# Presentation: 047903

## FCC Spectrum Auction Process and Automated Auction SystemFM Broadcast — Auction No. 37

- Craig Bomberger, Associate Chief
- Auctions and Spectrum Access Division
- July 22, 2004

## Nothing herein is intended to supersede any provision of the Commission’s rules or public notices.  These slides should not be used as a substitute for a prospective applicant’s review of the Commission’s relevant orders, rules, and public notices.  Prospective applicants must familiarize themselves thoroughly and remain current with the Commission’s rules relating to FM Broadcast service, rules relating to application and auction procedures, and the procedures, terms and conditions contained in the Auction No. 37 public notices.

**Disclaimer**

## Simultaneous Multiple Round (SMR) Auction Design

**Simultaneous** — All construction permits are offered at the same time.
**Multiple Round** — There are multiple discrete bidding rounds.
- How many rounds?  That’s determined by the auction.
- Bidding continues until there is one round in which nothing happens.
- No new bids, withdrawals, or proactive waivers.

## Auction Design(continued)

- Bidding is confidential during a round.
- When a round ends, results are processed and made public.

## Auction Design(continued)

- Web-Based Bidding System
- Options for telephonic bidding and connecting directly to our WAN.
- Click-Box Bidding
- When placing a bid, a bidder selects from bid amounts in the bidding system.

## Auction Design(continued)

**Activity Requirements** — Bidders must generally bid throughout the auction.
**Activity** — A bidder’s new bids placed in a round and its standing high bids from prior rounds define its activity, as measured in bidding units.

## A fixed number of bidding units is assigned to each construction permit in the auction.
The bidding units for each construction permit are listed in Attachment A to the procedures public notice.
Bidding units are used to measure bidders’ activity and eligibility.

- The bidding units for each construction permit are listed in Attachment A to the procedures public notice.
- Bidding units are used to measure bidders’ _activity_ and _eligibility_.

**Bidding Units**

## Bidding Units

## Bidding Units and Activity

**In the current round we place a bid on FM042, Bayfield, CO.  That gives us 10,000 bidding units of activity.**

## Bidding Units and Activity

**In the current round we place a bid on FM042, Bayfield, CO.  That gives us 10,000 bidding units of activity.**
**We also have a standing high bid on FM044, Carbondale, CO, which gives us 25,000 bidding units of activity.  **

## Bidding Units and Activity

**In the current round we place a bid on FM042, Bayfield, CO.  That gives us 10,000 bidding units of activity.**
**We also have a standing high bid on FM044, Carbondale, CO, which gives us 25,000 bidding units of activity.****  **
**Our current activity is 35,000 bidding units. **

## Eligibility — The maximum number of bidding units a bidder can bid on.  
A bidder establishes its eligibility with its upfront payment.  
Eligibility cannot be increased.  
Eligibility is not specific to certain construction permits.  A bidder may use its eligibility on any of a number of construction permits it has selected on its 175 application.  

- A bidder establishes its eligibility with its upfront payment.
- Eligibility cannot be increased.
- Eligibility is not specific to certain construction permits.  A bidder may use its eligibility on any of a number of construction permits it has selected on its 175 application.

**Bidding Units and Eligibility**

## Bidding Units and Eligibility

**We select these three construction permits on our 175 and submit an upfront payment of $35,000.**
**That gives us 35,000 bidding units of eligibility.**
**What can we bid on?**

## Bidding Units and Eligibility

**We can bid on any construction permits we have selected on our 175 as long as our **_**activity**_** does not exceed our **_**current eligibility**_**.**

## Bidding Units and Eligibility

**We can bid on any construction permits we have selected on our 175 as long as our **_**activity**_** does not exceed our **_**current eligibility**_**.**
**With 35,000 bidding units of eligibility, we can bid on any one of these construction permits.**

## Bidding Units and Eligibility

**We can bid on any construction permits we have selected on our 175 as long as our **_**activity**_** does not exceed our **_**current eligibility**_**.**
**With 35,000 bidding units of eligibility, we can bid on any one of these construction permits.**

## Bidding Units and Eligibility

**We can bid on any construction permits we have selected on our 175 as long as our **_**activity**_** does not exceed our **_**current eligibility**_**.**
**With 35,000 bidding units of eligibility, we can bid on any one of these construction permits.**

## Bidding Units and Eligibility

**We can bid on any construction permits we have selected on our 175 as long as our **_**activity**_** does not exceed our **_**current eligibility**_**.**
**With 35,000 bidding units of eligibility, we can bid on any one of these construction permits.**

## Bidding Units and Eligibility

**We can bid on any construction permits we have selected on our 175 as long as our **_**activity**_** does not exceed our **_**current eligibility**_**.**
**With 35,000 bidding units of eligibility, we can bid on more than one of these construction permits.**

## Bidding Units and Eligibility

**We can bid on any construction permits we have selected on our 175 as long as our **_**activity**_** does not exceed our **_**current eligibility**_**.**
**With 35,000 bidding units of eligibility, we can bid on more than one of these construction permits.**
**Placing a bid on Bayfield and a bid on Carbondale would give us 35,000 bidding units of activity.**

