[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 192 (Thursday, October 3, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61350-61352]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-24303]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[AU Docket No. 13-53; DA 13-1986, DA 13-1978]


Tribal Mobility Fund Phase I Auction (Auction 902); Short-Form 
Application Filing Window Rescheduled To Open on September 30, 2013; 
Updated List of Eligible Areas; Petition for Reconsideration of Auction 
902 Procedures Public Notice Granted in Part

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In this document, the Wireless Telecommunications and Wireline 
Competition Bureaus (Bureaus) announce the rescheduling of the filing 
window for short-form applications and release an updated list of 
eligible areas for Auction 902.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, 
Auctions and Spectrum Access Division: For Tribal Mobility Fund Phase I 
questions: Patricia Robbins at (202) 418-0660. To request materials in 
accessible formats (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio 
format) for people with disabilities, send an email to [email protected] 
or call the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 
or (202) 418-0432 (TTY).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Auction 902 Public 
Notices released on September 25 and 27, 2013. The complete text of the 
Auction 902 Public Notices, including attachments and related 
Commission documents, are available for public inspection and copying 
from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) Monday through Thursday 
or from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. ET on Fridays in the FCC Reference 
Information Center, 445 12th Street SW., Room CY-A257, Washington, DC 
20554. The Auction 902 Public Notices, including attachments and 
related Commission documents, also may be purchased from the 
Commission's duplicating contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc. 
(BCPI), 445 12th Street SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554, 
telephone 202-488-5300, fax 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 13-1986 and DA 13-1978 for the Auction 902 Public Notices. The 
Auction 902 Public Notices, including attachments and related 
Commission documents, also are available on the Internet at the 
Commission's Web site: http://wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/902/, or by 
using the search function for AU Docket No. 13-53 on the Commission's 
Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) Web page at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/.

Short-Form Application Filing Window Rescheduled To Open on September 
30, 2013

    1. The Bureaus announce that the filing window for short-form 
applications to participate in Auction 902, the reverse auction that 
will award up to $50 million in one-time Tribal Mobility Fund Phase I 
support, will now open at 12 noon Eastern Time (ET) on September 30, 
2013. This filing window was previously scheduled to open on September 
25, 2013, but the opening has been delayed to provide time for 
implementing revisions to the list of census blocks to be eligible for 
support in this auction. The Auction 902 filing window will remain open 
on a 24 hour basis from 12 noon ET on September 30, 2013, until 6:00 
p.m. ET on October 9, 2013. All other dates and deadlines for Auction 
902 remain as previously announced.
    2. An online tutorial, which provides information about pre-auction 
procedures, completing short-form applications, auction conduct, the 
FCC Auction System, auction rules, and Mobility Fund rules, available 
at http://wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/902/ will be updated prior to the 
opening of the short-form application filing window to reflect this new 
opening date.

List of Eligible Areas Updated

    3. The Bureaus release an updated list of eligible areas for 
Auction 902. The updated list (1) reflects changes to the

[[Page 61351]]

eligible areas for Auction 902 based on authorizations of support and 
default determinations from the initial auction of Mobility Fund Phase 
I support (Auction 901), and (2) incorporates 40 additional census 
blocks in northwestern New Mexico based on a partial grant of a 
petition for reconsideration.
    4. The updated list of bidding areas is released as Attachment A to 
the Auction 902 Public Notice released on September 27, 2013. An 
updated version of the file containing detailed information about the 
census blocks of all of the bidding areas is available on the Auction 
902 Web site at http://wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/902.

Changes Based on Auction 901 Authorizations and Defaults

    5. The eligible areas for Tribal Mobility Fund Phase I (Auction 
902) have been updated to reflect Auction 901 support authorizations 
and default determinations. In the list of bidding areas released with 
the Auction 902 Procedures Public Notice, 78 FR 56875, September 16, 
2013, the Bureaus identified with an asterisk the items with one or 
more census blocks that were the subject of a winning bid in Auction 
901 for which the relevant long-form application remained pending. The 
Bureaus explained that, if any winning bids from Auction 901 covering 
blocks that would otherwise be eligible for Auction 902 could not be 
authorized prior to Auction 902, then such eligible blocks would be 
made available in the auction. The Bureaus explained that they would 
exclude certain blocks if they were to authorize Auction 901 support in 
those blocks prior to Auction 902.
    6. The Bureaus announce the removal of certain census blocks for 
which support has been authorized for Auction 901 winning bids, as 
these areas will not be available for support in Auction 902. Also, for 
those blocks on which Auction 901 winning bidders have defaulted, the 
Bureaus removed the asterisks in the list that previously identified 
the relevant census blocks as having received winning bids in Auction 
901, and these areas will be eligible for bidding in Auction 902. Some 
Auction 901 long-form applications remain pending, and the Bureaus plan 
to update the list of Auction 902 eligible areas prior to the date of 
the auction to reflect any further Auction 901 authorizations of 
support or default determinations.

