[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 230 (Tuesday, December 1, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66176-66177]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-32016]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[DA 98-2337; Report No. AUC-98-22-B (Auction No. 22)]


Additional Information Regarding Broadband PCS Spectrum Included 
in the Auction Scheduled for March 23, 1999; Comment Sought on Auction 
Procedural Issues

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice; seeking comment.

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SUMMARY: This Public Notice provides additional and corrected 
information about the broadband personal communications services 
(``PCS'') spectrum to be included in Auction No. 22, including the 
addition of three D, six E, and five F block broadband PCS licenses.

DATES: Comments are due on or before November 30, 1998, and reply 
comments are due on or before December 7, 1998.

ADDRESSES: To file formally, parties must submit an original and four 
copies to the Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications 
Commission, Room TWA-325, 445 Twelfth Street S.W., Washington, D.C. 
20554. In addition, parties must submit one copy to Amy Zoslov, Chief, 
Auctions and Industry Analysis Division, Wireless Telecommunications 
Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, Room 5202, 2025 M Street 
N.W., Washington, D.C. 20554. Comments and reply comments will be 
available for public inspection during regular business hours in the 
FCC Public Reference Room, Room 239, 1919 M Street N.W., Washington, 
D.C. 20554.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact Audrey 
Bashkin, Bob Reagle, or Jeff Garretson, Auctions and Industry Analysis 
Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, at (202) 418-0660.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Public Notice was released on November 
19, 1998, and is available in its entirety, including the Attachment, 
for inspection and copying during normal business hours in the Wireless 
Telecommunications Bureau Reference Center, Room 5608, 2025 M Street 
N.W., Washington, D.C., and also may be purchased from the Commission's 
copy contractor, International Transcription Services, (202) 857-3800, 
fax (202) 857-3805, 1231 20th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. It 
is also available on the Commission's website at http://www.fcc.gov.

Synopsis

    1. This Public Notice provides additional and corrected information 
about the broadband personal communications services (``PCS'') spectrum 
to be included in Auction No. 22, including the addition of three D, 
six E, and five F block broadband PCS licenses. See C Block PCS 
Spectrum Auction Scheduled for March 23, 1999, Comment Sought on 
Auction Procedural Issues, Public Notice, DA 98-2318 (November 12, 
1998) (``Procedural Public Notice''). In addition, the Procedural 
Public Notice listed as part of the auction certain spectrum blocks 
associated with the cancelled licenses of DCR PCS, Inc. (``DCR''), a 
licensee currently in bankruptcy. DCR's licenses were subject to a 
preliminary injunction preventing the alienation of those licenses 
through November 16, 1998. That injunction has been removed, and the 
relevant spectrum blocks are listed in the Attachment to the Public 
Notice,

[[Page 66177]]

as released by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, with an update 
reflecting this change in status. As a general matter, the Attachment 
contains an updated inventory of all licenses that will be made 
available in Auction No. 22. Future public notices could include 
information about other Commission licenses in conjunction with Auction 
No. 22. Additionally, in this Public Notice, the Bureau seeks comment 
on procedural issues relating to the auction of the D, E, and F block 
licenses in Auction No. 22.

I. Reserve Price or Minimum Opening Bid

    2. Based on the approach taken in the Procedural Public Notice, for 
each D, E, and F block license for which there was a winning bidder in 
the 1996 D, E, and F block auction, the Bureau proposes to establish as 
the minimum opening bid an amount equal to ten percent of the 
corresponding net high bid for the market in the 1996 auction, but in 
no event lower than the upfront payment for that license in Auction No. 
22. For each D, E, and F block license for which there was no winning 
bidder in the 1996 auction, the Bureau proposes to establish as the 
minimum opening bid an amount equal to 3.33 percent of the most recent 
net high bid for the C block license in the same Basic Trading Area 
(``BTA''), but in no event lower than the upfront payment amount for 
that license in Auction No. 22. Thus, for licenses with minimum opening 
bids that otherwise would be lower than upfront payment amounts, the 
Bureau proposes to establish minimum opening bids that equal the 
upfront payment amounts. Minimum opening bid amounts are provided in 
the Attachment.

II. Upfront Payments and Initial Maximum Eligibility for Each 
Bidder

    3. The Bureau proposed in the Procedural Public Notice to set the 
upfront payment amount for each license in Auction No. 22 at $0.06 * 
MHz * Population (``Pops'') (rounded up to the next dollar). The Bureau 
seeks comment on its proposal to apply the same upfront payment amount 
to each of the D, E, and F block licenses to be auctioned.
    4. In accordance with the Commission rule governing C block 
applicants, the Bureau stated in the Procedural Public Notice that the 
upfront payment amount for ``former defaulters'' (i.e., applicants that 
have ever been in default on any Commission licenses 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. 
Consistent with this rule, any former defaulter that applies to bid on 
``all markets'' or designates D, E, or F block licenses in addition to 
at least one C block license will be subject to the higher upfront 
payment requirement. Former defaulters that apply to bid only on D, E, 
or F block licenses will not be subject to the higher upfront payment 
requirement.
    5. In the Procedural Public Notice, the Bureau proposed that the 
amount of the upfront payment submitted by a bidder will determine the 
initial maximum eligibility (as measured in bidding units) for each 
bidder. Upfront payments will not be attributed to specific licenses, 
but instead will be translated into bidding units to define a bidder's 
initial maximum eligibility, which cannot be increased during the 
auction. Thus, in calculating the upfront payment amount, an applicant 
must determine the maximum number of bidding units it may wish to bid 
on (or hold high bids on) in any single round, and submit an upfront 
payment covering that number of bidding units. The Bureau seeks comment 
on its proposal to use this same approach for the D, E, and F block 
licenses to be auctioned.

III. Attribution Rules

    5. As stated in the Procedural Public Notice, the attribution rules 
set forth in Section 24.709 of the Commission's rules will apply to 
Auction No. 22.

IV. Other Auction Procedural Issues

    6. In the Procedural Public Notice, the Bureau set forth proposals 
for Auction No. 22 with respect to the following issues: (1) Auction 
sequence and license groupings; (2) structure of bidding rounds, 
activity requirements, and criteria for determining reductions in 
eligibility; (3) minimum accepted bids; (4) activity rule waivers and 
reducing eligibility; (5) information regarding bid withdrawal and bid 
removal; (6) stopping rule; and (7) information relating to auction 
delay, suspension or cancellation. Because the remaining D, E, and F 
block licenses will be included in Auction No. 22, the Bureau proposes 
to adopt these same proposals for the auction of these licenses.

Federal Communications Commission.
Daniel B. Phythyon,
Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.
[FR Doc. 98-32016 Filed 11-27-98; 11:51 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P