Auction of FM Broadband Radio Service (BRS) Licenses Scheduled for October 27, 2009; Comment Sought on Competitive Bidding Procedures for Auction 86, 22166-22170 [E9-11076]
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[FR Doc. E9–11106 Filed 5–11–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
[AU Docket No. 09–56; DA 09–843]
Auction of FM Broadband Radio
Service (BRS) Licenses Scheduled for
October 27, 2009; Comment Sought on
Competitive Bidding Procedures for
Auction 86
AGENCY: Federal Communications
Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
SUMMARY: This document announces the
auction of unassigned Broadband Radio
Service (BRS) licenses scheduled to
commence on October 27, 2009
(Auction 86). This document also seeks
comments on competitive bidding
procedures for Auction 86.
DATES: Comments are due on or before
May 15, 2009, and reply comments are
due on or before May 29, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Comments and reply
comments must be identified by AU
Docket No. 09–56. Comments may be
filed electronically using the Internet by
accessing the Federal Communications
Commission’s Electronic Comment
Filing System (ECFS) at https://
www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs. Filers should
follow the instructions provided on the
Web site for submitting comments. The
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau
requests that a copy of all comments
and reply comments be submitted
electronically to the following address:
auction86@fcc.gov. In addition,
comments and reply comments may be
submitted by any of the following
methods:
• Paper Filers: Parties who choose to
file by paper must file an original and
four copies of each filing. Filings can be
sent by hand or messenger delivery, by
commercial overnight courier, or by
first-class or overnight U.S. Postal
Service mail (although the Bureaus
continue to experience delays in
receiving U.S. Postal Service mail). All
filings must be addressed to the
Commission’s Secretary, Attn: WTB/
ASAD, Office of the Secretary, Federal
Communications Commission.
• The Commission’s contractor will
receive hand-delivered or messengerdelivered paper filings for the
Commission’s Secretary at 236
Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Suite 110,
Washington, DC 20002. The filing hours
at this location are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Eastern Time (ET). All hand deliveries
must be held together with rubber bands
or fasteners. Commercial overnight mail
(other than U.S. Postal Service Express
Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to
9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol
Heights, MD 20743.
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• U.S. Postal Service first-class,
Express, and Priority mail should be
addressed to 445 12th Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20554.
• People With Disabilities: Contact
the FCC to request reasonable
accommodations (accessible format
documents, sign language interpreters,
CART, etc.) by e-mail: FCC504@fcc.gov
or telephone: 202–418–0530 or TTY:
202–418–0432.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau,
Auctions and Spectrum Access Division:
For auction legal questions: Sayuri
Rajapakse at (202) 418–0660. For
general auction questions: Jeff Crooks at
(202) 418–0660 or Lisa Stover at (717)
338–2868; Broadband Division: For BRS
service rule questions: Nancy Zaczek
(legal) or Stephen Zak (technical) at
(202) 418–2487.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a
summary of the Auction 86 Comment
Public Notice released on April 24,
2009. The complete text of the Auction
86 Comment Public Notice, including
Attachments A and B, and related
Commission documents, are available
for public inspection and copying from
8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET Monday through
Thursday or from 8 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 86 Comment Public
Notice 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, facsimile 202–488–5563,
or you may contact BCPI at its Web site:
https://www.BCPIWEB.com. When
ordering documents from BCPI, please
provide the appropriate FCC document
number, for example, DA 09–843. The
Auction 86 Comment Public Notice and
related documents also are available on
the Internet at the Commission’s
website: https://wireless.fcc.gov/
auctions/86/, or by using the search
function for AU Docket No. 09–56 on
the ECFS Web page at https://
www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/.
I. Licenses To Be Offered in Auction 86
1. The licenses to be offered in
Auction 86 consist of the available
spectrum in 78 BRS service areas. BRS
service areas are BTAs or additional
service areas similar to BTAs adopted
by the Commission. Overlay licenses for
75 of the BTAs originally offered in
Auction 6 are available now as a result
of default, cancellation, or termination.
This auction will also include three
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additional licenses for BRS service areas
in the Gulf of Mexico. A complete list
of licenses available for Auction 86 is
included as Attachment A of the
Auction 86 Comment Public Notice.
2. Where unencumbered, the licenses
to be auctioned consist of 76.5
megahertz of spectrum at 2496–2502,
2602–2614, 2614–2615, 2616–2618, and
2618–2673.5 MHz. The Bureau notes
that the licenses issued pursuant to this
auction will be issued pursuant to the
post-transition band plan contained in
47 CFR 27.5(i)(2). A table showing the
channelization of this spectrum is
included as Attachment B of the
Auction 86 Comment Public Notice.
