6436 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 24 / Monday, February 7, 2005 / Notices 

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, or call 

(866) 208–3676 (toll free). For TTY, call 

(202) 502–8659.

Linda Mitry, 

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. E5–453 Filed 2–4–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–7870–1] 

Science Advisory Board Staff Office 

Notification of an Upcoming Meeting of 

the Science Advisory Board; 

Superfund Benefits Analysis Advisory 

Panel

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory 

Board (SAB) Staff Office announces two 

public meetings of the SAB Superfund 

Benefits Analysis Advisory Panel.

DATES: February 11, 2005. A public 

teleconference of the SAB Superfund 

Benefits Analysis Advisory Panel will 

be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern 

time on February 11, 2005. 

February 24–25, 2005. A public 

meeting of the Superfund Benefits 

Analysis Advisory Panel will be held on 

February 24–25, 2005 in the SAB 

Conference Center at 1025 F Street, 

NW., Washington, DC 20004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Members of the public who wish to 

submit written or brief oral comments 

(five minutes or less) must contact Dr. 

Holly Stallworth, Designated Federal 

Officer, at telephone: (202) 343–9867 or 

via e-mail at: stallworth.holly@epa.govs. 

Requests to provide oral comments must 

be in writing (e-mail, fax or mail) and 

received by Dr. Stallworth no later than 

five business days prior to the meeting 

in order to reserve time on the meeting 

agenda. It is the policy of the EPA 

Science Advisory Board Staff Office to 

accept written public comments of any 

length, and to accommodate oral public 

comments whenever possible. Any 

member of the public wishing further 

information regarding the SAB or the 

Superfund Benefits Analysis Advisory 

Panel may also contact Dr. Stallworth, 

or visit the SAB Web site at: http://

www.epa.gov/sab/. 

Technical Contact: The technical 

contact in EPA’s Office of Solid Waste 

and Emergency Response for the 

Superfund Benefits Analysis is Ms. 

Melissa Friedland who can be reached 

at (703) 603–8864 or 

friedland.melissa@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background: The Office of Solid 

Waste and Emergency Response 

(OSWER) has issued a draft study of the 

benefits of the Superfund program. This 

draft study is entitled Superfund 

Benefits Analysis and may be found at: 

http://www.epa.gov/superfund/news/

benefits.htm. OSWER has requested the 

SAB for advice on its Superfund 

Benefits Analysis. A ‘‘widecast’’

soliciting expertise for the Superfund 

Benefits Analysis Advisory Panel was 

published in a Notice on July 30, 2004 

(69 FR 45705–45706). 

On February 11, 2005, the SAB Panel 

will discuss charge questions and 

general plans for the advisory meeting 

that will follow. The charge questions to 

this Panel will be posted at the SAB 

Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab/

panels/sba_adv_panel.htm prior to the 

meeting. On February 24–25, panelists 

will review the EPA’s draft Superfund 

Benefits Analysis and discuss responses 

to charge questions. Meeting materials 

and agendas for the February 11, 2005 

teleconference and for the face-to-face 

meeting of February 24–25, 2005 will be 

posted on the SAB Web site prior to 

each meeting. 

Procedures for Providing Public 

Comment: It is the policy of the SAB 

Staff Office to accept written public 

comments of any length, and to 

accommodate oral public comments 

whenever possible. The SAB Staff Office 

expects that public statements presented 

at the Panel’s meetings will not be 

repetitive of previously submitted oral 

or written statements. Oral Comments:

Requests to provide oral comments must 

be in writing (e-mail, fax or mail) and 

received by Dr. Stallworth no later than 

five business days prior to the 

teleconference in order to reserve time 

on the meeting agenda. For 

teleconferences, opportunities for oral 

comment will usually be limited to no 

more than three minutes per speaker 

and no more than fifteen minutes total. 

Written Comments: Although written 

comments are accepted until the date of 

the meeting (unless otherwise stated), 

written comments should be received in 

the SAB Staff Office at least five 

business days prior to the meeting date 

so that the comments may be made 

available to the committee for their 

consideration. Comments should be 

supplied to the DFO at the address/

contact information noted above in the 

following formats: one hard copy with 

original signature, and one electronic 

copy via e-mail (acceptable file format: 

Adobe Acrobat, WordPerfect, Word, or 

Rich Text files (in IBM-PC/Windows 98/

2000/XP format). 

