DA 00-2836

December 14, 2000

Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Releases Additional Information
Regarding the Procedures for Obtaining a Tribal lands Bidding Credit and
List of Tribal Lands

*Data to be used in calculating tribal land bidding credit amounts in
auctions where licenses are issued by Economic Areas (EA)*

This Public Notice provides additional information regarding the
application process for applicants seeking a tribal lands bidding
credit. In its *Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking*, adopted June 8, 2000, the Commission established a tribal
lands bidding credit program for future auctions to provide incentives
to wireless telecommunications carriers to serve tribal lands[^1][^2]
Under this program, a winning bidder who commits to use its license(s)
to deploy facilities and provide services to federally-recognized tribal
lands that either are unserved by any telecommunications carrier or have
a wireline telephone subscription equal to or below 70 percent is
eligible to receive a tribal lands bidding credit. The rules took effect
on October 2, 2000.

On September 28, 2000, the Wireless Telecommunication Bureau released a
Public Notice providing basic information for future applicants on
requesting and qualifying for a tribal lands bidding credit, as well as
the performance requirements applicable to the winning bidder when a
tribal lands bidding credit is awarded.[^3] In this Public Notice, we
provide further information on the procedures for obtaining a tribal
lands bidding credit and the procedures that the Bureau will employ in
processing applications for tribal lands bidding credits.

Notification of Intention to Seek Tribal lands Bidding Credit. Winning
bidders interested in receiving a tribal lands bidding credit must
indicate on the long-form application (FCC Form 601, Schedule B) each
market for which they will seek the credit. After the long-form
application filing deadline, applicants will not be permitted to amend
their application to seek a tribal lands bidding credit for any
additional market.

We recognize that some bidders may win multiple spectrum blocks in the
same market. For each radio service, winning bidders may seek a tribal
lands bidding credit for each spectrum block that it obtains in a
particular market. In such instances, we will aggregate the winning bid
amounts for these spectrum blocks and apply our bidding credit limit
against the aggregated amount.[^4] Applicants should note that if a
credit is requested and approved with respect to multiple spectrum
blocks within the same market, the construction certifications and
performance penalties set forth in 47 C.F.R. § 1.2110(e)(v)-(v)() shall
apply with respect to each spectrum block, *i.e*., the licensee must
construct and operate a system, utilizing each spectrum block, capable
of serving seventy-five percent of the population of the qualifying
tribal land(s) for which the credit was awarded.

Separate Applications Seeking the Tribal Lands Credit. The Bureau
anticipates that some applicants will not have obtained the necessary
certifications from tribal authorities by the long-form application
deadline. Commission rules provide applicants an additional 90 days
after the long-form deadline within which to secure the necessary
certifications from tribal authorities and amend their long-form
application to provide the requisite tribal information and
documentation.[^5]

In order to ensure efficient and consistent treatment of all
similarly-situated long-form applications, the Bureau may process
applications seeking a tribal lands bidding credit separately from those
applications not seeking a credit. In instances where an applicant is
the winning bidder in multiple markets and decides to seek the tribal
lands credit for some, but not all, markets, we encourage such
applicants to file a separate long-form application for markets where
they seek the tribal lands credit. The Bureau also prefers that
applicants submitting more than one application send only one wire
transfer that includes the requisite payments for all applications at
the long-form stage.

Applications That No Longer Seek the Tribal Lands Credit. Applicants
that elect to seek the tribal lands bidding credit may subsequently
decide not to seek the credit. Applicants should amend their long-form
application to delete the request for the tribal lands bidding credit.

Tribal Certifications. The tribal certification must be signed by an
officer of the tribal government. In the case of Indian allotments, it
must be signed by the allotment owner(s). In the case of Alaska Native
lands, it must be signed by a corporate officer of the governing
corporation. The tribal certification must state the following: (1) the
tribal land is a federally-recognized Indian tribe's reservation,
Pueblo, Colony, Alaska Native region or Indian allotment, and has a
wireline telephone subscription rate at or below seventy (70) percent;
(2) the tribal government has not and will not enter into an exclusive
contract with the applicant precluding entry by other carriers, and will
not unreasonably discriminate among wireless carriers seeking to provide
service on the qualifying tribal land; and (3) the tribal government
will permit the applicant to site facilities and provide service on the
tribal land.

U.S. Census Bureau Data. Section 1.2100(e)(3)(i) of the Commission's
rules requires that a tribal land meet the following requirements to be
considered a qualifying tribal land: (1) be a federally-recognized
tribe, and (2) have a wireline telephone subscription rate at or below
70 percent based on the most recently available U.S. Census data.[^6]
Section 1.2110(e)(3)(ii) requires the applicant to provide a
certification from the tribal authority that these requirements are met.
The Bureau has determined that the U.S. Census Bureau does not have
telephone penetration data for a number of federally-recognized tribal
lands. Accordingly, in instances where no Census Bureau penetration data
is available, the Bureau will rely on the tribal certification, which
must include a statement from the governing tribal authority that the
telephone subscription rate is at or below 70 percent.

