####### ![](media/image1.png){width="0.8048611111111111in" height="0.8048611111111111in"}PUBLIC NOTICE

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

445 12th STREET, S.W.

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20554

News Media Information: 202-418-0500

Fax-On-Demand: 202-418-2830

Internet: http://www.fcc.gov

ftp: ftp.fcc.gov

> **DA 02-4**

**January 4, 2002**

**New Analog Television Stations**

**Auction No. 82**

**Status of Applications to Participate in the Auction**

**Report No. AUC-02-82-D (Auction No. 82)**

The Federal Communications Commission (\"FCC\") has received 28 timely
filed FCC Form 175 applications to participate in Auction No. 82, which
is scheduled to begin Tuesday, February 5, 2002. The auction makes
available four new analog television stations for the channels and
communities listed in the *Auction No. 82 Filing Window Public
Notice*.[^1] The applications for Auction No. 82 have been reviewed for
completeness and compliance with the Commission\'s rules, and have been
classified into the following categories:

**ACCEPTED FOR FILING 13 Applications**

########  

########  INCOMPLETE 15 Applications

**All Applicants:** Although original FCC Form 175 applications were
submitted manually, any updates to, or review of, applications must be
done electronically. Applicants that are currently registered with the
Commission Registration System ("CORES") and have an FCC Registration
Number ("FRN") should use that FRN and password to log on to the FCC
Auctions 175 Application System. Those applicants that are not
registered with CORES and do not have an FRN number, must obtain one
before attempting to log on the FCC Auctions 175 Application System.
Instructions for registering in CORES are included in Attachment C.

Applicants are encouraged to review their electronic application during
the resubmit filing window. Also during that time, it is recommended
that applicants print their FCC Form 175 from the FCC Auctions 175
Application System. Information for reviewing and accessing the FCC Form
175 is also included in Attachment C.

**Accepted:** Applications accepted for filing are listed alphabetically
in Attachment A. **These applicants will become qualified bidders upon
receipt of the required upfront payment due by 6:00 p.m. ET on Monday,
January 14, 2002.**[^2] With respect to the FCC Form 175 applications,
once an FRN has been acquired, and the electronic application reviewed,
these applicants need take no further action except as may be necessary
to maintain the accuracy of their applications.[^3] Attachment A also
includes FCC account numbers that were automatically created by the FCC
software system for each applicant and indicates the construction
permits selected by each applicant on their FCC Form 175 application.

**Incomplete:** Applications found to be incomplete are listed
alphabetically in Attachment B. Applicants whose FCC Form 175
applications have been deemed incomplete will receive overnight
correspondence indicating what information is required to make the
applications acceptable for filing. **These applicants may become
qualified bidders only if they: (1) acquire an FRN number if they do not
already have one; (2) make the required upfront payments by 6:00 p.m. ET
on Monday, January 14, 2002; and (3) resubmit their applications to
correct the deficiencies indicated by 6:00 p.m. ET on Monday, January
14, 2002.** Applicants also must maintain the accuracy of their FCC Form
175 applications as required by the Commission's rules.[^4] Applicants
are advised that Attachment B includes FCC account numbers that were
automatically created by the FCC software system for each applicant.

The filing window for resubmitting FCC Form 175 applications will open
at noon, Tuesday, January 8, 2002. Corrected applications must be filed
no later than **6:00 p.m. ET on Monday, January 14, 2002.** This will be
the only opportunity to cure FCC Form 175 defects; late resubmissions
will not be accepted. In addition, if an application remains incomplete
or otherwise deficient after the resubmission deadline has passed, the
application will be dismissed.