3. Incumbency Issues. There are preexisting BRS incumbent licenses. The
service area for each of those site-based
licenses is a 35-mile circle centered at
the station’s reference coordinates, and
is bounded by the chord(s) drawn
between the intersection points of the
licensee’s previous protected service
area and those of respective adjacent
market, co-channel licensees. Any
licenses granted pursuant to this auction
will not include the geographic service
areas of any overlapping, co-channel
incumbent licenses. If an incumbent
license cancels or is forfeited, however,
the right to operate within that area
shall revert to the overlay licensee that
holds the license for the BRS service
area that encompasses that BTA. BRS
incumbent licenses are entitled to
interference protection in accordance
with the applicable technical rules.
4. In addition, on the E and F channel
groups, grandfathered Educational
Broadband Service licenses originally
issued on those channels prior to 1983
may continue to operate indefinitely.
Such grandfathered EBS licenses must
be protected in accordance with the
applicable technical rules.
5. Operations within the 2614–2618
MHz band are secondary to adjacent
channel operations.
6. Finally, in the 2496–2500 MHz
band, BRS licensees must share the
band on a co-primary basis with the
Code Division Multiple Access Mobile
Satellite Service, grandfathered
Broadcast Auxiliary Service stations,
and grandfathered land mobile and
microwave licenses licensed under Parts
90 and 101 of the Commission’s rules,
respectively. In addition, the 2400–2500
MHz band is allocated for use by
Industrial, Scientific, and Medical
equipment under Part 18 of the
Commission’s rules.
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II. Bureau Seeks Comment on Auction
Procedures
A. Auction Structure
i. Simultaneous Multiple-Round
Auction Design
7. The Bureau proposed to auction all
licenses included in Auction 86 using
the Commission’s standard
simultaneous multiple-round auction
format. This type of auction offers every
license for bid at the same time and
consists of successive bidding rounds in
which eligible bidders may place bids
on individual licenses. Typically,
bidding remains open on all licenses
until bidding stops on every license.
The Bureau seeks comment on this
proposal.
ii. Anonymous Bidding
8. The Bureau proposes to conduct
Auction 86 using certain procedures for
limited information disclosure or
anonymous bidding. Specifically, the
Bureau proposes to withhold, until after
the close of bidding, public release of (1)
Bidders’ license selections on their
short-form applications (FCC Form 175),
(2) the amounts of bidders’ upfront
payments and bidding eligibility, and
(3) information that may reveal the
identities of bidders placing bids and
taking other bidding-related actions.
9. The Bureau seeks comment on the
details regarding our proposal for
implementation of anonymous bidding
in Auction 86, and on alternative
proposals for anonymous bidding or
other information disclosure
procedures.
iii. Bidding Rounds
10. Auction 86 will consist of
sequential bidding rounds. The initial
bidding schedule will be announced in
a public notice to be released at least
one week before the start of the auction.
11. The Commission will conduct
Auction 86 over the Internet, and
telephonic bidding will be available as
well. The toll-free telephone number for
the Auction Bidder Line will be
provided to qualified bidders.
12. The Bureau proposes to retain the
discretion to change the bidding
schedule in order to foster an auction
pace that reasonably balances speed
with the bidders’ need to study round
results and adjust their bidding
strategies. Under this proposal, the
Bureau may change the amount of time
for bidding rounds, the amount of time
between rounds, or the number of
rounds per day, depending upon
bidding activity and other factors. The
Bureau seeks comment on this proposal.
Commenters may wish to address the
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role of the bidding schedule in
managing the pace of the auction and
the tradeoffs in managing auction pace
by bidding schedule changes, by
changing the activity requirements or
bid amount parameters, or by using
other means.
iv. Stopping Rule
13. For Auction 86, the Bureau
proposes to employ a simultaneous
stopping rule approach. A simultaneous
stopping rule means that all licenses
remain available for bidding until
bidding closes simultaneously on all
licenses. More specifically, bidding will
close simultaneously on all licenses
after the first round in which no bidder
submits any new bids, applies a
proactive waiver, or withdraws any
provisionally winning bids. Thus,
unless the Bureau announces alternative
stopping procedures, bidding will
remain open on all licenses until
bidding stops on every license.
Consequently, it is not possible to
determine in advance how long the
auction will last.
