Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 182 / Friday, September 19, 1997 / Notices 49241

Miscellaneous

The Commission has received a

formal complaint alleging that the

practice of using ‘‘trailer’’ bids to signal

interest in particular markets (e.g. by

using the BTA number of a market as

the final three digits of the bid amount)

is an improper disclosure of bidding

strategy, and as such violates the anticollusion rule, 47 CFR 1.2105(c). The

Commission has reached no

determination on the merits of this

argument. See In re Application of

Mercury PCS II, LLC to Bid in the

Broadband PCS Auction for

Authorization to Serve BTAs 013

(Amarillo, Texas) and 264 (Lubbock,

Texas) on Frequency Blocks D, E and F

(Auction No. 11), Emergency Motion for

Disqualification (filed November 26,

1996) and related pleadings.

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[FR Doc. 97–24930 Filed 9–18–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–U

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

[DA 97–1933]

Comment Sought on Balanced Budget

Provisions Calling for Reserve Prices

or Minimum Opening Bids in FCC

Auctions

Released September 5, 1997.

Report No. AUC–16–E (Auction No. 16)

When FCC licenses are subject to

auction (i.e, because they are mutually

exclusive) the recently enacted

Balanced Budget Act of 1997 calls upon

the Commission to prescribe methods

by which a reasonable reserve price is

required or minimum opening bid

established, unless it determines that

such an assessment is not in the public

interest. The Wireless

Telecommunications Bureau recently

announced the auction of 525 licenses

in the upper 10 MHz of the 800 MHz

Specialized Mobile Service (SMR),

which is to begin October 28, 1997. In

anticipation of that auction, and in light

of the recently adopted legislation, it is

proposed that a reserve price or

minimum opening bid be established.

Specifically, it is proposed that in no

event should any of the licenses in the

800 MHz auction be sold for less than

the value of the upfront payment

amounts specified for the licenses in the

Public Notice released August 6, 1997

for that auction. The upfront payments

for the 800 MHz SMR auction are based

on a $0.02 per MHz–POP formula, as

was used in the 900 MHz SMR auction.

The $0.02 MHz–POP has been

discounted for each Economic Area by

75 percent, with a floor of $2,500, to

account for the degree of incumbency

for this service. Under this formulation,

the minimum amount is $2,500 and the

maximum amount is $717,571.

Comment is sought on this proposal.

Parties should also comment on

whether the upfront payment should be

considered a reserve price or a

minimum opening bid for this auction.

Normally, a reserve price is an absolute

minimum price below which an item

will not be sold in a given auction.

Reserve prices can be either published

or unpublished. A minimum opening

bid, on the other hand, is the minimum

bid price set at the beginning of the

auction below which no bids are

accepted. In a minimum opening bid

scenario, the auctioneer often has the

discretion to lower it later in the

auction.

Furthermore, commenters should also

address whether the amount of the

reserve price or minimum opening bid

should be capped to ensure that bidding

is not deterred on high valuation

markets, in particular. For example, a

cap of $250,000 could be applied.

Finally, if commenters believe that a

reserve price or minimum opening bid

equal to the upfront payment will result

in substantial unsold licenses, or is not

a reasonable amount, they should

explain why this is so, and comment on

the desirability of a reserve price or

minimum opening bid greater or less

than the upfront payment.

Comments are due on or before

September 12, 1997. To file formally,

parties must file an original and four

copies. Parties may send comments to

the Chief, Auctions and Industry

Analysis Division, Wireless

Telecommunications Bureau, Federal

Communications Commission, Room

5202, 2025 M Street, NW., Washington,

DC 20554. Comments will be available

for public inspection during regular

business hours in the FCC Reference

Center of the Federal Communications

Commission, Room 239, 1919 M Street,

NW., Washington, DC 20554.

For further information concerning

this proceeding, contact Alice Elder at

the Auctions and Industry Analysis

Division, Wireless Telecommunications

Bureau at (202) 418–0660.

Federal Communications Commission.

Shirley S. Suggs,

Chief, Publications Branch.

[FR Doc. 97–24931 Filed 9–18–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

Public Information Collections

Approved by Office of Management

and Budget

September 11, 1997.