### **UPFRONT PAYMENT DEADLINE**

Upfront payments and accompanying FCC Remittance Advice ("FCC Form 159")
for Auction No. 82 are due at Mellon Bank, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania **no
later than 6:00 p.m. ET on Monday, January 14, 2002.** **Payments must
be made by wire transfer and applicants must include their Taxpayer
Identification Numbers ("TIN").** No other payment method is acceptable
for this auction. Applicants are reminded to use their TIN/FRN and not
their FCC Account Numbers on the FCC Remittance Advice (FCC Form 159).
Applicants must fax a completed FCC Form 159 (revised February 2000) to
Mellon Bank at (412) 209-6045 at least one hour before placing the order
for the wire transfer (but on the same business day).

**Applicants that have filed applications deemed to be incomplete, as
noted in this public notice, must submit timely and sufficient upfront
payments before the Commission will review their resubmitted
applications.** If no upfront payment is made or the application remains
incomplete following its resubmission, the application will be
dismissed. If the applicant has provided its TIN, FRN, and wire transfer
instructions, any upfront payment made prior to dismissal will be
refunded automatically.

**We remind applicants that to avoid untimely upfront payments they
should discuss arrangements (including bank closing schedules) with
their banker several days before making the wire transfer, and allow
sufficient time for the transfer to be initiated and completed before
the deadline.** Detailed information regarding upfront payments
including additional requirements for "former defaulters" can be found
in the *Auction No. 82 Procedures Public Notice* under Section
III.C.[^5]

**Note: Applicants are reminded to submit the same FRN with all future
payments.**

**OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION**

**Qualified Bidders:** Approximately one week after the upfront payment
deadline, following Commission review of resubmitted FCC Form 175
applications, and correlation of payments and applications, a public
notice listing all applicants qualified to bid in the auction will be
released. The same public notice will also include instructions for
participating in the mock auction and a bidding schedule for the mock
auction and the first day of the auction.

**Due Diligence:** Potential bidders are reminded that they are solely
responsible for investigating and evaluating all technical and market
place factors that may have a bearing on the value of the television
facilities in this auction. The FCC makes no representations or
warranties about the use of this spectrum for particular services.

Potential bidders are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research
prior to Auction No. 82 in order to determine the existence of pending
proceedings that might affect their decisions regarding participation in
the auction. Participants in Auction No. 82 are strongly encouraged to
continue such research during the auction. For further details regarding
due diligence, please refer to the *Auction No. 82* *Procedures Public
Notice* under Section I.B.3.

Potential bidders should note that, in November 1999, Congress enacted
the Community Broadcasters Protection Act of 1999 ("CBPA") which
established a new Class A television service.[^6] In response to the
enactment of the CBPA, the Commission adopted rules to establish the new
Class A television service.[^7] In the *Class A Report and Order*, the
Commission adopted rules to provide interference protection for eligible
Class A television stations from new full power television stations.[^8]
Given the Commission's ruling in the *Class A Report and Order*, each
winning bidder in Auction No. 82, upon submission of its FCC Form 301,
will have to provide interference protection to qualified Class A
television stations. Therefore, potential bidders are encouraged to
perform engineering studies to determine the existence of Class A
television stations and their effect on the ability to operate the full
power television stations proposed in this auction. Information about
the identity and location of Class A television stations is available
from the Mass Media Bureau's Consolidated Database System ("CDBS")
(public access available at: <http://www.fcc.gov/mmb>) and on the Mass
Media Bureau's Class A television web page:
<http://www.fcc.gov/mmb/vsd/files/classa.html>.

Potential bidders are also reminded that full service television
stations are in the process of converting from analog to digital
operation and that stations may have pending applications to construct
and operate digital television facilities, construction permits and/or
licenses for such digital facilities. Bidders should investigate the
impact such applications, permits and licenses may have on their ability
to operate the facilities proposed in this auction.

Bidders for the Columbia, South Carolina, station on Channel 47 should
note that there is pending a petition for rulemaking to change the DTV
channel for WCSC-TV, Charleston, South Carolina, from Channel 52 to
Channel 47.[^9] Pending the outcome of the Channel 47 Charleston DTV
rulemaking proceeding, bidders for Channel 47 at Columbia are advised
that the construction permit for their facility will be conditioned on
acceptance of interference from WCSC-DT, Channel 47, Charleston, South
Carolina.