Meeting Accommodations:

Individuals requiring special 

accommodation to access these 

meetings, should contact Dr. Stallworth 

at least five business days prior to the 

meeting so that appropriate 

arrangements can be made.

Dated: January 25, 2005. 

Vanessa T. Vu, 

Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff 

Office.

[FR Doc. 05–2307 Filed 2–4–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION. 

[Report No. AUC–05–60 (Auction No. 60); 

DA 05–171] 

Auction of Lower 700 MHZ Band 

Licenses Scheduled for July 20, 2005 

Comment Sought On Reserve Prices 

OR Minimum Opening Bids and Other 

Procedures for Auction No. 60

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This document announces the 

auction of five licenses in the lower 700 

MHz band C Block (710–716/740–746 

MHz) licenses scheduled to commence 

on July 20, 2005 (Auction No. 60). This 

document also seeks comment on 

reserve prices or minimum opening bids 

and other procedures for Auction No. 

60.

DATES: Comments are due on or before 

February 11, 2005, and reply comments 

are due on or before February 18, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Comments and reply 

comments must be sent by electronic 

mail to the following address: auction60 

@fcc.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

legal questions: Howard Davenport 

(202) 418–0660. For general auction 

questions: Roy Knowles or Lisa Stover 

at (717) 338–2888. For service rule 

questions, contact the Mobility Division, 

Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, 

as follows: Erin McGrath, Keith Harper, 

or JoAnn Epps at (202) 418–0620.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

summary of the Commission’s Public 

Notice released January 26, 2005 

Auction No. 60 Comment Public Notice.

The complete text of the Auction No. 60 

Comment Public Notice, including 

attachments and any related 

Commission documents is available for 

public inspection and copying during 

regular business hours at the FCC 

Reference Information Center, Portals II, 

445 12th Street, SW., Room CY–A257, 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 24 / Monday, February 7, 2005 / Notices 6437

Washington, DC 20554. The Auction No. 

60 Comment Public Notice and related 

Commission documents may also be 

purchased from the Commission’s 

duplicating contractor, Best Copy and 

Printing, Inc. (BCPI), Portals II, 445 12th 

Street, SW., Room CY–B402, 

Washington, DC, 20554, telephone 202–

488–5300, facsimile 202–488–5563, or 

you may contact BCPI at its Website: 

http://www.BCPIWEB.com. When 

ordering documents from BCPI, please 

provide the appropriate FCC document 

number (for example, FCC 01–364 for 

the lower 700 MHz Report and Order). 

The Auction No. 60 Comment Public 

Notice and related documetns are also 

available on the Internet at the 

Commission’s Website: http://

wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/60/. 

I. General Information 

1. By the Auction No. 60 Comment 

Public Notice, the Wireless 

Telecommunications Bureau (‘‘Bureau’’) 

announces the auction of lower 700 

MHz band licenses, scheduled to 

commence on July 20, 2005 (auction No. 

60). This auction will include the C 

Block Metropolitan Statistical Area 

(MSA) and Rural Service Area (RSA) 

licenses that remain unsold in Auction 

No. 49, which closed on June 13, 2003. 

The C block is a 12-megahertz spectrum 

block, consisting of a pair of 6-

megahertz segments. A complete list of 

licenses available for Auction No. 60 is 

set forth both below and in Attachment 

A of Auction No. 60 Comment Public 

Notice.

Market no. Market name License no. Block Frequency 

CMA169 .................. Mayaguez, PR ........................................ WZ–CMA169–C ...................................... C .............. 710–716, 740–746 

CMA202 .................. Arecibo, PR ............................................. WZ–CMA202–C ...................................... C .............. 710–716, 740–746 

CMA723 .................. Puerto Rico 1—Rincon ........................... WZ–CMA723–C ...................................... C .............. 710–716, 740–746 

CMA727 .................. Puerto Rico 5—Ceiba ............................. WZ–CMA727–C ...................................... C .............. 710–716, 740–746 

CMA729 .................. Puerto Rico 7—Culebra .......................... WZ–CMA729–C ...................................... C .............. 710–716, 740–746 

2. Auction No. 60 will be the first 

auction to use the FCC’s Integrated 

Spectrum Auction System (‘‘ISAS or 

FCC Auction System’’), an extensive 

redesign of the previous auction 

application and bidding systems. The 

redesign includes FCC Form 175 

application enhancements such as 

discrete data elements in place of freeform exhibits and improved data 

accuracy through automated checking of 

FCC Form 175 applications. 