The Federal Communications

Commission (FCC) has received Office

of Management and Budget (OMB)

approval for the following public

information collections pursuant to the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,

Public Law 104–13. An agency may not

conduct or sponsor and a person is not

required to respond to a collection of

information unless it displays a

currently valid control number. For

further information contact Shoko B.

Hair, Federal Communications

Commission, (202) 418–1379.

Federal Communications Commission

OMB Control No.: 3060–0789.

Expiration Date: 03/31/98.

Title: Modified Alternative Plan, CC

Docket No. 90–571, Order (1997

Suspension Order).

Form No.: N/A.

Respondents: Business or other for

profit.

Estimated Annual Burden: 36

respondents; 13 hours per response

(avg.); 468 total annual burden hours for

all collections.

Estimated Annual Reporting and

Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.

Frequency of Response: On occasion;

one-time requirement.

Description: Title IV of the Americans

with Disabilities Act of 1990 (‘‘ADA’’)

requires each common carrier providing

voice transmission services to provide

Telecommunications Relay Services

(‘‘TRS’’) throughout the area it serves to

individuals with hearing and speech

disabilities by 1993. The TRS enables

customers with hearing or speech

disabilities to use the telephone network

in ways that are ‘‘functionally

equivalent’’ to those used by customers

using traditional telephone service.

Under the Commission’s rules, the TRS

must be able to handle all calls normally

provided by common carriers, unless

those carriers demonstrate the

infeasibility of doing so. 47 CFR

64.604(a)(3). The Commission has

interpreted ‘‘all calls’’ to include coin

sent-paid calls, which are calls made by

depositing coins in a standard coin49242 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 182 / Friday, September 19, 1997 / Notices

operated public payphone. The Bureau

has suspended enforcement of the

requirement that carriers provide coin

sent-paid calls through the TRS centers

since 1993 based on common carriers’

representations that it has been

technically infeasible to provide the

coin sent-paid service through the TRS

centers (‘‘coin sent-paid rule’’). Since

1995, carriers have made payphones

accessible to TRS users through an

Alternative Plan (‘‘Alternative Plan’’).

The Alternative Plan enables TRS users

to make local relay calls for free and to

make toll calls from payphones using

calling or prepaid cards at or below the

coin call rates. The Alternative Plan also

requires carriers to educate TRS users

about the alternative payment methods

for the TRS users to make relay calls

from payphones. In

Telecommunications Relay Services,

and the Americans with Disabilities Act

of 1990, Order, (released 8/21/97), (1997

Suspension Order), the Common Carrier

Bureau (‘‘Bureau’’) suspended the

enforcement of the requirement that the

TRS be capable of handling coin sentpaid calls for one year until August 26,

1998 because the only technological

solution that can provide the coin sentpaid calls through the TRS centers, coin

signalling interface (‘‘CSI’’), has serious

deficiencies and no new technological

solution appears imminent. In the 1997

Suspension Order, the Bureau

recommends that during the one year

suspension, the Commission conduct a

rulemaking on coin sent-paid issues to

gather information sufficient to ensure

that the Commission’s final decision on

whether the TRS must be capable of

handling coin sent-paid calls is based

on a complete and fresh record. In

addition, the Bureau directed the

industry to continue to make payphones

accessible to TRS users under the terms

of the Alternative Plan, as set forth in

Telecommunications Relay Services,

and the Americans with Disabilities Act

of 1990, Memorandum Opinion and

Order, 10 FCC Rcd 10927 (1995) (‘‘1995

Suspension Order’’), and as modified by

the 1997 Suspension Order. The 1997

Suspension Order modifies the

Alternative Plan by requiring industry

to: (1) Send a consumer education letter

to TRS centers (no. of respondents: 1;

hour burden per respondent: 4 hours;

total annual hour burden: 4); (2) inform

organizations representing the hearing

and speech disability community before

attending their regional and national

meetings who will be present at the

meeting, where the industry booth will

be located, and at what times the booth

will be in operation (no. of respondents:

1; hour burden per respondent: 15 mins;

total annual burden: 1.5 hours); (3)

publish an article in Consumer Action

Network (‘‘CAN’s’’) respective

organizations magazines or newsletters

(no. of respondents: 1; hour burden per

respondent: 8 hrs; total annual hour

burden: 8 hours); (4) send a letter

directly to all CAN’s members (no. of

respondents: 1; hour burden per

respondent: 4 hours; total annual

burden 4 hours); (5) create laminated

cards with visual characters that will

provide a pictorial explanation to

accompany the text describing access to

TRS centers from payphones to be

distributed to TRS users (no. of

respondents: 30; hour burden per

respondent: 15 hours; total annual hour

burden: 450 hours); and (6) work jointly

with affected communities to draft and

submit a report within two months of

the publications of a summary of the

1997 Suspension Order in the Federal

Register (no. of respondents: 1; hour

burden per respondent: 7 hours; total

annual hour burden: 7 hours). The

Commission has imposed these third

party disclosure requirements to

educate TRS users about their ability to

make relay calls from payphones, the

payment methods available and the

rates for the payphone calls. The report

will help the Commission assess the

effectiveness of the current consumer

education programs and determine

whether further requirements to educate

TRS users about their ability to make

relay calls from payphones are

warranted. You are required to respond.

OMB Control No.: 3060–0681.

Expiration Date: 09/30/2000.

Title: Toll-Free Service Access

Codes—CC Docket No. 95–155, 47 CFR

part 52, subpart D, Sections 52.101–

52.111.

Form No.: N/A.

Respondents: Business or other for

profit.

Estimated Annual Burden: 168

respondents; 15 hours per response

(avg.); 2,520 total annual burden hours

for all collections.

Estimated Annual Reporting and

Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.

Frequency of Response: On occasion.

Description: In Toll Free Service

Access Codes, CC Docket No. 95–155,

Second Report and Order, (released

4/11/97), the Commission requires

written requests for toll free numbers to

be placed in unavailable status.

RespOrgs requesting that specific toll

free numbers be placed in unavailable

status will be required to submit written

requests, with appropriate

documentation, to the toll free database

administrator, Database Services

Management, Inc. (DSMI). See 47 CFR

52.103(f). This requirement will hold

those RespOrgs more accountable and

will decrease abuses of the lag time

process. It will prevent numbers from

being held in unavailable status without

demonstrated reasons, and will make

more numbers available for subscribers

who need and want them. The Order

states that, if DSMI is uncertain whether

a number should be placed in

unavailable status, it should seek

guidance from the Commission’s

Common Carrier Bureau. Current

industry guidelines already require that

RespOrgs requesting that a toll free

number be made unavailable submit

written requests to DSMI with

appropriate documentation. The Second

Report and Order simply codifies the

existing industry guidelines. DSMI (and,

if necessary, the Common Carrier

Bureau) will continue to use the

information collected to determine if a

particular toll free number appropriately

can be placed in ‘‘unavailable’’ status.

This will prevent the fraudulent use of

toll free numbers.

Public reporting burden for the

collections of information is as noted

above. Send comments regarding the

burden estimate or any other aspect of

the collections of information, including

suggestions for reducing the burden to

Performance Evaluation and Records

Management, Washington, D.C. 20554.

Federal Communications Commission.

Shirley Suggs,

Chief, Publications Branch.

[FR Doc. 97–24857 Filed 9–18–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE

CORPORATION

Notice of Agency Meeting; Sunshine

Act Meeting

Pursuant to the provisions of the

‘‘Government in the Sunshine Act’’ (5

U.S.C. 552b), notice is hereby given that

the Federal Deposit Insurance

Corporation’s Board of Directors will

meet in open session at 10:00 a.m. on

Tuesday, September 23, 1997, to

consider the following matters:

Summary Agenda: No substantive

discussion of the following items is

anticipated. These matters will be

resolved with a single vote unless a

member of the Board of Directors

requests that an item be moved to the

discussion agenda.

Disposition of minutes of previous

Board of Directors’ meetings.

Reports of actions taken pursuant to

authority delegated by the Board of

Directors.

Discussion Agenda: Memorandum

and resolution re: Part 303—