[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 201 (Tuesday, October 17, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61331-61333]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-26597]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[Report No. AUC-36-C (Auction No. 36); DA 00-2260]


Auction of Licenses for 800 MHz Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) 
Service Frequencies in the Lower 80 Channels; Status of FCC Form 175 
Applications To Participate in the Auction

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This document announces 20 applicants whose short-form auction 
applications for the 800 MHz SMR Auction (Auction No. 36) are accepted 
for filing and instructs those applicants on upfront payment 
information, bidding software and other pertinent information in 
reference to the auction. Also, this document identifies the 19 
incomplete applicants and 1 rejected applicant reported for this 
auction.

DATES: Auction No. 36 is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, November 1, 
2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: M. Nicole Oden, Auctions Legal Branch 
at (202) 418-0660 (regarding legal questions); Linda Sanderson, 
Auctions Operations (regarding bidding and general filing status) at 
(717) 338-2888. For questions about payment or instructions for wiring 
upfront payments, contact Gail Glasser or Tim Dates, Auctions 
Accounting Group, at (202) 418-1995.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of a public notice 
released October 6, 2000 (``Auction No. 36 Public Notice''). The 
complete text of the ``Auction No. 36 Public Notice,'' including all 
attachments, is available for inspection and copying during normal 
business hours in the FCC Reference Center (Room CY-A257), 445 12th 
Street, SW, Washington, DC. It may also be purchased from the 
Commission's copy contractor, International Transcription Services, 
Inc., (ITS, Inc.) 1231 20th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 
857-3800. It is also available on the Commission's website at http://www.fcc.gov/wtb/auctions. List of Attachments available at the FCC:

Attachment A--List of Accepted Applicants
Attachment B--List of Incomplete Applicants
Attachment C--List of Rejected Applicants

    1. The Federal Communications Commission (``FCC'') has received 40

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FCC Form 175 applications to participate in Auction No. 36 scheduled to 
begin on Wednesday, November 1, 2000, for 2,800 licenses in the 800 MHz 
Band. The applications have been reviewed for completeness and 
compliance with the Commission's rules, and have been classified into 
the following categories:
    Accepted for Filing: 20 Applications.
    Incomplete: 19 Applications.
    Rejected: 1 Application.
    Accepted: Applications accepted for filing are listed 
alphabetically in Attachment A of the Auction No. 36 Public Notice. 
These applicants will become qualified bidders upon receipt of the 
required upfront payment due by 6:00 p.m. ET on Monday, October 16, 
2000. See 47 CFR 1.2106. With respect to the FCC Form 175 applications, 
these applicants need take no further action except as may be necessary 
to maintain the accuracy of their applications. See 47 CFR 1.65. Also, 
applicants are advised that Attachment A includes FCC account numbers 
that were automatically created by the FCC software system for each 
applicant, and which are applicable for bidding only.
    Incomplete: Applications found to be incomplete are listed 
alphabetically in Attachment B of the Auction No. 36 Public Notice. 
Applicants whose FCC Form 175 applications have been deemed incomplete 
will receive overnight correspondence indicating what information is 
required to make the applications acceptable for filing. These 
applicants may become qualified bidders only if they: (i) Resubmit 
their applications by 6:00 p.m. ET on Monday, October 16, 2000, to 
correct the minor deficiencies indicated; and (ii) make the required 
upfront payments by 6:00 p.m. ET on Monday, October 16, 2000. 
Applicants must also maintain the accuracy of their FCC Form 175 
applications as required by the Commission's rules. In addition, 
applicants are advised that Attachment B includes FCC account numbers 
that were automatically created by the FCC software system for each 
applicant. These account numbers are applicable for bidding purposes 
only, should the applicant become eligible to participate in Auction 
No. 36.
    2. The filing window for resubmitting FCC Form 175 applications is 
now open. Corrected applications must be filed no later than 6:00 p.m. 
ET on Monday, October 16, 2000. This will be the only opportunity to 
cure FCC Form 175 defects; late resubmissions will not be accepted. In 
addition, if an application remains incomplete or otherwise deficient 
after the resubmission deadline has passed, the application will be 
rejected.
    Rejected: The application(s) classified as rejected are listed in 
Attachment C. Applicants whose applications have been rejected are 
disqualified from participation in Auction No. 36.

Upfront Payment Deadline

    3. Upfront payments and accompanying FCC Remittance Advice (FCC 
Form 159) for Auction No. 36 are due and must be received at Mellon 
Bank, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, no later than 6:00 p.m. ET on Monday, 
October 16, 2000. Payments must be made by wire transfer and applicants 
must include their Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TIN). No other 
payment method is acceptable for this auction. Applicants are reminded 
to use their TIN and not their FCC Account Numbers on the FCC 
Remittance Advice (FCC Form 159).
    4. Applicants that have filed applications deemed to be incomplete, 
as noted in this public notice, must submit timely and sufficient 
upfront payments before the Commission will review their resubmitted 
applications. If such an application remains incomplete following its 
resubmission, the application will be dismissed. If the applicant has 
provided its Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) and wire transfer 
instructions, the upfront payment will be refunded automatically.