**Prohibition of Collusion:** Bidders are reminded that Section
1.2105(c) of the Commission\'s rules prohibits applicants for the same
Mutually Exclusive ("MX") Group from communicating with each other
during the auction about bids, bidding strategies, or settlements unless
they have identified each other as parties with whom they have entered
into agreements under Section 1.2105(a)(2)(viii). For Auction No. 82,
this prohibition became effective at the short-form application filing
deadline on Friday, June 29, 2001, and will end on the post-auction down
payment deadline, which will be announced in a future public
notice.[^10] If parties agreed in principle on all material terms, those
parties must be identified on the short-form application under Section
1.2105(c), even if the agreement has not been reduced to writing. If the
parties have not agreed in principle by the filing deadline, an
applicant should not have included the names of those parties on its
application, and must not have continued negotiations with other
applicants for the same MX Group.[^11]

In addition, Section 1.65 of the Commission's Rules requires an
applicant to *maintain* the accuracy and completeness of information
furnished in its pending application and to notify the Commission within
30 days of any substantial change that may be of decisional importance
to that application.[^12] Thus, Section 1.65 requires an auction
applicant to notify the Commission of any violation of the
anti-collusion rules upon learning of such violation. Bidders therefore
are required to make such notification to the Commission immediately
upon discovery.[^13] For further details regarding the prohibition
against collusion, refer to the *Auction No. 82 Procedures Public
Notice* under Section I.B.2.

Winning bidders will be required to disclose in their long-form
applications the specific terms, conditions and parties involved in all
bidding consortia, joint ventures, partnerships, and other arrangements
entered into relating to the competitive bidding process.[^14] Bidders
found to have violated the anti-collusion rule may be subject to
sanctions.[^15] In addition, applicants are reminded that they are
subject to the antitrust laws, which are designed to prevent
anti-competitive behavior in the marketplace. If a bidder is found to
have violated the antitrust laws in connection with its participation in
the competitive bidding process, it may be subject to forfeiture of its
upfront payment, down payment, or full bid amount and may be prohibited
from participating in future auctions.[^16]

**Auction Discount Voucher:** On June 8, 2000, the Commission awarded
Qualcomm, Inc. a transferable Auction Discount Voucher ("ADV") in the
amount of \$125,273,878.00.[^17] This ADV may be used by Qualcomm or its
transferee, in whole or in part, to adjust a winning bid in any spectrum
auction prior to June 8, 2003, subject to terms and conditions set forth
in the Commission's Order. The Commission has received notice from
Qualcomm that it has transferred part of the ADV to a winning bidder in
FCC Auction No. 35.[^18] The Commission has also received notice from
Qualcomm's transferee that it intends to use the portion of the ADV
transferred to it to adjust one of its winning bids in Auction No.
35.[^19] The remaining portion of Qualcomm's ADV could be used to adjust
winning bids in another FCC auction, including Auction No. 82.

**Ex Parte Rule:** Applicants should also be aware that the Commission
has generally exempted auction proceedings from the strict requirements
of the *ex parte* rule found in Section 1.1208[^20] of the Commission's
rules.[^21]

**Mock Auction:** All applicants found to be qualified bidders will be
eligible to participate in a mock auction on Thursday, January 31, 2002.
We encourage all qualified bidders to take advantage of this mock
auction to become familiar with the Internet Bidding System. In a future
*Qualified Bidders Public Notice*, the Bureau will announce the bidding
schedule for the mock auction and give details about participation. The
mock auction will be conducted over the Internet. Telephonic bidding
will also be available. As a contingency, the FCC Wide Area Network,
which requires access to a 900 number telephone service, will be
available as well.

**Electronic Bidding:** Applicants are reminded that qualified bidders
are eligible to bid either electronically or telephonically. Applicants
should specify their bidding preference on the FCC Form 175 by **6:00
p.m. ET on Monday, January 14, 2002**. All applicants will be deemed
electronic, unless the telephonic bidding selection is specified.

