If you don’t like something about your C-band repack reimbursement, now you can appeal it. The FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau has established procedures for that.
The agency put the C-band Relocation Payment Clearinghouse in charge of decisions for those satellite and earth station incumbent users who had to move from the lower portion of the band to the upper portion so the FCC could auction off the lower portion for wireless use. The Clearinghouse is responsible for making initial determinations about the reasonableness of transition-related cost reimbursement claims.
The Clearinghouse also apportions costs among 3.7 GHz licensees and distributes payments to claimants that incur compensable costs. It also mediates disputes regarding cost estimates or payments that may arise as the band is repacked. Any unresolved issues relating to Clearinghouse decisions may be appealed to the bureau.
In a notice explaining the appeal procedures, the FCC clarified that before the bureau considers an appeal, the party, whether an eligible incumbent claimant or eligible 3.7 GHz licensee, must file a notice of objection with the clearinghouse. They must do this “within 20 days of invoice issuance following Clearinghouse review of lump sum or reimbursement claims,” according to the bureau. An eligible licensee that wants to be a party to the objection must also file an objection within 30 days of invoice issuance.
There are two possible paths for an appeal. The first path is a single-party dispute where one eligible party files a timely notice of objection with the Clearinghouse and no other eligible party elects to join by filing its own timely notice of objection with the Clearinghouse. The second path is a multi-party dispute “where more than one eligible party files a timely notice of objection regarding the same determination with the Clearinghouse, and the mediation and arbitration provisions in section 27.1421(b) of the Commission’s rules have already been satisfied,” notes the bureau. Read details of the specific procedures applicable to each path here.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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