14. Further, the Bureau proposes to
retain the discretion to exercise any of
the following options during Auction
86: (1) Use a modified version of the
simultaneous stopping rule. The
modified stopping rule would close the
auction for all licenses after the first
round in which no bidder applies a
waiver, withdraws a provisionally
winning bid, or places any new bids on
any license for which it is not the
provisionally winning bidder. Thus,
absent any other bidding activity, a
bidder placing a new bid on a license
for which it is the provisionally winning
bidder would not keep the auction open
under this modified stopping rule; (2)
declare that the auction will end after a
specified number of additional rounds
(special stopping rule). If the Bureau
invokes this special stopping rule, it
will accept bids in the specified final
round(s) after which the auction will
close; and (3) keep the auction open
even if no bidder submits any new bids,
applies a waiver, or withdraws any
provisionally winning bids. In this
event, the effect will be the same as if
a bidder had applied a waiver. The
activity rule, therefore, will apply as
usual and a bidder with insufficient
activity will either lose bidding
eligibility or use a waiver.
15. The Bureau proposed to exercise
these options only in certain
circumstances, for example, where the
auction is proceeding unusually slowly
or quickly, there is minimal overall
bidding activity, or it appears likely that
the auction will not close within a
reasonable period of time or will close
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prematurely. Before exercising certain of
these options, the Bureau is likely to
attempt to change the pace of the
auction by, for example, changing the
number of bidding rounds per day and/
or changing minimum acceptable bids.
The Bureau proposes to retain the
discretion to exercise any of these
options with or without prior
announcement during the auction. The
Bureau seeks comment on these
proposals.
v. Information Relating to Auction
Delay, Suspension, or Cancellation
16. For Auction 86, the Bureau
proposes that, by public notice or by
announcement during the auction, the
Bureau may delay, suspend, or cancel
the auction in the event of natural
disaster, technical obstacle,
administrative or weather necessity,
evidence of an auction security breach
or unlawful bidding activity, or for any
other reason that affects the fair and
efficient conduct of competitive
bidding. The Bureau seeks comment on
this proposal.
B. Auction Procedures
i. Upfront Payments and Bidding
Eligibility
17. The Bureau proposes that the
amount of the upfront payment
submitted by a bidder will determine
the bidder’s initial bidding eligibility in
bidding units. The Bureau proposes that
each license be assigned a specific
number of bidding units equal to the
upfront payment listed in Attachment A
of the Auction 86 Comment Public
Notice.
18. The proposed number of bidding
units for each license and associated
upfront payment amounts are listed in
Attachment A. The Bureau seeks
comment on these proposals.
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ii. Activity Rule
19. In order to ensure that the auction
closes within a reasonable period of
time, an activity rule requires bidders to
bid actively throughout the auction,
rather than wait until late in the auction
before participating. A bidder’s activity
in a round will be the sum of the
bidding units associated with any
licenses upon which it places bids
during the current round and the
bidding units associated with any
licenses for which it holds provisionally
winning bids. Bidders are required to be
active on a specific percentage of their
current bidding eligibility during each
round of the auction. Failure to
maintain the requisite activity level will
result in the use of an activity rule
waiver, if any remain, or a reduction in
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the bidder’s eligibility, possibly
curtailing or eliminating the bidder’s
ability to place additional bids in the
auction.
20. The Bureau proposes to divide the
auction into at least two stages, each
characterized by a different activity
requirement. The auction will start in
Stage One. The Bureau proposes to
advance the auction to the next stage by
announcement during the auction. In
exercising this discretion, the Bureau
will consider a variety of measures of
auction activity, including but not
limited to the percentage of licenses (as
measured in bidding units) on which
there are new bids, the number of new
bids, and the increase in revenue. The
Bureau seeks comment on these
proposals.
iii. Activity Rule Waivers and Reducing
Eligibility
21. Use of an activity rule waiver
preserves the bidder’s eligibility despite
the bidder’s activity in the current
round being below the required
minimum level. An activity rule waiver
applies to an entire round of bidding,
not to particular licenses. Activity rule
waivers can be either proactive or
automatic and are principally a
mechanism for bidders to avoid the loss
of bidding eligibility in the event that
exigent circumstances prevent them
from bidding in a particular round.
