULS in a user-friendly manner similar to that used
currently for licenses. A new "Lease" tab will be displayed on any
license that contains one or more spectrum leases. By clicking on the
"Lease" tab, more detailed information about each spectrum lease can be
found. Each spectrum lease in ULS will consist of a "Main" tab, which
will include information such as the type of lease, term of the lease,
and name of the lessee, and an "Admin" tab, which will consist of
information such as comments, special conditions, and related
applications associated with the spectrum lease. There will also be
other tabs, such as a "Market" tab or "Locations" tab, depending on the
radio service in which the spectrum is being leased.

**Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Mapping**

GeoSearch and Mapping functions are currently not available for Form 608
filings. It is envisioned that these features would be made available as
a future enhancement to ULS.

**Application and Notification Processing**

The Bureau's application approval process called Immediate Approval
Procedures (IAP) and General Approval Procedures (GAP) currently used
for transfers and assignments filed with FCC Form 603 will be used for
certain Form 608 applications.

When spectrum leasing applications or notifications for new leases are
granted (or accepted, based on the processing procedures), both the
licensee and the lessee will receive a Lease Arrangement Letter from the
Commission. However, no Lease Arrangement Letter will be sent for
cancellations or transfers of control of a lessee.

**Additional Information**

For additional information or assistance, you may visit the Web at
[http://esupport.fcc.gov](http://esupport.fcc.gov/). You may also call
the FCC Support Center at (877) 480-3201 (TTY 717-338-2824) and select
Option #2, Forms or Licensing Assistance.  Hours are from 8 a.m. to 7:00
p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except Federal holidays).  To
provide quality service and ensure security, all telephone calls are
recorded.

[^1]: *See generally* Promoting Efficient Use of Spectrum Through
    Elimination of Barriers to the Development of Secondary Markets,
    *Second Report and Order, Order on Reconsideration, and Second
    Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking*, 19 FCC Rcd 17503 (2004)
    (*Second Report and Order*).

[^2]: Previously, FCC Form 603-T was created as an interim form to allow
    parties to submit spectrum leasing filings while a permanent leasing
    form was being developed. *See* Wireless Telecommunications Bureau
    Announces FCC Form 603-T Is Available and Provides Guidance
    Regarding the Interim Process for Filing Spectrum Leasing
    Notifications and Applications, *Public Notice*, DA 04-252 (rel.
    Feb. 2, 2004).

[^3]: *Second Report and Order*, 19 FCC Rcd at 261.

[^4]: 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.9020(i), 1.9030(h).

[^5]: 47 C.F.R. § 1.9035(i).

[^6]: 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.9020(h)(3), 1.9030(g)(3).

[^7]: For additional information on where to submit manual filings, see
    the instructions for Form 608
    ([[http://www.fcc.gov/Forms/Form608/608.pdf]{.underline}](http://www.fcc.gov/Forms/Form608/608.pdf))
    or the WTB's Fee Filing Guide
    <http://wireless.fcc.gov/feesforms/feeguide/index.html>.

[^8]: 47 C.F.R. § 1.913(b).

[^9]: 47 C.F.R. § 0.331, 1.925.