> **ATTACHMENT A**

**PRE-AUCTION PROCEDURES**

**General Filing Requirements**

Applicants for AM new and major modifications must file an FCC Form 175
short-form application and the engineering data contained in the FCC
Form 301. Such engineering information is required to make mutual
exclusivity determinations. MB will not make any determination as to the
acceptability or grantability of an applicant's technical proposal. A
comprehensive review of applicants' technical proposals will be
undertaken by the staff following the submission of long-form
applications by winning bidders post-auction, by applicants identified
as non-mutually exclusive, and by applicants resolving application
mutual exclusivity during the established settlement period.

**A. FCC Form 301 Filing Procedures -- Due January 30, 2004 6:00 p.m.
ET**

Applicants for AM new and major modifications must electronically file
an FCC Form 301 between 12:01 a.m. ET January 26, 2004 and 6:00 p.m. ET
January 30, 2004. Only Section I and the Tech Box from Section III-A of
the electronically filed FCC Form 301 must be completed at this time. No
application filing fee is required. **Note: A separate Form 301 must be
submitted for each AM new and major modification proposed. Regardless of
the number of Form 301s filed, applicants must only submit one Form
175.** Applicants must specify the CDBS-assigned file number(s) of all
window-filed Form 301 application(s) in the Form 175, at Exhibit F
("Miscellaneous Information"). FCC Form 175 submissions for which no FCC
Form 301 is submitted will not be considered. Any Form 301 AM new or
major change applications filed prior to January 26, 2004, will be
dismissed without further consideration. Late applications will not be
accepted.

**B. Short-Form Application (FCC Form 175) Filing Procedures \-- Due
January 30, 2004 6:00 p.m. ET**

All applicants must electronically submit an FCC Form 175 application no
later than 6:00 p.m. ET on January 30, 2004. There is no application fee
required when electronically filing an FCC Form 175. FCC Form 301
submissions for which no FCC Form 175 is submitted will be dismissed
without further consideration. Late applications will not be accepted.

**(1) Electronic Filing.**

All Form 175 applications must be filed electronically.[^1] Applicants
may file Form 175 applications electronically beginning 9:00 a.m. ET
January 26, 2004. The Form 175 filing system generally will be open on a
24-hour basis. The Form 175 filing window will remain open until 6:00
p.m. ET on January 30, 2004. Applicants are strongly encouraged to file
early, and applicants are responsible for allowing adequate time for
filing their applications. Applicants may update or amend their
electronic applications multiple times until the filing deadline.
Information regarding the electronic filing of the FCC Form 175
application is included as Attachment C to this Public Notice. Technical
support is available at (202) 414-1250 (voice) or (202) 414-1255 (text
telephone (TTY)). The hours of service are 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. ET, Monday -
Friday.

**(2) Completion of the FCC Form 175.**

Applicants should carefully review 47 C.F.R. Sections 1.2105 and 73.5002
and must complete all items on the FCC Form 175. Instructions for
completing the FCC Form 175 are in Attachment B of this Public Notice.
Applicants must press the "SUBMIT Application" button on the
"Submission" page of the electronic form to successfully submit their
FCC Form 175. An applicant may make only minor non-technical corrections
to its FCC Form 175 application after the January 30, 2004 filing
deadline.[^2] For this reason it is critical that all applicants
carefully review their FCC Form 175 submissions prior to the close of
the filing window.

**(3) Minor Modifications to FCC Form 175.**

After the short-form filing deadline (January 30, 2004), applicants may
make only minor changes to their FCC Form 175 applications. Applicants
will not be permitted to make major modifications to their applications
(*e.g*., change their license selections or proposed service areas,
change the certifying official or change control of the applicant or
change bidding credits).[^3] Permissible minor changes include, for
example, the deletion and addition of authorized bidders (to a maximum
of three). Applicants should make these minor modifications to their FCC
Form 175 electronically and submit a letter, briefly summarizing the
changes, by electronic mail to the attention of Margaret Wiener, Chief,
Auctions and Industry Analysis Division, at the following address:
[auction84fcc.gov](mailto:auction44@fcc.gov). The electronic mail
summarizing the changes must include a subject or caption referring to
Auction No. 84. WTB requests that parties format any attachments to
electronic mail as Adobe® Acrobat® (pdf) or Microsoft® Word documents. A
separate copy of the letter should be faxed to the attention of Kathryn
Garland at (717) 338-2850. Questions about other changes should be
directed to Ken Burnley of the Auctions and Industry Analysis Division
at (202) 418-0660.