Bidders can access the FCC Bidding System over the Internet. As a
contingency, bidders can also access the FCC Bidding System over the
FCC's Wide Area Network. Access to the Bidding System via the Internet
requires, at a minimum, the following hardware and software:

-   CPU: Pentium 133 or above

-   RAM: 32 MB (64 MB recommended)

-   Monitor: VGA or above

-   Mouse or other pointing device

-   Operating System: Microsoft® Windows™ 95™, 98™, 2000™, ME™, NT™

-   Web Browser, either of the following:

```{=html}
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-   Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher (recommended)

```{=html}
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-   Netscape® Communicator™ 4.0 or higher, with Java Plug-In Version
    1.3.1 (available for downloading at
    ***http://java.sun.com/products/plugin/***)

In addition, users accessing the Bidding System via the FCC's Wide Area
Network will need:

-   Modem: 28.8 Kbps Hayes© compatible modem or faster (56.6 Kbps
    recommended)

-   Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) Dialer: Use the Dial-Up Networking
    feature included with the operating system

Access to the FCC Bidding System via the Wide Area Network requires
access to a 900 service telephone line. The first minute of connection
time to the 900 number service is at no charge; however, \$2.30 will be
charged for each additional minute.

**Long-Form Applications:** All applicants should be aware that at the
long-form application stage, they will be subject to the more extensive
reporting requirements contained in the Commission's Part 1 ownership
disclosure rule.[^22]

**Bidder Alert:** All applicants must certify on their FCC Form 175
applications under penalty of perjury that they are legally,
technically, financially and otherwise qualified to hold a license, and
not in default on any payment for Commission licenses (including down
payments) or delinquent on any non-tax debt owed to any Federal agency.
Prospective bidders are reminded that submission of a false
certification to the Commission is a serious matter that may result in
severe penalties, including monetary forfeitures, license revocations,
exclusion from participation in future auctions, and/or criminal
prosecution.

Information about deceptive telemarketing investment schemes is
available from the FTC at (202) 326-2222 and from the SEC at (202)
942-7040. Complaints about specific deceptive telemarketing investment
schemes should be directed to the FTC, the SEC, or the National Fraud
Information Center at (800) 876-7060. Consumers who have concerns about
specific proposals may also call the FCC Consumer Center at (888)
CALL-FCC ((888) 225-5322).

**\* \* \* \***

# CONTACT INFORMATION

For questions about payment or instructions for wiring upfront payments,
contact Gail Glasser or Tim Dates, Auctions Accounting Group, at (202)
418-1995.

For specific questions about an applicant's incomplete status, the
applicant should contact the staff reviewer identified in the
correspondence sent to the applicant by overnight mail.

For additional information, contact: Video Services Division: Shaun
Maher at (202) 418-1600;

Auctions and Industry Analysis Division: Kenneth Burnley, Auctions Legal
Branch (regarding legal questions); Jeff Crooks, Analyst, Auctions
Operations (regarding bidding and auction structure) at (202) 418-0660;
or Linda Sanderson, Auctions Operations (regarding bidding and general
filing status) at (717) 338-2888.

For technical questions regarding the electronic filing system, call FCC
Auctions Technical Support Hotline at (202) 414-1250. Hours or service:
Monday through Friday 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to
7:00 p.m., Sunday, 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET.

**- FCC -**

[^1]: Auction Filing Window for New Analog Television Stations Auction
    No. 82, *Public Notice*, DA 01-1300 (rel. May 25, 2001) ("*Auction
    No. 82 Filing Window Public Notice*").

[^2]: *See* 47 C.F.R. § 1.2106.

[^3]: *See* 47 C.F.R. § 1.65.

[^4]: *Id*.

[^5]: *See* Auction No. 82 Construction Permits for New Analog
    Television Stations Scheduled for February 5, 2002, *Public Notice*,
    DA 01-2882, at 5-6 (rel. December 13, 2001) ("*Auction No. 82
    Procedures Public Notice*").