22. The Bureau proposes that each
bidder in Auction 86 be provided with
three activity rule waivers that may be
used as set forth above at the bidder’s
discretion during the course of the
auction. The Bureau seeks comment on
this proposal.
iv. Reserve Price or Minimum Opening
Bids
23. The Bureau proposes to establish
minimum opening bid amounts for
Auction 86. The Bureau believes a
minimum opening bid amount, which
has been used in other auctions, is an
effective bidding tool for accelerating
the competitive bidding process. The
Bureau does not propose a separate
reserve price for the licenses to be
offered in Auction 86. Specifically, for
Auction 86, the Bureau proposes to
calculate minimum opening bid
amounts on a license-by-license basis
using a formula based on bandwidth
and license area population. The Bureau
seeks comment on this approach, and,
whether, consistent with Section 309(j),
the public interest would be served by
having no minimum opening bid
amount or reserve price.
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v. Bid Amounts
24. The Bureau proposes that, in each
round, eligible bidders be able to place
a bid on a given license using one or
more pre-defined bid amounts. Under
this proposal, the FCC Auction System
interface will list the acceptable bid
amounts for each license.
a. Minimum Acceptable Bids
25. The first of the acceptable bid
amounts is called the minimum
acceptable bid amount. The minimum
acceptable bid amount for a license will
be equal to its minimum opening bid
amount until there is a provisionally
winning bid on the license. After there
is a provisionally winning bid for a
license, the minimum acceptable bid
amount for that license will be equal to
the amount of the provisionally winning
bid plus a percentage of that bid
amount. In general, the percentage will
be higher for a license receiving many
bids than for a license receiving few
bids. In the case of a license for which
the provisionally winning bid has been
withdrawn, the minimum acceptable
bid amount will equal the second
highest bid received for the license.
26. The percentage of the
provisionally winning bid used to
establish the minimum acceptable bid
amount (the additional percentage) is
calculated at the end of each round,
based on an activity index. The activity
index is a weighted average of (a) the
number of distinct bidders placing a bid
on the license, and (b) the activity index
from the prior round. Specifically, the
activity index is equal to a weighting
factor times the number of bidders
placing a bid covering the license in the
most recent bidding round plus one
minus the weighting factor times the
activity index from the prior round. The
additional percentage is determined as
one plus the activity index times a
minimum percentage amount, with the
result not to exceed a given maximum.
The additional percentage is then
multiplied by the provisionally winning
bid amount to obtain the minimum
acceptable bid for the next round. The
Bureau proposes initially to set the
weighting factor at 0.5, the minimum
percentage at 0.1 (10%), and the
maximum percentage at 0.3 (30%).
Hence, at these initial settings, the
minimum acceptable bid for a license
will be between ten percent and thirty
percent higher than the provisionally
winning bid, depending upon the
bidding activity for the license.
b. Additional Bid Amounts
27. Any additional bid amounts are
calculated using the minimum
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acceptable bid amount and a bid
increment percentage—more
specifically, by multiplying the
minimum acceptable bid by one plus
successively higher multiples of the bid
increment percentage. If, for example,
the bid increment percentage is ten
percent, the calculation of the first
additional acceptable bid amount is
(minimum acceptable bid amount) * (1
+ 0.05), or (minimum acceptable bid
amount) * 1.05; the second additional
acceptable bid amount equals the
minimum acceptable bid amount times
one plus two times the bid increment
percentage, or (minimum acceptable bid
amount) * 1.1, etc. The Bureau will
round the results of these calculations
and the minimum acceptable bid
calculations using the Bureau’s standard
rounding procedures. The Bureau
proposes to set the bid increment
percentage at 0.05.
28. The Bureau seeks comment on
whether to start with eight additional
bid amounts (for a total of nine bid
amounts) or with fewer or no additional
bid amounts for Auction 86. In
particular, commenters should address
the issue of additional bid amounts in
light of particular circumstances of
Auction 86, including the nature of the
license inventory. The Bureau retains
the discretion to change the minimum
acceptable bid amounts, the additional
bid amounts, the number of acceptable
bid amounts, and the parameters of the
formulas used to calculate minimum
acceptable bid amounts and additional
bid amounts if it determines that
circumstances so dictate. Further, the
Bureau retains the discretion to do so on
a license-by-license basis.