Enhancements have also been made to 

the FCC Form 175 application search 

function. The auction bidding system 

has also been updated for easier 

navigation, customizable results, and 

improved functionality. The Bureau will 

release subsequent public notices that 

outline more specific information on 

these enhancements and announce 

schedules for demonstrations.

II. Auction Structure 

A. Simultaneous Multiple-Round 

Auction Design 

3. The Bureau proposes to award 

licenses included in Auction No. 60- in 

a simultaneous multiple-round auction. 

This methodology offers every license 

for bid at the same time with successive 

bidding rounds in which bidders may 

place bids on individual licenses. The 

Bureau seeks comment on this proposal. 

B. Upfront Payment and Bidding 

Eligibility 

4. The Bureau has delegated authority 

and discretion to determine an 

appropriate upfront payment for each 

license being auctioned, taking into 

account such factors as the population 

in each geographic license area and the 

value of similar spectrum. The upfront 

payment is a refundable deposit by each 

bidder to establish eligibility to bid on 

licenses. Upfront payments related to 

the specific spectrum subject to auction 

protect against frivolous or insincere 

bidding and provide the Commission 

with a source of funds from which to 

collect payments owed at the close of 

the auction. With these guidelines in 

mind for Auction No. 60, the Bureau 

proposes to calculate upfront payments 

on a license-by-license basis using a 

formula based on bandwidth and 

license area population: 

$0.005 * MHz * License Area 

Population with a minimum of $1,000 

per license. The specific proposed 

upfront payment for each license 

available in Auction No. 60 is set forth 

in Attachment A. The Bureau seeks 

comment on this proposal. 

5. The Bureau further proposes that 

the amount of the upfront payment 

submitted by a bidder will determine 

the maximum number of bidding units 

on which a bidder may place bids. This 

limit is a bidder’s initial bidding 

eligibility. Each license is assigned a 

specific number of bidding units equal 

to the upfront payment on a bidding 

unit per dollar basis. Bidding units for 

a given license do not change as prices 

rise during the auction. A bidder’s 

upfront payment is not attributed to 

specific licenses. Rather, a bidder may 

place bids on any combination of 

licenses as long as the total number of 

bidding units associated with those 

licenses does not exceed its current 

eligibility. Eligibility cannot be 

increased during the auction; it can only 

remain the same or decrease. Thus, in 

calculating its upfront payment amount, 

an applicant must determine the 

maximum number of bidding units it 

may wish to bid on (or hold 

provisionally winning bids on) in any 

single round, and submit an upfront 

payment amount covering that total 

number of bidding units. Provisionally 

winning bids are bids that would 

become final winning bids if the auction 

were to close in that given round. The 

Bureau seeks comment on this proposal. 

C. Activity Rules 

6. In order to ensure that the auction 

closes within a reasonable period of 

time, an activity rule requires bidders to 

bid actively throughout the auction, 

rather than wait until late in the auction 

before participating. Bidders are 

required to be active on a specific 

percentage of their current bidding 

eligibility during each round of the 

action. A bidder that does not satisfy the 

activity rule will either lose bidding 

eligibility in the next round or must use 

an activity rule waiver (if any remain). 

