[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 145 (Monday, July 29, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49022-49023]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-19177]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[Report No. AUC-02-46-B (Auction No. 46); DA 02-1628]


Auction No. 46 Revised License Inventory and Auction Start Date; 
Comment Sought on Revisions to Auction Procedures

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This document revises the license inventory and starting date 
for Auction No. 46. This document also seeks comment on revisions to 
the Bureau's proposed procedures for Auction No. 46. With the exception 
of the changes described in the Auction No. 46 Revised License 
Inventory and Auction Start Date Public Notice, the Bureau's proposed 
procedures for Auction No. 46 remain unchanged from the Auction No. 46 
Comment Public Notice released on May 24, 2002.

DATES: Comments were due on or before July 22, 2002, and reply comments 
are due on or before July 29, 2002.\1\
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    \1\ This document was received by the Office of the Federal 
Register on July 25, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Because of the disruption of regular mail and other 
deliveries in Washington, DC, the Bureau requires

[[Page 49023]]

that all comments and reply comments be filed electronically. Comments 
and reply comments must be sent by electronic mail to the following 
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address: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Auctions and Industry Analysis 
Division: For legal questions: Francis Gutierrez (202) 418-0660. For 
general auction questions: Lyle Ishida (202) 418-0660 or Lisa Stover 
(717) 338-2888. For service rule questions: Brian Marenco (202) 418-
0838.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Auction No. 46 
Revised License Inventory and Auction Start Date Public Notice released 
on July 15, 2002. The complete text of the Auction No. 46 Revised 
License Inventory and Auction Start Date Public Notice 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, Washington, DC, 20554. The Auction No. 46 Revised License 
Inventory and Auction Start Date Public Notice may also be purchased 
from the Commission's duplicating contractor, Qualex International, 
Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC, 20554, 
telephone 202-863-2893, facsimile 202-863-2898, or via e-mail 
[email protected].

Revised Auction No. 46 License Inventory

    1. The Auction No. 46 Comment Public Notice, 67 FR 42773 (June 25, 
2002), announced that Auction No. 46 would include licenses in the 
paired 1392-1395 and 1432-1435 MHz bands and in the unpaired 1390-1392 
MHz, 1670-1675 MHz, and the 2385-2390 MHz bands. The Auction No. 46 
license inventory has been revised and only the 1670-1675 MHz band 
nationwide license will be offered in Auction No. 46. Dates for the 
auction of licenses in the paired 1392-1395 and 1432-1435 MHz bands and 
the unpaired 1390-1392 MHz and 2385-2390 MHz bands will be announced by 
separate public notice.

New Auction Start Date

    2. Auction No. 46 will begin on October 30, 2002. A complete list 
of all relevant dates for the auction will be provided in a subsequent 
public notice.

Activity Rules

    3. In order to ensure that the auction closes within a reasonable 
period of time, the Commission establishes activity rules that require 
bidders to bid actively on a percentage of their maximum bidding 
eligibility during each round of the auction rather than wait until the 
end to participate. 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).
    4. In the Auction No. 46 Comment Public Notice the Bureau proposed 
to divide Auction No. 46 into three stages, each characterized by an 
increased activity requirement. However, in light of the reduction in 
the number of licenses that will be available in Auction No. 46, the 
Bureau proposes a single stage auction with the following activity 
requirement: in each round, a bidder desiring to maintain eligibility 
to participate in the auction is required to be active on one hundred 
(100) percent of its bidding eligibility. Failure to maintain the 
requisite activity level will result in the use of an activity rule 
waiver, if any remain; if a bidder has no activity rule waivers 
remaining, its eligibility will be reduced, effectively eliminating the 
bidder from the auction. The Bureau seeks comment on this proposal.

Activity Rule Waivers and Reducing Eligibility

    5. In the Auction No. 46 Comment Public Notice the Bureau proposed 
that each bidder be provided with five activity rule waivers. The 
Bureau believes that in a single stage auction of one license, it will 
not be necessary to allow five activity rule waivers. Therefore the 
Bureau proposes to limit each bidder to two activity rule waivers that 
may be used at the bidder's discretion during the course of the 
auction, as described in the Auction No. 46 Comment Public Notice. The 
Bureau seeks comment on this proposal.

Information Regarding Bid Withdrawal

    6. In the Auction No. 46 Comment Public Notice the Bureau proposed 
to limit each bidder to withdrawing standing high bids in no more than 
two rounds during the course of the auction. As noted in the Auction 
No. 46 Comment Public Notice, the Commission has previously 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. In Auction No. 46, 
however, aggregation of licenses will not be possible because only a 
single license will be auctioned. Accordingly, for this auction, the 
Bureau proposes that bidders not be permitted to withdraw bids in any 
round. The Bureau seeks comment on this proposal.

Conclusion

    7. Comments are due on or before July 22, 2002, and reply comments 
are due on or before July 29, 2002. 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 must be sent by electronic mail to the 
following address: [email protected]. The electronic mail containing 
the comments or reply comments must include a subject or caption 
referring to Auction No. 46 Comments. 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 Public Reference Room, Room 
CY-A257, 445 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554. In addition, the 
Bureau requests that commenters fax a courtesy copy of their comments 
and reply comments to the attention of Kathryn Garland at (717) 338-
2850.
    8. 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 section 1.1206(b) of the Commission's 
rules.

    Federal Communication Commission.
Margaret Wiener,
Chief, Auctions and Industry Analysis Division, WTB.
[FR Doc. 02-19177 Filed 7-26-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P