**Calculation of Bidding Credit.** Section 1.2110(e) of the Commission's
Rules, 47 C.F.R. § 1.2110(e), describes the method for calculating the
tribal land bidding credit for each license auctioned. In order to
calculate the credit, interested parties must know the winning bid for
the license, the qualifying tribal land(s) to be served, and the number
of square kilometers within the market for each tribal land to be
served. Attachment 1 to this Public Notice lists each tribal land as
defined in the *Report and Order*,[^7] and wireline subscription rate
data where available.[^8] The list of tribal lands was obtained from the
U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).
Attachments 2 is intended to help potential bidders prepare for upcoming
auctions where Economic Areas define the available market areas.[^9]
Attachment 2 lists each of the 175 Economic Areas containing tribal
lands, the tribal lands in each, and the number of square kilometers of
each tribal land within the market. The number of square kilometers of
each tribal land within the Commission-defined market areas was
estimated by comparing spatial data provided by BIA with the relevant
market boundaries. To simplify matters, we have rounded the number of
square kilometers up to the nearest integer. If a market is not included
in the attachment, this means that the market does not contain any
federally-recognized tribal land. These data are available in electronic
format at <http://www.fcc.gov/wtb/auctions>. Attachment 3 provides three
examples of how the data may be used to calculate the bidding credit.

Additional Credit. Applicants seeking a higher credit than calculated
pursuant to the Commission's bidding credit formula must file a waiver
request demonstrating that their infrastructure costs exceed the
available credit under the formula. This waiver must include a
certification by an independent auditor that the estimated costs are
reasonable. These waiver requests will be subject to the percentage caps
set forth in Section 1.2110(e)(3)(iv) of the Commission's rules.

**Trust Lands.** Carriers receiving a tribal lands credit to serve
Indian allotments or other trust lands[^10] must obtain approval from
the Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) prior to
physically siting any facilities on these lands. Whether or not BIA
approval is obtained, the carrier remains obligated to provide coverage
to 75 percent of the population of these tribal lands within three years
in order to maintain eligibility for the bidding credit. Carriers
failing to do so will have to repay the bidding credit plus interest.

For further information, please contact Davida Grant, Commercial
Wireless Division, at (202) 418-7050 or Denise Walter, Commercial
Wireless Division, at (202) 418-0359.

[^1]: ^.^

[^2]: Extending Wireless Telecommunications Services to Tribal lands,
    *Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making*, WT
    Docket No. 99-266, 15 FCC Rcd. 11,794 (rel. June 30, 2000).

[^3]: Public Notice, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Announces
    Availability of Bidding Credits for Providing Wireless Services to
    Qualifying Tribal lands, DA 00-2219 (rel. Sept. 28, 2000).

[^4]: For example, a bidder in Auction #36 (SMR Lower 80 channels) wins
    spectrum blocks G, H, I and J in EA 1. The bidder may seek a tribal
    land bidding credit for blocks G, H, I and J. In determining the
    bidding credit limit, we would total the winning bid amounts for
    blocks G, H, I and J and then apply the applicable percentage cap,
    pursuant to 47 C.F.R. § 1.2110(e)(3)(iv).

[^5]: 47 C.F.R. § 1.2110(e)(3)(ii). Note that the Commission's rules
    limit applicants' ability to make other major amendments to their
    long-form applications after the long-form deadline. Applicants are
    advised to consult Commission rules in this regard prior to filing
    any other amendment.

[^6]: 47 C.F.R. § 1.2110(e)(3)(i)

[^7]: *Id*. Note: Not all of the tribal lands listed in the attachments
    are "qualifying tribal lands" as defined in 47 § C.F.R.
    1.2110(e)(3)(i). Potential bidders must determine independently
    whether a particular tribal land is a "qualifying tribal land,"
    *i.e*., whether it is a federally-recognized tribal land that has a
    wireline telephone subscription rate equal to or less than 70%.

[^8]: Wireline subscription rate data was provided to the Commission by
    the Census Bureau. However, Census Bureau data is not available for
    all federally recognized tribal lands and, in some cases, the rate
    data is based on additional areas such as trust lands or off
    reservation lands. Therefore, we are providing the rate data for
    informational purposes only. In all cases, regardless of the rate
    data described in this public notice, parties seeking a credit must
    submit a certification by the applicable tribal government(s)
    pursuant to 47 C.F.R. § 1.2110(e)(3)(ii) that the tribal land
    wireline subscription rate is equal to or less than 70%.

[^9]: The Bureau will provide similar information by public notice for
    future auctions that use other market area definitions.

[^10]: We define \"trust lands\" as lands, title to which is held by the
    United States in trust for an Indian or an Indian tribe or lands
    title to which is held by Indians or an Indian tribe subject to
    restriction by the United States against alienation. 25 U.S.C. §
    2201(4).