(4) **Maintaining Current Information in FCC Form 175.**

Applicants have an obligation under 47 C.F.R. §1.65, to maintain the
completeness and accuracy of information in their short-form
applications. Amendments reporting substantial changes of possible

decisional significance in information contained in FCC Form 175
applications, as defined by 47 C.F.R.

§ 1.2105(b)(2), will not be accepted and may in some instances result in
the dismissal of the FCC Form

175 application.

**(5) Electronic Review of FCC Form 175.**

The FCC Form 175 review software may be used to review and print an
applicant's FCC Form 175 application. Prior to the filing deadline,
applicants may only review their own completed FCC Form 175. Applicants
may review their own and other applicants\' completed FCC Form 175s
after the filing deadline has passed and the FCC has issued a public
notice concerning the status of the applications. Because the FCC Form
175s are made public, it is important that an applicant does not include
its Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) on any Exhibits to its FCC Form
175 application. There are no fees for accessing the Form 175 filing or
review system.

C.  **Prohibition of Collusion**

To ensure the competitiveness of the auction process, Section 1.2105(c)
of the Commission's rules prohibits competing applicants from
communicating with each other during the auction about bids, bidding
strategies, or settlements unless such applicants have identified each
other on their FCC Form 175 applications as parties with whom they have
entered into agreements under Section 1.2105(a)(2)(viii).[^4] Thus,
competing applicants must affirmatively avoid all discussions with each
other that affect, or in their reasonable assessment have the potential
to affect, bidding or bidding strategy. This prohibition begins at the
short-form application filing deadline and ends at the down payment
deadline after the auction.[^5] To the extent provided in Section
73.5002(d)(1)&(2), AM applicants who file major modifications that are
mutually exclusive, and AM applicants who file major modifications and
new station applications that are mutually exclusive, may communicate
with each other for the purpose of resolving conflicts by means of
engineering solutions or settlements **only during the time period
prescribed by the Bureaus**. **The precise period for pre-auction
settlement of competing applications will be specified in a later public
notice**.[^6] For purposes of this prohibition, Section 1.2105(c)(7)(i)
defines applicant as including all controlling interests in the entity
submitting a short-form application to participate in the auction, as
well as all holders of partnership and other ownership interests and any
stock interest amounting to 10 percent or more of the entity, or
outstanding stock, or outstanding voting stock of the entity submitting
a short-form application, and all officers and directors of that
entity.[^7]

Applicants competing for construction permits in any of the same markets
are encouraged not to use the same individual as an authorized bidder. A
violation of the anti‑collusion rule could occur if an individual acts
as the authorized bidder for two or more competing applicants, and
conveys information concerning the substance of bids or bidding
strategies between the applicants he or she is authorized to represent
in the auction. A violation could similarly occur if the authorized
bidders are different individuals employed by the same organization
(*e.g.*, law firm or consulting firm). In such a case, at a minimum,
applicants should certify on their applications that precautionary steps
have been taken to prevent communication between authorized bidders and
that applicants and their bidding agents will comply with the
anti‑collusion rule.[^8] However, WTB and MB caution that merely filing
a certifying statement as part of an application will not outweigh
specific evidence that collusive behavior has occurred, nor will it
preclude the initiation of an investigation when warranted.[^9]

The Commission's anti-collusion rules allow applicants to form certain
agreements during the auction, provided the applicants have not applied
for construction permits for any of the same markets. Therefore,
applicants that apply to bid for all markets will be precluded from
communicating with all other applicants until after the down payment
deadline. However, all applicants may enter into bidding agreements
*before* filing their FCC Form 175, as long as they disclose the
existence of the agreement(s) in their Form 175.[^10] If parties agree
in principle on all material terms prior to the short-form filing
deadline, those parties must be identified on the short-form application
pursuant to 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 would not include the names of those
parties on its application, and may not continue negotiations with other
applicants for construction permits for any of the same markets.[^11] By
signing their FCC Form 175 short-form applications, applicants are
certifying their compliance with Sections 1.2105(c) and 73.5002.[^12]