Other Important Information

    5. Qualified Bidders: Approximately one week after upfront payments 
have been received, resubmitted FCC Form 175 applications have been 
processed and reviewed, and the correlation of payments and 
applications have been made, a public notice listing all applicants 
qualified to bid in the auction will be released. The same public 
notice will also include instructions on how to access the auction 
tracking tool software, a bidding schedule for the Mock auction, and 
the bidding schedule for the first day of the auction.
    6. Prohibition of Collusion: Bidders are reminded that 
Sec. 1.2105(c) of the Commission's Rules prohibits applicants for the 
same geographic license area from communicating with each other during 
the auction about bids, bidding strategies, or settlements unless they 
have identified each other as parties with whom they have entered into 
agreements under Sec. 1.2105(a)(2)(viii). For Auction No. 36, this 
prohibition became effective at the filing deadline of short-form 
applications on Friday, September 29, 2000, and will end on the post-
auction down payment due date. The post-auction down payment due date 
will be announced in a future public notice. If parties had agreed in 
principle on all material terms, those parties must have been 
identified on the short-form application under Sec. 1.2105(c), even if 
the agreement had not been reduced to writing. If parties had not 
agreed in principle by the filing deadline, an applicant should not 
have included the names of those parties on its application, and must 
not have continued negotiations with other applicants for licenses in 
the same geographic area. For further details regarding the prohibition 
against collusion, refer to the Auction No. 36 Public Notice.
    7. In addition, applicants are reminded that they are subject to 
the antitrust laws, which are designed to prevent anti-competitive 
behavior in the marketplace. Winning bidders will be required to 
disclose in their long-form applications the specific terms, conditions 
and parties involved in all bidding consortia, joint ventures, 
partnerships, and other arrangements entered into relating to the 
competitive bidding process. Bidders found to have violated the anti-
collusion rule may be subject to sanctions.
    8. Ex Parte Rule: Applicants should also be aware that the 
Commission has generally exempted auction proceedings from the strict 
requirements of the ex parte rule found in 1.2106 of the Commission's 
rules.
    9. Mock Auction: All applicants found to be qualified bidders are 
eligible to participate in a mock electronic auction on Monday, October 
30, 2000. In the Qualified Bidders Public Notice, the Bureau will 
announce when software for the mock auction will be posted on the World 
Wide Web.
    10. Remote Bidding Software: Applicants are reminded that qualified 
bidders are eligible to bid either electronically or telephonically. To 
bid electronically, applicants should complete the software order form 
included in the Auction No. 36 Public Notice, or contact the Auctions 
Hotline at (717) 338-2888. To ensure timely delivery of remote bidding 
software before the auction begins, the Commission requests receipt of 
software orders by 6:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, October 17, 2000. The 
minimum hardware and software specifications required for the FCC 
remote bidding system are listed:
 CPU: Intel  Pentium or above
 RAM: 16 MB (more recommended if you have multiple applications 
open)
 Hard Disk: 33 MB available disk space

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 1.44 MB Floppy Drive or CD-ROM Drive (to install the Remote 
Bidding System)
 Modem: v.32bis 28.8 kbps Hayes compatible modem 
(56.6 kbps recommended)
 Monitor: VGA or above
 Mouse or other pointing device
 Microsoft Windows \TM\ 95\TM\ or 98\TM\
 We recommend that you use Netscape Communicator \TM\ 
4.73. However, you can also use Netscape Communicator 4.7 or 4.72.

    To download Netscape Communicator 4.73 free of charge, access the 
Netscape download site at http://home.netscape.com/download/.

    Note: The FCC Remote Bidding System has not been tested in a 
Macintosh, OS/2, or Windows NT \TM\ environment. Therefore, the FCC 
will not support operating systems other than Microsoft Windows 95 
or 98. This includes any other emulated Windows environment.

    11. Long-Form Applications: All applicants should be aware that at 
the long-form application stage, they will be subject to the more 
extensive reporting requirements contained in the Commission's Part 1 
ownership disclosure rule.
    12. Bidder Alerts: All applicants must certify on their FCC Form 
175 applications under penalty of perjury that they are legally, 
technically, financially and otherwise qualified to hold a license, and 
not in default on any payment for Commission licenses (including down 
payments) or delinquent on any non-tax debt owed to any Federal agency. 
Prospective bidders are reminded that 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.
    13. Information about deceptive telemarketing investment schemes is 
available from the FTC at (202) 326-2222 and from the SEC at (202) 942-
7040. Complaints about specific deceptive telemarketing investment 
schemes should be directed to the FTC, the SEC, or the National Fraud 
Information Center at (800) 876-7060. Consumers who have concerns about 
specific proposals may also call the FCC Consumer Center at (888) CALL-
FCC ((888) 225-5322).

Federal Communications Commission.
Margaret Wiener,
Deputy Chief, Auctions and Industry Analysis Division, Wireless 
Telecommunications Bureau.
[FR Doc. 00-26597 Filed 10-16-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P