7. The Bureau proposes to divide the 

auction into two stages, each 

characterized by an increased activity 

requirement. The auction will start in 

Stage One. The Bureau proposes that the 

auction generally will advance from 

Stage One to Stage Two when the 

auction activity level, as measured by 

the percentage of bidding units 

receiving new provisionally winning 

bids, is approximately twenty percent or 

below for three consecutive rounds of 

bidding. However, the Bureau further 

proposes that the Bureau retain the 

discretion to change stages unilaterally 

by announcement during the auction. In 

exercising this discretion, the Bureau 

will consider a variety of measures of 

bidder activity, including, but not 

limited to, the auction activity level, the 

percentage of licenses (as measured in 

bidding units) on which there are new 

6438 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 24 / Monday, February 7, 2005 / Notices 

bids, the number of new bids, and the 

percentage increase in revenue. The 

Bureau seeks comment on these 

proposals. 

8. For Auction No. 60, the Bureau 

proposes the following activity 

requirements: Stage One: In each round 

of the first stage of the auction, a bidder 

desiring to maintain its current bidding 

eligibility is required to be active on 

licenses representing at least 80 percent 

of its current bidding eligibility. Failure 

to maintain the requisite activity level 

will result in a reduction in the bidder’s 

bidding eligibility in the next round of 

bidding (unless an activity rule waiver 

is used). During Stage One, a bidder’s 

reduced eligibility for the next round 

will be calculated by multiplying the 

bidder’s current round activity by fivemonths (5/4).

Stage Two: In each round of the 

second stage, a bidder desiring to 

maintain its current bidding eligibility 

is required to be active on 95 percent of 

its current bidding eligibility. During 

Stage Two, a bidder’s reduced eligibility 

for the next round will be calculated by 

multiplying the bidder’s current round 

activity by twenty-nineteenths (20/19). 

9. The Bureau seeks comment on 

these proposals. Commenters that 

believe these activity rules should be 

modified should explain their reasoning 

and comment on the desirability of an 

alternative approach. Commenters are 

advised to support their claims with 

analyses and suggested alternative 

activity rules. 

D. Activity Rule Waivers and Reducing 

Eligibility 

10. Use of an activity rule waiver 

preserves the bidder’s current bidding 

eligibility despite the bidder’s activity 

in the current round being below the 

required minimum level. An activity 

rule waiver applies to an entire round 

of bidding and not to a particular 

license. Activity rule waivers can be 

either proactive or automatic and are 

principally a mechanism for auction 

participants to avoid the loss of bidding 

eligibility in the event that exigent 

circumstances prevent them from 

placing a bid in a particular round. 

11. The FCC Auction System assumes 

that bidders with insufficient activity 

would prefer to apply an activity rule 

waiver (if available) rather than lose 

bidding eligibility. Therefore the system 

will automatically apply a waiver at the 

end of any bidding round where a 

bidder’s activity level is below the 

minimum required unless: (1) The 

bidder has no activity rule waivers 

available; or (2) the bidder overides the 

automatic application of a waiver by 

reducing eligibility, thereby meeting the 

minimum requirement.

Note: If a bidder has no waivers remaining 

and does not satisfy the required activity 

level, its eligibility will be permanently 

reduced, possibly eliminating the bidder 

from further bidding in the auction.

12. A bidder with insufficient activity 

may wish to reduce its bidding 

eligibility rather than use an activity 

rule waiver. If so, the bidder must 

affirmatively override the automatic 

waiver mechanism during the bidding 

round by using the ‘‘reduce eligibility‘‘

function in the FCC Auction System. In 

this case, the bidder’s eligiblity is 

permanently reduced to bring the bidder 

into compliance with the activity rules 

as described above. Once eligibility has 

been reduced, a bidder will not be 

permitted to regain its lost bidding 

eligibility. 

13. A bidder may apply an activity 

rule waiver proactively as a means to 

keep the auction open without placing 

a bid. If a bidder proactively applies an 

activity rule waiver (using the ‘‘apply 

waiver’’ function in the FCC Auction 

System) during a bidding round in 

which no bids or withdrawals are 

submitted, the auction will remain open 

and the bidder’s eligibility will be 

preserved. An automatic waiver applied 

by the FCC Auction System in a round 

in which there are no new bids or 

withdrawals will not keep the auction 

open.

Note: Applying a waiver is irreversible; 

once a proactive waiver is submitted that 

waiver cannot be unsubmitted, even if the 

round has not yet closed.

