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                           Before the
                FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
                     Washington, D.C. 20554

In re                          )                       
                               )
PCS PARTNERS, L.P.             )   File No. EB-01-IH-0084
                               )   NAL/Acct. No. 200132080021
Applicant for Wireless Telecommunications    )
Bureau Radio Service Authorization )


           NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE 

     Adopted:  March 14, 2001                Released:  March 16, 
2001

By the Chief, Enforcement Bureau:

                        I.  INTRODUCTION
 
1.   In this Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, we find 
that PCS Partners, L.P. (``PCS Partners'') failed to timely  file 
its ``long-form''  application (FCC  Form 601)  and  accompanying 
ownership report  (FCC  Form  602) following  completion  of  the 
Commission's C and  F Block  Broadband PCS  Auction, in  apparent 
willful  and  repeated  violation   of  Sections  1.2107(c)   and 
1.2107(f) of  the  Commission's  rules.1  We  conclude  that  PCS 
Partners is apparently liable for  a forfeiture in the amount  of 
$3,000. 

                         II.  BACKGROUND
     1.   
2.   On January  26, 2001,  the  Commission staff  completed  the 
auction of  422 licenses  in  the C  and  F Block  Broadband  PCS 
Auction.   PCS  Partners  was  among  the  participants  in  that 
auction.  On January  29, 2001,  the Wireless  Telecommunications 
Bureau issued a Public Notice that provided detailed  information 
concerning specific post-auction obligations of winning bidders.2  
The Public Notice established February 12, 2001, as the  deadline 
for winning applicants  to submit their  ownership and  long-form 
applications.  The Public Notice also announced that PCS Partners 
was a winning bidder in Auction 35.3  
     2.   
3.   PCS Partners acknowledges  that it  received a  copy of  the 
Public Notice  on  January  30, 2001.4   On  February  13,  2001, 
Commission staff telephoned David G. Behenna, PCS Partners'  sole 
authorized bidder  and  only employee,  to  notify him  that  the 
Commission  staff  had  not  received  PCS  Partners'   long-form 
application by the February 12, 2001, deadline.5  Thereafter,  on 
February 14,  2001, PCS  Partners  manually filed  its  ownership 
report, and, on February 16, 2001, it submitted a Waiver  Request 
and electronically  filed  its  long-form  application.   In  its 
Waiver Request, PCS Partners explained  that Mr. Behenna had  not 
retained legal counsel in  connection with post-auction  filings.  
PCS Partners also  stated that because  Mr. Behenna was  involved 
``in numerous other matters,'' his failure to meet the  long-form 
filing deadline was inadvertent.6 
     3.    
                        III.  DISCUSSION

4.   Section 1.2107(c) of the Commission's rules provides that: 
     4.   
     5.   a  high  bidder  that   meets  its  down   payment 
obligations  in  a  timely  manner  must,  within  ten  (10) 
business days after being notified that it is a high bidder, 
submit   an   additional   application   (the    ``long-form 
application'') pursuant to the  rules governing the  service 
in which the applicant is the high bidder.
     6.   
     7.   This  section  further  provides  that   long-form 
applications must  be  filed  electronically.  Additionally, 
Section 1.2107(f) requires applicants  to file an  ownership 
report with its  long-form application.  The ownership  form 
must be filed manually.  
     8.   
5.   The purpose of the long-form application is to provide vital 
information concerning winning  bidders and their  qualifications 
to be Commission  licensees.  Public  notice of  acceptance of  a 
winning bidder's long-form application triggers the establishment 
of the pleading cycle for petitions to deny.7  The timely  filing 
of a long-form application is thus essential to the efficiency of 
the competitive bidding licensing process.
     9.    
6.   On October 5, 2000, the  Commission staff released a  Public 
Notice announcing  the  upcoming  C and  F  Block  Broadband  PCS 
Auction.8  Therein, auction participants  were informed of  their 
post-auction filing obligations  in the event  they were  winning 
bidders.  Thus,  PCS  Partners  was on  notice  even  before  the 
auction commenced that,  if it  were a winning  bidder, it  would 
have to  electronically  submit a  properly  completed  long-form 
application within ten business days after release of the auction 
closing notice.  In addition, PCS Partners acknowledges receiving 
the January  29, 2001,  post-auction Public  Notice  establishing 
February 12, 2001 as the filing deadline and describing in detail 
the   long-form   application   and   ownership   report   filing 
requirements.  Nevertheless,  PCS  Partners failed  to  file  its 
long-form application and ownership report on time.  In light  of 
these facts, we  conclude that  PCS Partners failed  to file  its 
ownership report and long-form application by the established and 
well publicized deadline,  in willful and  repeated violation  of 
Sections 1.2107(c) and 1.2107 (f) of the Commission's rules.9  
     10.  
7.   Section 503(b)(1)(B) of the  Communications Act of 1934,  as 
amended, provides  that any  person who  willfully or  repeatedly 
fails to comply with the Act  or the Commission's rules shall  be 
liable for a forfeiture  penalty.10  The guidelines contained  in 
the Commission's  Forfeiture  Policy  Statement  specify  a  base 
forfeiture  amount  of  $3,000  for  failure  to  file   required 
information.11  The  guidelines  also permit  the  Commission  to 
issue a higher or lower  forfeiture amount based on such  factors 
as  the  nature,  circumstances,   extent  and  gravity  of   the 
violation, and,  with  respect to  the  violator, the  degree  of 
culpability, history of any prior  offenses, ability to pay,  and 
such other matters as justice may require. PCS Partners does  not 
dispute that it received actual notice of the filing requirements 
and that  it  failed to  timely  file the  necessary  forms.   We 
believe a  forfeiture is  appropriate in  this case,  and see  no 
basis for departing  from the base  forfeiture amount.  Thus,  we 
propose a  forfeiture in  the amount  of $3,000.  This amount  is 
consistent with  at  least one  other  case involving  a  similar 
transgression. 12
     11.  
                      12.  IV.  ORDERING CLAUSES