[^6]: Pub. L. No. 106-113, 113 Stat. 1501 (1999), codified at 47 U.S.C.
    § 336(f).

[^7]: *See* Establishment of a Class A Television Service, MM Docket No.
    00-10, *Report and Order*, FCC 00-115 (rel. April 4, 2000) ("*Class
    A Report and Order*").

[^8]: *Id*. at ¶¶ 37-38.

[^9]: ^?^ *See* Digital Television Broadcast Service; Substitution of
    DTV Channel 47 for Assigned DTV Channel 52 in Charleston, South
    Carolina; MM Docket No. 01-128, *Notice of Proposed Rulemaking*, DA
    01-1465 (rel. June 25, 2001).

[^10]: 47 C.F.R. § 1.2105(c)(1).

[^11]: *See* Wireless Telecommunications Bureau clarifies Spectrum
    Auction Anti-Collusion Rules, *Public Notice*, 11 FCC Rcd 9645
    (1995).

[^12]: *See* 47 C.F.R. § 1.65.

[^13]: The Commission recently amended Section 1.2105 to require auction
    applicants to report prohibited communications in writing to the
    Commission immediately, but in no case later than five business days
    after the communication occurs. Amendment of Part 1 of the
    Commission's Rules -- Competitive Bidding Procedures, *Seventh
    Report and Order*, FCC 00-1270, at 10 (rel. Sept. 27, 2001).

[^14]: Section 73.5005(a) of the Commission's rules requires that
    post-auction filings include the exhibits required by 47 C.F.R.
    Section 1.2107(d) (concerning any bidding consortia, joint bidding
    arrangements or other agreements relating to the competitive bidding
    process); Section 1.2110(i) (concerning designated entity status, if
    applicable); and Section 1.2112(a) and (b) (concerning disclosure of
    ownership and real party in interest information.)

[^15]: *See* 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.2105(c), 1.2107(d), and 1.2109(d).

[^16]: 47 C.F.R. §1.2109 (d).

[^17]: Qualcomm Incorporated Petition for Declaratory Ruling Giving
    Effect to the Mandate of the District of Columbia Circuit Court of
    Appeals, *Order*, 16 FCC Rcd 4042 (2000).

[^18]: *See* Supplement to Public Notice Released August 22, 2001 By
    Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Announcing It Is Prepared to
    Grant Four C and F Block Broadband Personal Communications Services
    (PCS) Licenses Upon Full and Timely Payment, Auction Event No. 35,
    *Public Notice*, DA 01-2071 (rel. August 31, 2001).

[^19]: *Id*. All of the terms and conditions applicable to Qualcomm's
    use of the ADV shall apply to its use by a transferee, except that a
    transferee may not transfer the ADV to an entity other than back to
    Qualcomm. *See* In the Matter of Qualcomm Incorporated, *Order*, 16
    FCC Rcd 4042 (2000); *see also* Letter from Thomas J. Sugrue, Chief,
    Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Federal Communications
    Commission, to Veronica M. Ahern, Attorney for Qualcomm Incorporated
    (December 22, 2000).

[^20]: 47 C.F.R. § 1.1202(d) note (1); *see also* Commission Announces
    that Mutually Exclusive "Short-Form" Applications (Form 175) to
    Participate in Competitive Bidding Process ("Auctions") Are Treated
    as Exempt for Ex Parte Purposes. *Public Notice*, 9 FCC Rcd 6760
    (1994).

[^21]: S*ee* Commission Announces that Mutually Exclusive "Short-Form"
    Applications (Form 175) to Participate in Competitive Bidding
    Process ("Auctions") Are Treated as Exempt for Ex Parte Purposes,
    *Public Notice*, 9 FCC Rcd 6760 (1994).

[^22]: 47 C.F.R. § 1.2112(b)(2); *see also* 47 C.F.R § 73.5007 (new
    entrant bidding eligibility).