14. The Bureau proposes that each 

bidder in Auction No. 60 be provided 

with three activity rule waivers that may 

be used at the bidder’s discretion during 

the course of the auction as set forth 

above. The bureau seeks comment on 

proposal. 

E. Information Relating to Auction 

Delay, Suspension, or Cancellation 

15. For Auction No. 60, the Bureau 

propose that, by public notice or by 

announcement during the auction, the 

Bureau may delay, suspend, or cancel 

the auction in the event of natural 

disaster, technical obstacle, evidence of 

an auction security breach, unlawful 

bidding activity, administrative or 

weather necessity, or for any other 

reason that affects the fair and efficient 

conduct of competitive bidding. In such 

cases, the Bureau, in its sole discretion, 

may elect to resume the auction starting 

from the beginning of the current round, 

resume the auction starting from some 

previous round, or cancel the auction in 

its entirety. Network interruption may 

cause the Bureau to delay or suspend 

the auction. The Bureau emphasizes 

that exercise of this authority is solely 

within the discretion of the Bureau, and 

its use is not intended to be a substitute 

for situations in which bidders may 

wish to apply their activity rule waivers. 

The Bureau seeks comment on this 

proposal.

III. Bidding Procedures 

A. Round Structure 

16. The Commission will conduct 

Auction No. 60 over the Internet. 

Alternatively, telephonic bidding will 

also be available. The toll free telephone 

number through which telephonic 

bidding may be accessed will be 

provided to bidders. 

17. The initial bidding schedule will 

be announced in a public notice to be 

released at least one week before the 

start of the auction. The simultaneous 

multiple-round format will consist of 

sequential bidding rounds, each 

followed by the release of round results. 

Details regarding the location and 

format of round results will be included 

in the same public notice. 

18. The Bureau has discretion to 

change the bidding schedule in order to 

foster an auction pace that reasonably 

balances speed with the bidders’ need to 

study round results and adjust their 

bidding strategies. The Bureau may 

increase or decrease the amount of time 

for the bidding rounds and review 

rounds, or the number of rounds per 

day, depending upon the bidding 

activity level and other factors. The 

Bureau seeks comment on this proposal. 

B. Reserve Price or Minimum Opening 

Bid 

19. Section 309(j) of the 

Communications Act calls up the 

Commission to prescribe methods for 

establishing a reasonable reserve price 

or a minimum opening bid amount 

when FCC licenses are subject to 

auction, unless the Commission 

determines that a reserve price or 

minimum opening bid amount is not in 

the public interest. Consistent with this 

mandate, the Commission has directed 

the Bureau to seek comment on the use 

of a minimum opening bid amount and/

or reserve price prior to the start of each 

auction. 

20. 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 amount, on the other hand, 

is the minimum bid price set at the 

beginning of the auction below which 

no bids are accepted. It is generally used 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 24 / Monday, February 7, 2005 / Notices 6439

to accelerate the competitive bidding 

process. Also, the auctioneer often has 

the discretion to lower the minimum 

opening bid amount later in the auction. 

It is also possible for the minimum 

opening bid amount and the reserve 

price to be the same amount. 

21. In light of Section 309(j)’s 

requirements, the Bureau proposes to 

establish minimum opening bid 

amounts for Auction No. 60. The Bureau 

believes a minimum opening bid 

amount, which has been used in other 

auctions, is an effective bidding tool. 

22. Specifically, for Auction No. 60, 

the Bureau proposes to calculate 

minimum opening bid amounts on a 

license-by-license basis using a formula 

based on bandwidth and license area 

population: 

$0.01 *MHz* License Area Population 

with a minimum of $1,000 per license. 

The specific minimum opening bid 

amount for each license available in 

Auction No. 60 is set forth in 

Attachment A of this Public Notice. The 

Bureau seeks comment on this proposal. 

23. If commenters believe that these 

minimum opening bid amounts will 

result in substantial numbers of unsold 

licenses, or are not reasonable amounts, 

or should instead operate as reserve 

prices, they should explain why this is 

so, and comment on the desirability of 

an alternative approach. Commenters 

are advised to support their claims with 

valuation analyses and suggested 

reserve prices or minimum opening bid 

amount levels or formulas. In 

establishing the minimum opening bid 

amounts, the Bureau particularly seeks 

comment on such factors as the amount 

of spectrum being auctioned, levels of 

incumbency, the availability of 

technology to provide service, the size 

of the geographic service areas, issues of 

interference with other spectrum bands 

and any other relevant factors that could 

reasonably have an impact on valuation 

of the lower 700 MHz band spectrum. 