29. The Bureau also retains the
discretion to limit (a) the amount by
which a minimum acceptable bid for a
license may increase compared with the
corresponding provisionally winning
bid, and (b) the amount by which an
additional bid amount may increase
compared with the immediately
preceding acceptable bid amount. The
Bureau seeks comment on the
circumstances under which it should
employ such a limit, factors it should
consider when determining the dollar
amount of the limit, and the tradeoffs in
setting such a limit or changing
parameters of the activity-based
formula, such as changing the minimum
percentage. If the Bureau exercises this
discretion, it will alert bidders by
announcement in the FCC Auction
System. The Bureau seeks comment on
the above proposals.
vi. Provisionally Winning Bids
30. Provisionally winning bids are
bids that would become final winning
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bids if the auction were to close in that
given round. At the end of a bidding
round, a provisionally winning bid for
each license will be determined based
on the highest bid amount received for
the license. In the event of identical
high bid amounts being submitted on a
license in a given round (i.e., tied bids),
we will use a random number generator
to select a single provisionally winning
bid from among the tied bids. (Each bid
is assigned a random number, and the
tied bid with the highest random
number wins the tiebreaker.) The
remaining bidders, as well as the
provisionally winning bidder, can
submit higher bids in subsequent
rounds. However, if the auction were to
end with no other bids being placed, the
winning bidder would be the one that
placed the provisionally winning bid. If
any bids are received on the license in
a subsequent round, the provisionally
winning bid again will be determined
by the highest bid amount received for
the license.
31. A provisionally winning bid will
remain the provisionally winning bid
until there is a higher bid on the license
at the close of a subsequent round,
unless the provisionally winning bid is
withdrawn. Bidders are reminded that
provisionally winning bids count
toward activity for purposes of the
activity rule.
vii. Bid Removal
32. For Auction 86, the Bureau
proposes and seeks comment on the
following bid removal procedures.
Before the close of a bidding round, a
bidder has the option of removing any
bid placed in that round. By removing
selected bids in the FCC Auction
System, a bidder may effectively undo
any of its bids placed within that round.
viii. Bid Withdrawal
33. A bidder may withdraw its
provisionally winning bids using the
withdraw bids function in the FCC
Auction System. A bidder that
withdraws its provisionally winning
bid(s) is subject to the bid withdrawal
payment provisions of the Commission
rules.
34. For Auction 86, the Bureau
proposes to limit each bidder to
withdrawing provisionally winning bids
in only one round during the course of
the auction. To permit a bidder to
withdraw bids in more than one round
may encourage insincere bidding or the
use of withdrawals for anti-competitive
purposes. The round in which
withdrawals may be used will be at the
bidder’s discretion, and there is no limit
on the number of provisionally winning
bids that may be withdrawn during that
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round. Withdrawals must be in
accordance with the Commission’s
rules, including the bid withdrawal
payment provisions specified in 47 CFR
1.2104(g). The Bureau seeks comment
on these bid withdrawal procedures.
C. Post-Auction Procedures
i. Establishing the Interim Withdrawal
Payment Percentage
35. The Bureau seeks comment on the
appropriate percentage of a withdrawn
bid that should be assessed as an
interim withdrawal payment in the
event that a final withdrawal payment
cannot be determined at the close of the
auction. Balancing the potential need
for bidders to use withdrawals to avoid
winning incomplete combinations of
licenses with our interest in deterring
abuses of our bidding procedures, the
Bureau proposes an interim bid
withdrawal payment level of fifteen
percent for Auction 86.
36. In general, the Commission’s rules
provide that a bidder that withdraws a
bid during an auction is subject to a
withdrawal payment equal to the
difference between the amount of the
withdrawn bid and the amount of the
winning bid in the same or subsequent
auction(s). If a bid is withdrawn and no
subsequent higher bid is placed and/or
the license is not won in the same
auction, the final withdrawal payment
cannot be calculated until after the close
of a subsequent auction in which a
higher bid for the license (or the
equivalent to the license) is placed or
the license is won. When that final
payment cannot yet be calculated, the
bidder responsible for the withdrawn
bid is assessed an interim bid
withdrawal payment, which will be
applied toward any final bid withdrawal
payment that is ultimately assessed. 47
CFR 1.2104(g)(1) of the Commission
rules requires that the percentage of the
withdrawn bid to be assessed as an
interim bid withdrawal payment be
between three percent and twenty
percent and that it be set in advance of
the auction.
37. The Commission has determined
that the level of the interim withdrawal
payment in a particular auction will be
based on the nature of the service and
the inventory of the licenses being
offered. The Commission has noted that
it may impose a higher interim
withdrawal payment percentage to deter
the anti-competitive use of withdrawals
when, for example, bidders likely will
not need to aggregate the licenses being
offered in the auction, such as when few
licenses are offered that are on adjacent
frequencies or in adjacent areas, or
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when there are few synergies to be
captured by combining licenses.