8.     ACCORDINGLY,   pursuant   to   Section   503(b)   of   the 
Communications Act of 1934, as  amended, and Section 1.80 of  the 
Commission's rules, PCS Partners, L.P. is hereby NOTIFIED of  its 
APPARENT LIABILITY FOR A FORFEITURE  in the amount of $3,000  for 
willfully  and  repeatedly   violating  Sections  1.2107(c)   and 
1.2107(f) of the Commission's rules.

9.   IT IS  FURTHER  ORDERED, pursuant  to  Section 1.80  of  the 
Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. § 1.80, that within thirty days  of 
the release  of this  Notice,  PCS Partners  SHALL PAY  the  full 
amount of  the  proposed  forfeiture, or  SHALL  FILE  a  written 
response seeking reduction or cancellation 
of the proposed forfeiture.13  

10.  IT IS FURTHER ORDERED  that copies of  this Notice shall  be 
sent, by  Certified  Mail --  Return  Receipt Requested,  to  PCS 
Partners, L.P.,  Attn.  David  G. Behenna,  111  North  Sepulveda 
Boulevard, Suite  250, Manhattan  Beach, CA,  90266-6850; and  to 
counsel for PCS  Partners, L.P., Piper  Marbury Rudnick &  Wolfe, 
Attn. Mark J. Tauber, Esq., 1200 19th Street, NW, Washington, DC, 
20036-2412. 

                         FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION



                         David H. Solomon
                         Chief, Enforcement Bureau 
_________________________

1 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.2107(c), 1.2107(f).

2 Public Notice, C and F Block Broadband PCS Auction Closes,  DA 
01-211 (WTB, released January 29, 2001).

3 Id. at Attachment A.

4 See  Waiver Request,  dated February  15, 2001,  from Mark  J. 
Tauber, Piper Marbury Rudnick & Wolfe, counsel for PCS Partners, 
to Thomas J.  Sugrue, Chief, Wireless  Telecommunications Bureau 
(``Waiver Request'').  The  Wireless  Telecommunications  Bureau 
subsequently granted the Waiver Request.  See  In re Application 
of PCS Partners, L.P., Order, DA 01-518 (WTB,  released Feb. 27, 
2001).

5 See Waiver Request.  

6 See Waiver Request. 

7 See 47 C.F.R. § 1.2108(b).

8   Public Notice, C and F Block Broadband PCS Spectrum  Auction 
Scheduled for  December  12,  2000, DA  00-2259  (WTB,  released 
October 5, 2000).

9 The Commission has held that an act or omission is ``willful'' 
if it is a conscious and deliberate act or omission, whether  or 
not there is any intent to violate the rule. Southern California 
Broadcasting  Company,  6  FCC  Rcd  4387  (1991)(definition  of 
willfulness contained in 47 U.S.C.  § 312(f) applies equally  to 
47  U.S.C.  §  503).  Furthermore,  a  continuing  violation  is 
``repeated'' if it lasts more than  one day.  Id., 6 FCC Rcd  at 
4388.

10 47 U.S.C. § 503(b)(1)(B).  

11 The Commission's Forfeiture Policy Statement and Amendment of 
Section 1.80 of the Commission's Rules, 12 FCC Rcd 17087,  17114 
(1997)(``Forfeiture Policy Statement''); recon denied 15 FCC Rcd 
303 (1999).

12    See  e.g.,  In  the  Matter  of  Application  of  PinPoint 
Communications,  Inc.,   Notice   of  Apparent   Liability   for 
Forfeiture, 14  FCC Rcd  6427 (WTB,  1999) (proposing  a  $3,000 
forfeiture against  winning  bidder  that  filed  its  long-form 
application six days late because of administrative oversight).

13 Payment may be made by mailing a check or similar instrument, 
payable to the order  of the Federal Communications  Commission, 
to the Forfeiture  Collection Section,  Finance Branch,  Federal 
Communications Commission,  P.O.  Box 73482,  Chicago,  Illinois 
60673-7482.  The payment must reference the Acct. No. identified 
above.  The  response,  if  any, must  reference  the  File  No. 
identified above and be directed to Charles W. Kelley, 
Chief, Investigations and Hearings Division, Enforcement Bureau, 
Federal Communications Commission, 445  12th Street, S.W.,  Room 
3-B443, Washington DC  20554. The Commission  will not  consider 
reducing or canceling the forfeiture  in response to a claim  of 
inability to pay unless the respondent submits: (1) federal  tax 
returns for  the most  recent three-year  period; (2)  financial 
statements prepared according  to generally accepted  accounting 
practices (``GAAP''); or (3)  some other reliable and  objective 
documentation that accurately reflects the 



respondent's current financial status.   Any claim of  inability 
to pay must  specifically identify  the basis for  the claim  by 
reference to the financial documentation submitted.