The Bureau seeks comment on whether, 

consistent with Section 309(j), the 

public interest would be served by 

having no minimum opening bid 

amount or reserve price. 

C. Minimum Acceptable Bid Amounts 

and Bid Increments 

24. In each round, eligible bidders 

will be able to place bids on a given 

license in any of nine different amounts. 

The FCC Auction System interface will 

list the nine acceptable bid amounts for 

each license. 

25. The minimum acceptable bid 

amount for a license will be equal to its 

minimum opening bid amount until 

there is a provisionally winning bid for 

the license. After there is a provisionally 

winning bid for a license, the minimum 

acceptable bid amount for that license 

will be equal to the amount of the 

provisionally winning bid plus an 

additional amount. The minimum 

acceptable bid amount will be 

calculated by multiplying the 

provisionally winning bid amount times 

one plus an increment percentage—e.g.,

if the increment percentage is 10 

percent, the minimum acceptable bid 

amount will equal (provisionally 

winning bid amount) * (1.10), rounded. 

The Bureau will round the result using 

our standard rounding procedures. For 

Auction No. 60, the Bureau proposes to 

use a bid increment of 10 percent. This 

means that the minimum acceptable bid 

amount for a license will be 

approximately 10 percent greater than 

the provisionally winning bid amount 

for the license.

26. The nine acceptable bid amounts 

for each license consist of the minimum 

acceptable bid amount and additional 

amounts calculated using the minimum 

acceptable bid amount and the bid 

increment percentage. The Bureau will 

round the results using our standard 

rounding procedures. The first 

additional acceptable bid amount equals 

the minimum acceptable bid amount 

times one plus the bid increment 

percentage, rounded—e.g., if the 

increment percentage is 10 percent, the 

calculation is (minimum acceptable bid 

amount) * (1 + 0.10), rounded, or 

(minimum acceptable bid amount) * 

1.10, rounded; the second additional 

acceptable bid amount equals the 

minimum acceptable bid amount times 

one plus two times the bid increment 

percentage, rounded, or (minimum 

acceptable bid amount) * 1.20, rounded; 

the third additional acceptable bid 

amount equals the minimum acceptable 

bid amount times one plus three times 

the bid increment percentage, rounded, 

or (minimum acceptable bid amount) * 

1.30, rounded; etc. 

27. In the case of a license for which 

the provisionally winning bid has been 

withdrawn, the minimum acceptable 

bid amount will equal the second 

highest bid received for the license. 

28. The Bureau retains the discretion 

to change the minimum acceptable bid 

amounts and bid increments if it 

determines that circumstances so 

dictate. The Bureau will do so by 

announcement in the FCC Auction 

System. The Bureau seeks comment on 

these proposals. 

D. Provisionally Winning Bids 

29. At the end of a bidding round, a 

provisionally winning bid amount for 

each license will be determined based 

on the highest bid amount received for 

the license. In the event of identical 

high bid amounts being submitted on a 

license in a given round (e.g., tied bids), 

the Bureau proposes to use a random 

number generator to select a single 

provisionally winning bid from among 

the tied bids. If the auction were to end 

with no higher bids being placed for 

that license, the winning bidder would 

be the one that placed the selected 

provisionally winning bid. However, the 

remaining bidders, as well as the 

provisionally winning bidder, can 

submit higher bids in subsequent 

rounds. If any bids are received on the 

license in a subsequent round, the 

provisionally winning bid again will be 

determined by the highest bid amount 

received for the license. 

30. A provisionally winning bid will 

remain the provisionally bid until there 

is a higher bid on the same license at the 

close of a subsequent round. Bidders are 

reminded that provisionally winning 

bids confer credit for activity. 

