[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 90 (Wednesday, May 10, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27253-27254]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-7134]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[Report No. AUC-06-65-G (Auction No. 65); DA 06-984]


Auction of 800 MHz Air-Ground Radiotelephone Service Licenses 
Scheduled for May 10, 2006; Clarification of Treatment of Bids by 
Bidders Sharing a Controlling Interest

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This document announces the procedures for the upcoming 
auction of new nationwide commercial Air-Ground Radiotelephone Service 
licenses in the 800 MHz band scheduled for May 10, 2006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Auctions and Spectrum Access Division, 
WTB: For legal questions: Howard Davenport at (202) 418-0660. For 
general auction questions: Jeff Crooks at (202) 418-0660 or Barbara 
Sibert at (717) 338-2888. Mobility Division, WTB: For service 
questions: Erin McGrath or Richard Arsenault (legal) or Jay Jackson or 
Moslem Sawez (technical) at (202) 418-0620.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Auction No. 65 
Supplemental Procedures Public Notice released on May 4, 2006. The 
complete text of the Auction No. 65 Supplemental Procedures Public 
Notice, and related documents are available for public inspection and 
copying from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday or from 8 a.m. 
to 11:30 a.m. on Friday at the FCC Reference Information Center, 
Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554. 
The Auction No. 65 Supplemental Procedures 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 
Web site: http://www.BCPIWEB.com. When ordering documents from BCPI 
please provide the appropriate FCC document number for example, DA 06-
984. The Auction No. 65 Supplemental Procedures Public Notice and 
related documents are also available on the Internet at the 
Commission's Web site: http://wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/65/.

I. Background

    1. On February 21, 2006, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau 
(Bureau) announced the procedures for the upcoming auction of new 
nationwide commercial Air-Ground Radiotelephone Service licenses in the 
800 MHz band scheduled for May 10, 2006 (Auction No. 65). The Bureau 
clarifies how previously-announced procedures will take into account 
the Commission's requirement that no individual or entity may hold, 
directly or indirectly, a controlling interest in licenses authorizing 
the use of more than three megahertz of spectrum.
    2. Two nationwide commercial licenses in the 800 MHz band will be 
assigned based on the results of Auction No. 65. Due to the restriction 
on any party holding a controlling interest in licenses authorizing the 
use of more than three megahertz of spectrum, no party may hold a 
controlling interest in more than one license to be assigned by Auction 
No. 65. Accordingly, the procedures of Auction No. 65 will not assign 
both licenses to any single applicant or to multiple applicants that, 
based on their short-form auction applications (FCC Form 175), share a 
common controlling interest.

A. Provisionally Winning Bids

    3. In the Auction No. 65 Procedures Public Notice, 71 FR 11645 
(March 8, 2006), the Commission stated that, at the end of each bidding 
round, the FCC Auction System will determine the provisionally winning 
bids by determining which combination of licenses comprising a single 
band plan has the highest aggregate gross bid amount by considering all 
of the bids that have been placed in the auction subject to the 
restriction that a single bidder cannot have more than one 
provisionally winning bid. Given that the restriction on holding more 
than one license applies not only to a single bidder but also to 
multiple bidders sharing a common controlling interest, the following 
more comprehensively describes how provisionally winning bids will be 
determined. At the end of each bidding round, the FCC Auction System 
will determine which combination of licenses comprising a single band 
plan has the highest aggregate gross bid amount by considering all of 
the bids that have been placed in the auction subject to the 
restriction that neither a single bidder nor multiple bidders sharing a 
common controlling interest, as disclosed on their short-form auction 
applications, can have more than one provisionally winning bid.
    4. The restrictions used in the process of determining 
provisionally winning bids will not impose any restriction on bids that 
otherwise may be placed. That

[[Page 27254]]

is, a single bidder, or multiple bidders sharing a common controlling 
interest, may place bids on multiple licenses, including licenses that 
comprise a single band plan. The process of determining provisionally 
winning bids will not select two such bids ( i.e., two bids on two 
licenses in a single band plan placed by a single bidder or by multiple 
bidders sharing a common controlling interest) as the provisionally 
winning bids on both licenses. Nevertheless, one of the bids placed by 
a bidder, or by multiple bidders that together may not hold more than 
one license, may be selected as a provisionally winning bid.
    5. The FCC Auction System's selection of provisionally winning bids 
does not constitute a Commission determination that winning bidders are 
eligible to hold a license pursuant to Sec.  22.853 or any other 
Commission rule. The restriction against selecting more than one 
provisionally winning bid from bids by multiple bidders with a shared 
controlling interest will be implemented based on information the 
applicants provided in short-form applications to participate in the 
auction. Each winning bidder remains responsible for compliance with 
all applicable Commission rules governing applications for a license 
and licensees, including Sec.  22.853. Winning bidders that are 
ineligible to hold a license for any reason are subject to default 
payments under Sec.  1.2104(g)(2).

B. Minimum Acceptable Bids

    6. The Commission's prohibition against assigning more than one 
license to multiple bidders sharing common controlling interests also 
will be taken into account in the procedures for determining minimum 
acceptable bid amounts in Auction No. 65. The Auction No. 65 Procedures 
Public Notice included an explanation of how the process for 
determining minimum acceptable bid amounts. This process includes 
setting a price for each license described as follows: For licenses 
with provisionally winning bids, this price will be equal to the amount 
of the provisionally winning bid. For non-provisionally winning 
licenses, the price will be equal to the amount of the highest bid 
placed on the license by any non-provisionally winning bidder.
    7. The process for determining the minimum acceptable bid for non-
provisionally winning licenses reflects the fact that multiple bidders 
sharing a common controlling interest cannot win more than one license. 
For non-provisionally winning licenses, the price used to determine the 
minimum acceptable bid will be equal to the amount of the highest bid 
placed on the license by any bidder that does not hold a provisionally 
winning bid and does not share a common controlling interest with 
another bidder that holds a provisionally winning bid.
    8. The FCC Auction System will not permit a bidder to place a new 
bid that is equal to or less than a bid the bidder placed previously. A 
bidder may have placed bids that are not considered in setting the 
minimum acceptable bid for a license. Those bids may be higher than the 
minimum acceptable bid amount or one or more of the additional 
acceptable bid amounts. That bidder will be limited to bidding only in 
amounts that exceed the bids that bidder placed previously on the 
license. As a result, some bidders may have fewer than nine acceptable 
bid amounts available on each license. The FCC Auction System will list 
acceptable bid amounts for a given bidder consistent with this 
limitation and only offer bid amounts greater that the bidder's 
previous bid on the license.

Federal Communications Commission.
Gary D. Michaels,
Deputy Chief, Auctions and Spectrum Access Division, WTB.
 [FR Doc. E6-7134 Filed 5-9-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P