Green Country Mobilephone, Inc., and South Texas Mobilephone, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission, Lds Cellular, Inc., Intervenor

MIKVA, Circuit Judge:

Appellants challenge the Federal Communications Commission’s refusal to accept their applications to provide cellular radio service. The FCC returned the applications as unacceptable for filing because they arrived too late. Pursuant to its regulations, the FCC closed its doors on the day of the deadline at 5:30 p.m.; appellants’ applications apparently arrived sometime between 5:30 and 5:33. In the circumstances of this case, we find that the Commission abused its discretion by refusing to grant a waiver from the deadline.

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Cellular radio is a new technology for allowing…