E. Information Regarding Bid 

Withdrawal and Bid Removal 

31. For Auction No. 60, the Bureau 

proposes the following bid removal and 

bid withdrawal procedures. Before the 

close of a bidding round, a bidder has 

the option of removing any bid placed 

in that round. By removing selected bids 

in the FCC Auction System, a bidder 

may effectively ‘‘unsubmit’’ any bid 

placed within that round. A bidder 

removing a bid placed in the same 

round is not subject to a withdrawal 

payment. Once a round closes, a bidder 

may no longer remove a bid. 

32. A bidder may withdraw its 

provisionally winning bids using the 

‘‘withdraw bids’’ function in the FCC 

Auction System. A bidder that 

withdraws its provisionally winning 

bid(s) is subject to the bid withdrawal 

payment provisions of the Commission 

rules. The Bureau seeks comment on 

these bid removal and bid withdrawal 

procedures. 

33. In the Part 1 Third Report and 

Order, the Commission explained that 

allowing bid withdrawals facilitates 

efficient aggregation of licenses and the 

pursuit of efficient backup strategies as 

information becomes available during 

the course of an auction. The 

Commission noted, however, that, in 

some instances, bidders may seek to 

withdraw bids for improper reasons. 

The Bureau, therefore, has discretion, in 

managing the auction, to limit the 

number of withdrawals to prevent any 

bidding abuses. The Commission stated 

that the Bureau should assertively 

exercise its discretion, consider limiting 

the number of rounds in which bidders 

may withdraw bids, and prevent bidders 

6440 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 24 / Monday, February 7, 2005 / Notices 

from bidding on a particular market if 

the Bureau finds that a bidder is abusing 

the Commission’s bid withdrawal 

procedures.

34. Applying this reasoning, the 

Bureau proposes to limit each bidder in 

Auction No. 60 to withdrawing 

provisionally winning bids in no more 

than one round during the course of the 

auction. To permit a bidder to withdraw 

bids in more than one round may 

encourage insincere bidding or the use 

of withdrawals for anti-competitive 

purposes. The round in which 

withdrawals may be used will be at the 

bidder’s discretion; withdrawals 

otherwise must be in accordance with 

the Commission’s rules. There is no 

limit on the number of provisionally 

winning bids that may be withdrawn in 

the round in which withdrawals are 

used. Withdrawals will remain subject 

to the bid withdrawal payment 

provisions specified in the 

Commission’s rules. The Bureau seeks 

comment on this proposal. 

F. Stopping Rule 

35. The Bureau has discretion ‘‘to 

establish stopping rules before or during 

multiple round auctions in order to 

terminate the auction within a 

reasonable time.’’ For Auction No. 60, 

the Bureau proposes to employ a 

simultaneous stopping rule approach. A 

simultaneous stopping rule means that 

all licenses remain available for bidding 

until bidding closes simultaneously on 

all licenses. 

36. Bidding will close simultaneously 

on all licenses after the first round in 

which no bidder submits any new bids, 

applies a proactive waiver, or places any 

withdrawals. Thus, unless 

circumstances dictate otherwise, 

bidding will remain open on all licenses 

until bidding stops on every license. 

37. However, the Bureau proposes to 

retain the discretion to exercise any of 

the following options during Auction 

No. 60: 

i. Use a modified version of the 

simultaneous stopping rule. The 

modified stopping rule would close the 

auction for all licenses after the first 

round in which no bidder applies a 

waiver, places a withdrawal or submits 

any new bids on any license for which 

it is not the provisionally winning 

bidder. Thus, absent any other bidding 

activity, a bidder placing a new bid on 

a license for which it is the 

provisionally winning bidder would not 

keep the auction open under this 

modified stopping rule. The Bureau 

further seeks comment on whether this 

modified stopping rule should be used 

at any time or only in stage two of the 

suction. 

ii. Keep the auction open even if no 

bidder submits any new bids, applies a 

waiver or places any withdrawals. In 

this event, the effect will be the same as 

if a bidder had applied a waiver. The 

activity rule, therefore, will apply as 

usual and a bidder with insufficient 

activity will either lose bidding 

eligibility or use a remaining activity 

rule waiver. 

iii. Declare that the auction will end 

after a specified number of additional 

rounds (‘‘special stopping rule’’). If the 

Bureau invokes this special stopping 

rule, it will accept bids in the specified 

final round(s) and the auction will 

close. 

