Source: http://federal.elaws.us/fr/12/29/2000/00-33346
Timestamp: 2020-01-23 07:55:12
Document Index: 544481665

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65 FR 83024 00-33346. Auction of Licenses for the 700 MHz Guard Bands Scheduled for February 13, 2001; Auction Notice and Filing Requirements for 8 Licenses in the 700 MHz Guard Bands Minimum Opening Bids and Other Procedural Issues, Federal Register
Home » 2000 Issues » 65 FR (12/29/2000) » 65 FR 83024 00-33346. Auction of Licenses for the 700 MHz Guard Bands Scheduled for February 13, 2001; Auction Notice and Filing Requirements for 8 Licenses in the 700 MHz Guard Bands Minimum Opening Bids and Other Procedural Issues
65 FR 83024 00-33346. Auction of Licenses for the 700 MHz Guard Bands Scheduled for February 13, 2001; Auction Notice and Filing Requirements for 8 Licenses in the 700 MHz Guard Bands Minimum Opening Bids and Other Procedural Issues
Legal questions contact Howard Davenport, Auctions Attorney, at (202) 418-0660. For general auction and bidding questions, contact Linda Sanderson, Auctions Project Manager, at (717) 338-2888 or Craig Bomberger, Auctions Analyst, at (202) 418-0660. Media Contact, Mark Rubin at (202) 418-2924. For licensing questions, contact Roger Noel, Chief, Licensing Technical Analysis Branch, at (202) 418-0620.
5. Prospective bidders must also be thoroughly familiar with the procedures, terms and conditions (collectively, “Terms”) contained in this public notice; the Auction No. 38 Comment Public Notice, 700 MHz Second Report and Order, 65 FR 17594 (April 4, 2000), 700 MHz First Report Order, 65 FR 3139 (January 20, 2000), 700 MHz Memorandum Opinion and Order (MOO), 65 FR 42879 (July 12, 2000), Reallocation Report Order, 63 FR 6669 (February 10, 1998), and Reallocation MOO 63 FR 63798 (November 17, 1998).
6. The terms contained in the Commission's rules, relevant orders and public notices are not negotiable. The Commission may amend or supplement the information contained in our public notices at any time, and will issue public notices to convey any new or supplemental information to bidders. It is the responsibility of all prospective bidders to remain current with all Commission rules and with all public notices pertaining to this auction. Copies of most Commission documents, including public notices, can be retrieved from the FCC Internet node via anonymous ftp @ftp.fcc.gov or the FCC Auctions World Wide Web site at -http://www.fcc.gov/wtb/auctions. Additionally, documents may be obtained for a fee by calling the Commission's copy contractor, International Transcription Service, Inc. (ITS), at (202) 314-3070. When ordering documents from ITS, please provide the appropriate FCC number (for example, FCC 00-5 for the 700 MHz First Report Order).
8. The Bureau, however, cautions 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. In Auction No. 38, for example, the rule would apply to any applicants bidding for the same MEA. Therefore, applicants that apply to bid for “all markets” would be precluded from communicating with all other applicants after filing the FCC Form 175. However, applicants may enter into bidding agreements before filing their FCC Form 175 short-form applications, as long as they disclose the existence of the agreement(s) in their Form 175 short-form applications. 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 under § 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 the same geographic license areas. By signing their FCC Form 175 short-form applications, applicants are certifying their compliance with § 1.2105(c). In addition, § 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. Thus, § 1.65 requires an auction applicant to notify the Commission of any violation of the anti-collusion rules upon learning of such violation. Bidders are therefore required to make such notification to the Commission immediately upon discovery.
9. Section 337 (d)(4) of the Budget Act requires that the Commission establish rules insuring that public safety services licensees using spectrum reallocated pursuant to subsection (a)(1) shall not be subject to harmful interference from television broadcast licensees. The Conference Report pertaining to that section states that the Commission should ensure that public safety service licensees in the 746-806 MHz band “continue to operate free of interference from any new commercial licensees.” To achieve this end, the Commission established “Guard Bands” in the 746-747 MHz, 762-764 MHz, 776-777 MHz, and 792-794 MHz bands. The Commission required that entities operating in the Guard Bands adhere to the same out-of-band emission (“OOBE”) criteria that was adopted for 700 MHz public safety users. In addition, these entities must coordinate their frequency use with public safety frequency coordinators and also comply with the adjacent channel coupled power out-of-band emission limits. In addition, operations in the Guard Bands are restricted to entities that do not use a cellular system architecture.
10. Licensees operating on the spectrum associated with Channels 60, 62, 65, and 67 must comply with the co-channel and adjacent channel provisions of § 27.60 of our rules. For example, an entity operating on any portion of the 746-747 MHz Guard Band, which is contained in Channel 60, must provide co-channel protection to Channel 60, and adjacent channel protection to Channels 59 and 61.