## Bidding Units and Eligibility

**We can bid on any construction permits we have selected on our 175 as long as our **_**activity**_** does not exceed our **_**current eligibility**_**.**
**With 35,000 bidding units of eligibility, we can bid on more than one of these construction permits.**
**Placing a bid on Bayfield and a bid on Center would give us 25,000 bidding units of activity.**

## Bidding Units and Eligibility

**We can bid on any construction permits we have selected on our 175 as long as our **_**activity**_** does not exceed our **_**current eligibility**_**.**
**With 35,000 bidding units of eligibility, we can bid on more than one of these construction permits.**
**We **_**cannot**_** bid on both Carbondale and Center.  That would give us 40,000 bidding units of activity.**

## Activity Requirement

- The activity requirement is the minimum number of bidding units a bidder must be active on.
- “In each round of the auction, a bidder... is required to be active on construction permits representing 100% of its current eligibility.”
- 	(DA 04-1699, page 27)

## Activity Requirement

- What if you do not meet the activity requirement?
- One of two things will happen:
- You will use an activity rule waiver.
- 			or
- Your eligibility will be reduced.

## Activity Rule Waivers

- Each bidder will be provided five activity rule waivers.
- Use of an activity rule waiver preserves a bidder’s current eligibility despite the bidder’s activity in the current round being below the required level.
- When a bidder uses an activity rule waiver, the waiver applies to that round of bidding, not to a particular construction permit.

## Automatic Waivers

- 	The system will automatically apply a waiver for a bidder at the end of any round in which the bidder’s activity is below the required level unless:
- The bidder has no more activity rule waivers.
- 				or
- The bidder reduces eligibility.
- 	(More on this in a few minutes.)

## Automatic Waivers

**We have 35,000 bidding units of eligibility.**

## Automatic Waivers

**We have 35,000 bidding units of eligibility.**
**We place a bid on the construction permit for Center, CO, and we do not have any standing high bids.  Our activity for the round is 15,000 bidding units.**

## Automatic Waivers

**We have 35,000 bidding units of eligibility.**
**We place a bid on the construction permit for Center, CO, and we do not have any standing high bids.  Our activity for the round is 15,000 bidding units.**
**At the end of the round, the system automatically applies one of our activity rule waivers.**

## Proactive Waivers

- Bidders can apply activity rule waivers proactively.
- The important difference between an automatic waiver and a proactive waiver is that a proactive waiver keeps the auction open.
- Bidding continues until there is one round in which nothing happens.
- No new bids, withdrawals, or _proactive waivers_.

## Eligibility Reduction

- What if a bidder does not meet the activity requirement and does not have any waivers left?
- The bidder’s current eligibility will be permanently reduced, possibly eliminating the bidder from further bidding in the auction.

## Eligibility Reduction

**We have 35,000 bidding units of eligibility and no waivers.**

## Eligibility Reduction

**We have 35,000 bidding units of eligibility and no waivers.**
**We place a bid on the construction permit for Center, CO, and we do not have any standing high bids.  Our activity for the round is 15,000 bidding units.**

## Eligibility Reduction

**We have 35,000 bidding units of eligibility and no waivers.**
**We place a bid on the construction permit for Center, CO, and we do not have any standing high bids.  Our activity for the round is 15,000 bidding units.**
**At the end of the round, the system reduces our eligibility to 15,000 bidding units.**

## Eligibility Reduction

**We have 35,000 bidding units of eligibility and no waivers.**
**We place a bid on the construction permit for Center, CO, and we do not have any standing high bids.  Our activity for the round is 15,000 bidding units.**
**At the end of the round, the system reduces our eligibility to 15,000 bidding units.**
**We no longer have enough eligibility to bid on Carbondale.**

## Side Note on Bid Amounts

## Side Note on Bid Amounts

**For activity and eligibility, the dollar amount of a bid does not matter.**
**How much can you bid?  Any one of nine pre-defined dollar amounts.**
**The upfront payment does not constrain how much you may bid for a construction permit.**

## What if you change your mind?

**You can **_**remove**_** a bid you placed during the current round.  If you place a bid during a round and then remove that bid before the end of the round, it’s as if it never happened.**
**You can **_**withdraw**_** standing high bids from prior rounds.  Bid withdrawals have limits and consequences: **
**Each bidder is limited to withdrawals in no more than two rounds.**
**Withdrawals are subject to the bid withdrawal payments specified in 47 C.F.R. ****§ 1.2104(g).**** **

## For a Positive Auction Experience

**Do your homework.**
- Read the public notices related to this auction.
**Participate in the mock auction.**
- Test backup bidding arrangements and activate all of your SecurID cards.  Use telephonic to ask “what if” questions.
**Check for and read all announcements.**
- Bidding schedule changes
**Bid early!**
- Print bid confirmations.

## Agenda for Software Demonstration

**Public screens:  Home, Results**
**Log in**
**Additional screens:  Bidding, Admin**
**Bid**
**Remove Bid**
**Withdraw Bid**
**Reduce Eligibility**
**Proactive Waiver**
**Submit Suggestion ****(and other communications)**

## The SecurID Card

- Multiple cards sent to all bidders.
- Random number refreshes every 60 seconds.
- Includes a countdown indicator.
- Please return to the FCC for recycling.