38. The Bureau proposes to exercise 

these options only in certain 

circumstances, for example, where the 

auction is proceeding very slowly, there 

is minimal overall bidding activity, or it 

appears likely that the auction will not 

close within a reasonable period of time. 

Before exercising these options, the 

Bureau is likely to attempt to increase 

the pace of the auction by, for example, 

increasing the number of bidding 

rounds per day, and/or increasing the 

amount of the minimum bid increments 

for the limited number of licenses where 

there is still a high level of bidding 

activity. The Bureau seeks comment on 

these proposals. 

IV. Conclusion 

39. Comments are due on or before 

February 11, 2005, and reply comments 

are due on or before February 18, 2005. 

Because of the disruption of regular 

mail and other deliveries in 

Washington, DC, the Bureau requires 

that all comments and reply comments 

be filed electronically. Comments and 

reply comments, and copies of material 

filed with the Commission pertaining to 

Auction No. 60, must be sent by 

electronic mail to the following address: 

auction60@fcc.gov. The electronic mail 

containing the comments or reply 

comments must include a subject or 

caption referring to Auction No. 60 

Comments and the name of the 

commenting party. The Bureau requests 

that parties format any attachments to 

electronic mail as Adobe Acrobat 

(pdf) or Microsoft  Word documents. 

Copies of comments and reply 

comments will be available for public 

inspection during regular business 

hours in the FCC Reference Information 

Center, Room CY–B402, 445 12 Street, 

SW., Washington, DC 20554, and will 

also be posted on the Web page for 

Auction No. 60 at http://

wireless.fcc.gov/auctions. 

40. This proceeding has been 

designated as a ‘‘permit-but-disclose’’

proceeding in accordance with the 

Commission’s ex parte rules. Persons 

making oral ex parte presentations are 

reminded that memoranda summarizing 

the presentations must contain 

summaries of the substance of the 

presentations and not merely a listing of 

the subjects discussed. More than a one 

or two sentence description of the views 

and arguments presented is generally 

required. Other rules pertaining to oral 

and written ex parte presentations in 

permit-but-disclose proceedings are set 

forth in § 1.1206(b) of the Commission’s 

rules.

Federal Communications Commission 

Gary D. Michaels, 

Deputy Chief, Auction and Spectrum Access 

Division, WTB.

[FR Doc. 05–2271 Filed 2–4–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–M

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

[Report No. 2691] 

Petitions for Reconsideration and 

Clarification of Action in Rulemaking 

Proceeding 

January 31, 2005. 

Petitions for Reconsideration and 

Clarification have been filed in the 

Commission’s Rulemaking proceeding 

listed in this Public Notice and 

published pursuant to 47 CFR 1.429(e). 

The full text of this document is 

available for viewing and copying in 

Room CY–B402, 445 12th Street, SW., 

Washington, DC or may be purchased 

from the Commission’s copy contractor, 

Best Copy and Printing, Inc. (BCPI) (1–

800–378–3160). Oppositions to these 

petitions must be filed by February 22, 

2005. See § 1.4(b)(1) of the 

Commission’s rules (47 CFR 1.4(b)(1)). 

Replies to an opposition must be filed 

within 10 days after the time for filing 

oppositions have expired. 

Subject: In the Matter of Dismissed 

Modification Application for WHR901, 

Florida Atlantic University, Boynton 

Beach, Florida (WT Docket No. 03–66). 

Amendment of Parts 1, 21, 73, 74 and 

101 of the Commission’s Rules to 

Facilitate the Provision of Fixed and 

Mobile Broadband Access, Educational 

and Other Advanced Services in the 

2150–2162 and 2500–2690 MHz Bands 

(WT Docket No. 03–66, RM–10586). 

Part 1 of the Commission’s Rules—

Further Competitive Bidding Procedures 

(WT Docket No. 03–67). 

Amendment of Parts 21 and 74 to 

Enable Multipoint Distribution Service 

and the Instructional Television Fixed 

Service Amendment of Parts 21 and 74 

to Engage in Fixed Two-Way