11. Negotiations with Incumbent Broadcast Licensees. As the Commission noted in the 700 MHz First Report Order:“The Congressional plan set forth in sections 336 and 337 of the [Communications] Act and in the 1997 Budget Act is to transition this spectrum from its current use for broadcast services to commercial use and public safety services.” Congress also has directed the Commission to auction 36 MHz of spectrum, six of which are the subject of this auction, allocated for commercial use at least six years before the relocation deadline for incumbent broadcasters in this spectrum, while adopting interference limits and other technical restrictions necessary to protect full-service analog and digital television service during the transition to DTV.
12. In the 700 MHz MOO, the Commission concluded that voluntary band clearing agreements between incumbent broadcast licensees on Channels 59-69 and new licensees in the 700 MHz bands, if properly structured, will further the broad public interest in intensive and efficient use of the spectrum and further the statutory scheme. Accordingly, the Commission provided guidance in the 700 MHz MOO regarding its treatment of specific regulatory requests needed to implement such voluntary agreements. This guidance includes a presumption in favor of approving such regulatory requests in certain circumstances and a recognition of the must carry obligation of cable systems with regard to broadcasts of digital television programming. The Commission established a rebuttable presumption in favor of granting regulatory requests that would: (i) Make new or expanded wireless service, such as “2.5” or “3G” services available to consumers; (ii) clear commercial frequencies that enable provision of public safety services; or (iii) result in the provision of wireless service to rural or other underserved communities. The applicant would also need to show that grant of the request would not result in any of the following: (i) The loss of any of the four stations in the designated market area (DMA) with the largest audience share; (ii) the loss of the sole service licensed to the local community; or (iii) the loss of a community's sole service on a channel reserved for noncommercial educational broadcast service.
15. Potential bidders are reminded that there are a number of incumbent broadcast television licensees already licensed and operating in the 746-764 and 776-794 MHz bands (television Channels 60-62 and 65-67), six megahertz of which will be subject to the upcoming auction. As discussed in greater detail, the Commission made clear that geographic area licensees operating on the spectrum associated with Channels 60, 62, 65, and 67 must comply with the co-channel and adjacent channel provision of § 90.545 of the Commission's rules. In addition, geographic area licensees operating fixed stations in the 746-764 MHz band must comply with the relevant provisions for “base stations” in §§ 90.309 and 90.545 of the Commission's rules; and licensees operating fixed stations in the 776-794 MHz band must comply with the relevant provisions for “control stations” in those sections of the rules.
18. Potential bidders are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research prior to Auction No. 38 in order to determine the existence of pending proceedings that might affect their decisions regarding participation in the auction. Participants in Auction No. 38 are strongly encouraged to continue such research during the auction.
General Auction Information: General Auction Questions; Seminar Registration; Orders for Remote Bidding Software—FCC Auctions Hotline, (888) 225-5322, Press Option #2, or direct (717) 338-2888,Hours of service: 8 a.m.-6:00 p.m. ET.
FCC Forms: (800) 418-3676 (outside Washington, DC), (202) 418-3676 (in the Washington Area), http://www.fcc.gov/formpage.
FCC Internet Sites: http://www.fcc.gov/wtb/auctions, http://www.fcc.gov, ftp://www.fcc.gov.
I. Short-Form (FCC Form 175) Application Requirements Back to Top
30. All applicants must comply with the uniform part 1 ownership disclosure standards and provide information required by §§ 1.2105 and 1.2112 of the Commission's rules. Specifically, in completing Form 175, applicants will be required to file an Exhibit A providing a full and complete statement of the ownership of the bidding entity. The ownership disclosure standards for the short-form are set forth in § 1.2112 of the Commission's rules.
31. Applicants will be required to identify on their short-form applications any parties with whom they have entered into any consortium arrangements, joint ventures, partnerships or other agreements or understandings which relate in any way to the licenses being auctioned, including any agreements relating to post-auction market structure. See 47 CFR 1.2105(a)(2)(viii); and 1.2105(c)(1). Applicants will also be required to certify on their short-form applications that they have not entered into any explicit or implicit agreements, arrangements or understandings of any kind with any parties, other than those identified, regarding the amount of their bids, bidding strategies, or the particular licenses on which they will or will not bid. See 47 CFR 1.2105(a)(2)(ix). As discussed, if an applicant has had discussions, but has not reached a joint bidding agreement by the short-form deadline, it would not include the names of parties to the discussions on its application and may not continue discussions with applicants for the same geographic license area(s) after the deadline. In cases where applicants have entered into consortia or joint bidding arrangements, applicants must submit an Exhibit B to the FCC Form 175.
33. In the 700 MHz Second Report Order, the Commission adopted small business provisions to promote and facilitate the participation of small businesses in competitive bidding for Guard Band licenses in the 700 MHz band.