38. For Auction 86, it is not possible
to combine licenses across multiple
frequency blocks in a given geographic
area, and opportunities for combining
licenses in adjacent areas are somewhat
limited, so there is likely to be little
need to use withdrawals to protect
against incomplete aggregations.
Therefore, the Bureau proposes to
establish the percentage of the
withdrawn bid to be assessed as an
interim bid withdrawal payment at
fifteen percent for this auction. The
Bureau seeks comment on this proposal.
ii. Establishing the Additional Default
Payment Percentage
39. Any winning bidder that, after the
close of an auction, defaults—by, for
example, failing to remit the required
down payment within the prescribed
period of time, to submit a timely longform application, or to make full
payment—or is otherwise disqualified is
liable for a default payment under 47
CFR 1.2104(g)(2). This payment consists
of a deficiency payment, equal to the
difference between the amount of the
bidder’s bid and the amount of the
winning bid the next time a license
covering the same spectrum is won in
an auction, plus an additional payment
equal to a percentage of the defaulter’s
bid or of the subsequent winning bid,
whichever is less.
40. As previously noted by the
Commission, defaults weaken the
integrity of the auctions process and
impede the deployment of service to the
public. Given the nature of the service
and the inventory of the licenses being
offered in Auction 86, the Bureau
believes that an additional default
payment percentage of fifteen percent
will provide a sufficient deterrent to
defaults. Accordingly, the Bureau
proposes an additional default payment
of fifteen percent of the relevant bid for
Auction 86 and seeks comment on this
proposal.
rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES
III. Commission ex parte Rules
41. 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
VerDate Nov<24>2008
17:14 May 11, 2009
Jkt 217001
permit-but-disclose proceedings are set
forth in 47 CFR 1.1206(b).
Federal Communications Commission.
Gary D. Michaels,
Deputy Chief, Auctions and Spectrum Access
Division, WTB.
[FR Doc. E9–11076 Filed 5–11–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712–01–P
FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
Sunshine Act Meeting
Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve
System.
TIME AND DATE: 11:30 a.m., Monday, May
18, 2009.
PLACE: Marriner S. Eccles Federal
Reserve Board Building, 20th and C
Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20551.
STATUS: Closed.
MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:
1. Personnel actions (appointments,
promotions, assignments,
reassignments, and salary actions)
involving individual Federal Reserve
System employees.
2. Any items carried forward from a
previously announced meeting.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michelle Smith, Director, or Dave
Skidmore, Assistant to the Board, Office
of Board Members at 202–452–2955.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: You may
call 202–452–3206 beginning at
approximately 5 p.m. two business days
before the meeting for a recorded
announcement of bank and bank
holding company applications
scheduled for the meeting; or you may
contact the Board’s Web site at https://
www.federalreserve.gov for an electronic
announcement that not only lists
applications, but also indicates
procedural and other information about
the meeting.
AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, May 8, 2009.
Robert deV. Frierson,
Deputy Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. E9–11199 Filed 5–8–09; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 6210–01–S
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
National Biodefense Science Board;
Notification of a Public Teleconference
AGENCY: Department of Health and
Human Services, Office of the Secretary.
ACTION: Notice.
SUMMARY: As stipulated by the Federal
Advisory Committee Act, the U.S.
PO 00000
Frm 00019
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Department of Health and Human
Services is hereby giving notice that the
National Biodefense Science Board
(NBSB) will be holding a public
teleconference. The meeting is open to
the public.
DATES: The NBSB will hold a public
teleconference on May 22, 2009. The
teleconference will be held from 2 p.m.
to 4 p.m. EDT.
ADDRESSES: The conference will be
conducted by phone. Public Conference
Call-in Number is available by e-mailing
NBSB@hhs.gov and will be posted on
the NBSB Web site at https://
www.hhs.gov/aspr/omsph/nbsb/
index.html prior to the meeting.
Participants should call in 15 minutes
prior to the call and will be asked to
provide their name, title, and
organization.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any
member of the public wishing to obtain
general information concerning this
public teleconference should contact
NBSB@hhs.gov.
Pursuant
to section 319M of the Public Health
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d–7f) and
section 222 of the Public Health Service
Act (42 U.S.C. 217a), the Department of
Health and Human Services established
the National Biodefense Science Board.
The Board shall provide expert advice
and guidance to the Secretary on
scientific, technical, and other matters
of special interest to the Department of
Health and Human Services regarding
current and future chemical, biological,
nuclear, and radiological agents,
whether naturally occurring, accidental,
or deliberate. The Board may also
provide advice and guidance to the
Secretary on other matters related to
public health emergency preparedness
and response.