Addition of Certain Blocks in Northwestern New Mexico

    7. The Bureaus grant in part a petition for reconsideration of the 
Auction 902 Procedures Public Notice and they add certain census blocks 
in northwestern New Mexico to the list of eligible areas for Auction 
902. Specifically, the Bureaus add census blocks that were drive 
tested, but only to the extent that such blocks are on Tribal lands, 
are populated, and are not served, as demonstrated in the record, by 
other carriers.
    8. The petitioner sought reconsideration of the Bureaus' 
determination in the Auction 902 Procedures Public Notice, that the 
petitioner had submitted drive test data that was not sufficiently 
verifiable to justify the addition of the census blocks requested. In 
support of its request that several thousand census blocks in 
northwestern New Mexico be added to the list of eligible areas for 
Auction 902, the petition for reconsideration provides additional 
information regarding the drive tests that the petitioner previously 
had conducted in support of its comments, including a certified 
statement from a radiofrequency engineer who conducted the drive tests. 
The petitioner also supplied two lists of census blocks, one listing 
census blocks containing roads on which it had conducted tests and the 
second listing untested areas. Three commenters jointly oppose the 
petition, contending that the petitioner did not test one network at 
all, and thus that it is probable that the petitioner's drive test 
failed to identify the presence of 4G 700 MHz operations in certain 
census blocks. The petitioner concedes that it did not test this 
network. The joint filers also argue that the Bureaus should not 
consider the petitioner's additional information. Another commenter 
asserts that it provides service to certain census blocks in these 
areas using the 850 MHz band. This commenter claims that the petitioner 
did not test the 850 MHz frequency. The petitioner does not respond to 
this comment.
    9. The Bureaus find that it is in the public interest to consider 
the additional information provided in the petition for 
reconsideration. The Bureaus note that the petition does not present 
wholly new evidence or newly discovered evidence, but rather more fully 
explains the drive tests that the petitioner already conducted. 
However, in light of the Commission's goal of promoting provision of 3G 
or better mobile voice and broadband services to Tribal lands that lack 
such services, the Bureaus believe that consideration of the 
information in the petition is warranted.
    10. The Bureaus grant the petition as to certain census blocks in 
which the petitioner conducted drive tests that show no 3G or 4G 
service. The Bureaus are not, however, persuaded by the petitioner's 
argument that nearby census blocks untested by the petitioner should be 
presumed to have a similar lack of 3G or better service. Such an 
assumption is not sufficient to rebut the Mosaik data indicating that 
3G or better service is available in those areas. The Bureaus also will 
not add census blocks where other carriers show that they provide 3G or 
better mobile voice and broadband service. The petitioner admits that 
it did not conduct testing of one network, and thus it fails to rebut 
that carrier's showing regarding its service coverage, which includes 
maps, an explanation of methodologies for determining coverage, and 
certifications as to the veracity of the material provided. In 
addition, the petitioner's earlier uncertified statement that it tested 
another carrier's 850 MHz frequencies is insufficient to rebut the 
evidence submitted by that carrier regarding its service coverage, 
which includes a map, an explanation of methodologies for determining 
coverage, and certifications as to the veracity of the material 
provided. Finally, Tribal Mobility Fund Phase I support is only 
available in populated census blocks on Tribal lands. The Bureaus 
therefore will not add census blocks that have a population of zero, 
and they will not add census blocks that are beyond the external 
borders of the Navajo Nation (and that are not otherwise identified as 
Tribal lands in the 2010 Census data). The Bureaus also note that some 
of the census blocks that the petitioner requested were already 
included in the list of eligible areas. In sum, the Bureaus add 40 
census blocks that the petitioner drive tested, that are not served by 
other carriers, as demonstrated in the record, and that are both 
located on Tribal lands and populated. A list of those 40 census blocks 
is provided as Attachment B to the Auction 902 Public Notice released 
on September 27, 2013.

Eligible Areas Map and GIS Data

    11. The interactive map of eligible areas has been updated to 
reflect these changes to the eligible areas for Auction 902. The link 
to the interactive map is available on the Auction 902 Web site at 
http://wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/902/, and the map itself is at http://www.fcc.gov/maps/tribal-mobility-fund-phase-1-eligible-areas. The 
Bureaus are also making available geographic information system (GIS) 
data for the eligible areas. The GIS data, which is simply another 
format of the eligible census block data, is being provided as a 
downloadable shapefile that is

[[Page 61352]]

available on the Auction 902 Web site at http://wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/902/.

    Federal Communications Commission.
Gary D. Michaels,
Deputy Chief, Auctions and Spectrum Access Division, WTB.
[FR Doc. 2013-24303 Filed 10-2-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P