35. A consortium of small businesses, or very small businesses is a “conglomerate organization formed as a joint venture between or among mutually independent business firms”, each of which individually must satisfy the definition of small or very small business in § 27.502. Thus, each consortium member must disclose its gross revenues along with those of its affiliates, controlling interests, and controlling interests' affiliates. We note that although the gross revenues of the consortium members will not be aggregated for purposes of determining eligibility for small or very small business credits, this information must be provided to ensure that each individual consortium member qualifies for any bidding credit awarded to the consortium.
38. Bidding credits are not cumulative; qualifying applicants receive either the 15 percent or the 25 percent bidding credit, but not both. Bidders in Auction No. 38 should also note that unjust enrichment provisions apply to winning bidders that use bidding credits and subsequently assign or transfer control of their licenses to an entity not qualifying for the same level of bidding credit. Finally, bidders should also note that there are no installment payment plans in Auction No. 38.
40. Each applicant must certify on its FCC Form 175 application that it is not in default on any Commission licenses and that it is not delinquent on any non-tax debt owed to any Federal agency. In addition, each applicant must attach to its FCC Form 175 application a statement made under penalty of perjury indicating whether or not the applicant (or any of the applicant's controlling interest or their affiliates, as defined by § 1.2110 of the Commission's rules, as recently amended in the Part 1 Fifth Report and Order) has ever been in default on any Commission licenses or has ever been delinquent on any non-tax debt owed to any federal agency. Applicants must include this statement as Exhibit D of the FCC Form 175. Prospective bidders are reminded that the statement must be made under penalty of perjury and, further, submission of a false certification to the Commission is a serious matter that may result in severe penalties, including monetary forfeitures, license revocations, exclusion from participation in future auctions, and/or criminal prosecution.
III. Pre-Auction Procedures Back to Top
51. Applicants should carefully review 47 CFR 1.2105, and must complete all items on the FCC Form 175. Instructions for completing the FCC Form 175 are in Attachment D of this public notice. Applicants are encouraged to begin preparing the required attachments for FCC Form 175 prior to submitting the form. Attachments C and D to this public notice provide information on the required attachments and appropriate formats.
59. In the Part 1 Order, Memorandum Opinion and Order, and Notice of Proposed Rule Making, the Commission delegated to the Bureau the authority and discretion to determine an appropriate upfront payment for each license being auctioned. In addition, as required by the Part 1 Fifth Report and Order, the upfront payment amount for “former defaulters,”i.e., applicants that have ever been in default on any Commission license or have ever been delinquent on any non-tax debt owed to any Federal agency, will be fifty percent more than the normal amount required to be paid. In the Auction No. 38 Comment Public Notice, the Bureau proposed upfront payments for Auction No. 38 to be the same as the upfront payments used for Auction No. 33. No comments were received concerning these upfront payments. We therefore adopt our proposed upfront payment amounts for Auction No. 38 as listed on Attachment A.
62. In calculating its upfront payment amount, an applicant should determine the maximum number of bidding units it may wish to bid on in any single round, and submit an upfront payment covering that number of bidding units. In order to make this calculation, an applicant should add together the upfront payments for all licenses on which it seeks to bid in any given round. Bidders should check their calculations carefully, as there is no provision for increasing a bidder's maximum eligibility after the upfront payment deadline.
IV. Auction Event Back to Top
73. In the Auction No. 38 Comment Public Notice, we proposed that the amount of the upfront payment submitted by a bidder would determine the initial maximum eligibility (as measured in bidding units) for each bidder participating in Auction No. 38. We received no comments on this issue.
87. In the Auction No. 38 Comment Public Notice, we proposed 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 competitive conduct of competitive bidding.
100. The bidding software requires each bidder to login to the FCC auction system during the bidding round using the FCC account number, bidder identification number, and the confidential security codes provided in the registration materials. Bidders are strongly encouraged to download and print bid verifications after they submit their bids.
A. Post-Auction Procedures Back to Top
112. Within ten business days after release of the auction closing public notice, winning bidders must file: (i) FCC Form 601 and all required exhibits electronically via the Universal Licensing System (“ULS”); and (ii) FCC Form 602 manually pursuant to § 1.919 of the Commission's rules. Winning bidders may file a single application for all markets won at auction. Winning bidders that are small businesses or very small businesses must include an exhibit demonstrating their eligibility for bidding credits. See 47 CFR 1.2112(b). Further, more detailed filing instructions will be provided to auction winners at the close of the auction.
115. For additional information on the tribal land bidding credit, including how to determine the amount of credit available, see Public Notice DA 00-2219, released September 28, 2000, entitled Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Announces Availability of Bidding Credits For Providing Wireless Services To Qualifying Tribal Lands.