Background: The purpose of the May
22, 2009 teleconference is to discuss
issues regarding the 2009 H1N1
influenza outbreak. A special meeting of
the Board is being convened to assure
that the public is given the opportunity
to provide comments on the actions and
deliberations of the Board regarding the
ongoing response to the H1N1
influenza. There will be time for
members of the public to present their
comments to the Board on this subject
matter.
Availability of Materials: The agenda
and other materials will be posted on
the NBSB Web site at https://
www.hhs.gov/aspr/omsph/nbsb/
index.html prior to the meeting.
Procedures for Providing Public Input:
Interested members of the public may
submit relevant written or oral
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
E:\FR\FM\12MYN1.SGM
12MYN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 90 (Tuesday, May 12, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22166-22170]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-11076]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
[AU Docket No. 09-56; DA 09-843]
Auction of FM Broadband Radio Service (BRS) Licenses Scheduled
for October 27, 2009; Comment Sought on Competitive Bidding Procedures
for Auction 86
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This document announces the auction of unassigned Broadband
Radio Service (BRS) licenses scheduled to commence on October 27, 2009
(Auction 86). This document also seeks comments on competitive bidding
procedures for Auction 86.
DATES: Comments are due on or before May 15, 2009, and reply comments
are due on or before May 29, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Comments and reply comments must be identified by AU Docket
No. 09-56. Comments may be filed electronically using the Internet by
accessing the Federal Communications Commission's Electronic Comment
Filing System (ECFS) at https://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs. Filers should
follow the instructions provided on the Web site for submitting
comments. The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau requests that a copy
of all comments and reply comments be submitted electronically to the
following address: auction86@fcc.gov. In addition, comments and reply
comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must
file an original and four copies of each filing. Filings can be sent by
hand or messenger delivery, by commercial overnight courier, or by
first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service mail (although the Bureaus
continue to experience delays in receiving U.S. Postal Service mail).
All filings must be addressed to the Commission's Secretary, Attn: WTB/
ASAD, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.
The Commission's contractor will receive hand-delivered or
messenger-delivered paper filings for the Commission's Secretary at 236
Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Suite 110, Washington, DC 20002. The filing
hours at this location are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern Time (ET). All hand
deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners.
Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service Express Mail
and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol
Heights, MD 20743.
U.S. Postal Service first-class, Express, and Priority
mail should be addressed to 445 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554.
People With Disabilities: Contact the FCC to request
reasonable accommodations (accessible format documents, sign language
interpreters, CART, etc.) by e-mail: FCC504@fcc.gov or telephone: 202-
418-0530 or TTY: 202-418-0432.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wireless Telecommunications Bureau,
Auctions and Spectrum Access Division: For auction legal questions:
Sayuri Rajapakse at (202) 418-0660. For general auction questions: Jeff
Crooks at (202) 418-0660 or Lisa Stover at (717) 338-2868; Broadband
Division: For BRS service rule questions: Nancy Zaczek (legal) or
Stephen Zak (technical) at (202) 418-2487.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Auction 86 Comment
Public Notice released on April 24, 2009. The complete text of the
Auction 86 Comment Public Notice, including Attachments A and B, and
related Commission documents, are available for public inspection and
copying from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET Monday through Thursday or from 8
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 86 Comment Public Notice 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, facsimile 202-488-5563,
or you may contact BCPI at its Web site: https://www.BCPIWEB.com. When
ordering documents from BCPI, please provide the appropriate FCC
document number, for example, DA 09-843. The Auction 86 Comment Public
Notice and related documents also are available on the Internet at the
Commission's website: https://wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/86/, or by using
the search function for AU Docket No. 09-56 on the ECFS Web page at
https://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/.
I. Licenses To Be Offered in Auction 86
1. The licenses to be offered in Auction 86 consist of the
available spectrum in 78 BRS service areas. BRS service areas are BTAs
or additional service areas similar to BTAs adopted by the Commission.
Overlay licenses for 75 of the BTAs originally offered in Auction 6 are
available now as a result of default, cancellation, or termination.
This auction will also include three
[[Page 22167]]
additional licenses for BRS service areas in the Gulf of Mexico. A
complete list of licenses available for Auction 86 is included as
Attachment A of the Auction 86 Comment Public Notice.