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 significance to that
application.[^13] Thus, Section 1.65 requires auction applicants that
engage in communications of bids or bidding strategies that result in a
bidding agreement, arrangement or understanding not already identified
on their short-form applications to promptly disclose any such
agreement, arrangement or understanding to the Commission by amending
their pending applications. In addition, Section 1.2105(c)(6) requires
all auction applicants to report prohibited discussions or disclosures
regarding bids or bidding strategy to the Commission in writing
immediately but in no case later than five business days after the
communication occurs, even if the communication does not result in an
agreement or understanding regarding bids or bidding strategy that must
be reported under Section 1.65.[^14]

Applicants that are 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.[^15] Any applicant found to have violated the anti-collusion
rule may be subject to sanctions, including forfeiture of its upfront
payment, down payment or full bid amount, and may be prohibited from
participating in future auctions.[^16] In addition, applicants are
reminded that they are subject to the antitrust laws, which are designed
to prevent anticompetitive behavior in the marketplace. If an applicant
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.[^17]

**D**. **Application Processing**

After the application filing deadline, MB will process all timely and
complete filings, to determine which are mutually exclusive.
Non-mutually exclusive applicants will be identified by subsequent
public notice and will be directed to then submit the complete FCC Form
301 within 30 days. MB also will issue a public notice identifying
applications received during the window that are found to be mutually
exclusive.[^18] This public notice will also specify a settlement period
for resolving application mutual exclusivity by the filing of technical
amendments, dismissal requests, and requests for approval of universal
settlement agreements.[^19] Technical amendments submitted by applicants
to resolve their mutual exclusivities must be minor, as defined by the
applicable rules of the AM service, and must not create any new mutual
exclusivity or application conflict.

Commercial applications that remain mutually exclusive after the
settlement period closes will proceed to auction. MB and WTB will then
issue a public notice identifying the auction date and seek comment on
procedures for further processing the remaining mutually exclusive Form
175 applications, including identifying those Form 175 applications with
minor defects that may be corrected.

[^1]: *See Third Report and Order*, 13 FCC Rcd 374, 410-11(1997); 47
    C.F.R. § 1.2105(a).

[^2]: *See* 47 C.F.R. § 1.2105.

[^3]: *See id.* § 1.2105.

[^4]: 47 C.F.R. § 1.2105(c)(1); 47 C.F.R. § 1.2105(a)(2)(viii). *See
    also* *Part 1 Seventh Report and Order,* 16 FCC Rcd 17546 (2001);
    *Part 1 Fifth Report and Order*, 15 FCC Rcd 15293, 15297-98 (2000).

[^5]: 47 C.F.R. § 1.2105(c)(1).

[^6]: 47 C.F.R. § 73.5002(d).

[^7]: 47 C.F.R. § 1.2105(c)(7)(i).

[^8]: *See* In re Application of Nevada Wireless for a License to
    Provide 800 MHz Specialized Mobile Radio Service in the Farmington,
    NM-CO Economic Area (EA-155) Frequency Band A, *Memorandum Opinion
    and Order,* 13 FCC Rcd 11973, 11977 ¶ 11 (1998).

[^9]: *See id*., at 11978.

[^10]: 47 C.F.R. § 1.2105(c).

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

[^12]: 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.2105(c), 73.5002

[^13]: 47 C.F.R. § 1.65.

[^14]: 47 C.F.R. § 1.2105(c)(6); *see also* *Part 1* *Seventh Report and
    Order*, 16 FCC Rcd at 17555, ¶ 17.

[^15]: 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.2107(d), 73.5005(a).

[^16]: *See* 47 C.F.R. § 1.2109(d).

[^17]: *Id.*

[^18]: *See* *id.* § 73.3571(h)(2). All mutually exclusive applications
    will be considered under the relevant procedures for conflict
    resolution.

[^19]: *See* *id.* § 73.5002 (c)&(d). If a mutually exclusive group
    which is eligible to submit engineering solutions or settlement does
    not do so by the settlement deadline date, and the applications in
    that group propose to serve different communities of license, each
    applicant within the group must then submit an amendment addressing
    Section 307(b) criteria. *See, e.g., Public Notice, "*AM Auction No.
    32 Mutually Exclusive Applicants Subject to Auction*,*" 15 FCC Rcd
    20449, 20451 (MMB 2000).