2. Where unencumbered, the licenses to be auctioned consist of 76.5
megahertz of spectrum at 2496-2502, 2602-2614, 2614-2615, 2616-2618,
and 2618-2673.5 MHz. The Bureau notes that the licenses issued pursuant
to this auction will be issued pursuant to the post-transition band
plan contained in 47 CFR 27.5(i)(2). A table showing the channelization
of this spectrum is included as Attachment B of the Auction 86 Comment
Public Notice.
3. Incumbency Issues. There are pre-existing BRS incumbent
licenses. The service area for each of those site-based licenses is a
35-mile circle centered at the station's reference coordinates, and is
bounded by the chord(s) drawn between the intersection points of the
licensee's previous protected service area and those of respective
adjacent market, co-channel licensees. Any licenses granted pursuant to
this auction will not include the geographic service areas of any
overlapping, co-channel incumbent licenses. If an incumbent license
cancels or is forfeited, however, the right to operate within that area
shall revert to the overlay licensee that holds the license for the BRS
service area that encompasses that BTA. BRS incumbent licenses are
entitled to interference protection in accordance with the applicable
technical rules.
4. In addition, on the E and F channel groups, grandfathered
Educational Broadband Service licenses originally issued on those
channels prior to 1983 may continue to operate indefinitely. Such
grandfathered EBS licenses must be protected in accordance with the
applicable technical rules.
5. Operations within the 2614-2618 MHz band are secondary to
adjacent channel operations.
6. Finally, in the 2496-2500 MHz band, BRS licensees must share the
band on a co-primary basis with the Code Division Multiple Access
Mobile Satellite Service, grandfathered Broadcast Auxiliary Service
stations, and grandfathered land mobile and microwave licenses licensed
under Parts 90 and 101 of the Commission's rules, respectively. In
addition, the 2400-2500 MHz band is allocated for use by Industrial,
Scientific, and Medical equipment under Part 18 of the Commission's
rules.
II. Bureau Seeks Comment on Auction Procedures
A. Auction Structure
i. Simultaneous Multiple-Round Auction Design
7. The Bureau proposed to auction all licenses included in Auction
86 using the Commission's standard simultaneous multiple-round auction
format. This type of auction offers every license for bid at the same
time and consists of successive bidding rounds in which eligible
bidders may place bids on individual licenses. Typically, bidding
remains open on all licenses until bidding stops on every license. The
Bureau seeks comment on this proposal.
ii. Anonymous Bidding
8. The Bureau proposes to conduct Auction 86 using certain
procedures for limited information disclosure or anonymous bidding.
Specifically, the Bureau proposes to withhold, until after the close of
bidding, public release of (1) Bidders' license selections on their
short-form applications (FCC Form 175), (2) the amounts of bidders'
upfront payments and bidding eligibility, and (3) information that may
reveal the identities of bidders placing bids and taking other bidding-
related actions.
9. The Bureau seeks comment on the details regarding our proposal
for implementation of anonymous bidding in Auction 86, and on
alternative proposals for anonymous bidding or other information
disclosure procedures.
iii. Bidding Rounds
10. Auction 86 will consist of sequential bidding rounds. The
initial bidding schedule will be announced in a public notice to be
released at least one week before the start of the auction.
11. The Commission will conduct Auction 86 over the Internet, and
telephonic bidding will be available as well. The toll-free telephone
number for the Auction Bidder Line will be provided to qualified
bidders.
12. The Bureau proposes to retain the discretion to change the
bidding schedule in order to foster an auction pace that reasonably
balances speed with the bidders' need to study round results and adjust
their bidding strategies. Under this proposal, the Bureau may change
the amount of time for bidding rounds, the amount of time between
rounds, or the number of rounds per day, depending upon bidding
activity and other factors. The Bureau seeks comment on this proposal.
Commenters may wish to address the role of the bidding schedule in
managing the pace of the auction and the tradeoffs in managing auction
pace by bidding schedule changes, by changing the activity requirements
or bid amount parameters, or by using other means.
iv. Stopping Rule
13. For Auction 86, the Bureau proposes to employ a simultaneous
stopping rule approach. A simultaneous stopping rule means that all
licenses remain available for bidding until bidding closes
simultaneously on all licenses. More specifically, bidding will close
simultaneously on all licenses after the first round in which no bidder
submits any new bids, applies a proactive waiver, or withdraws any
provisionally winning bids. Thus, unless the Bureau announces
alternative stopping procedures, bidding will remain open on all
licenses until bidding stops on every license. Consequently, it is not
possible to determine in advance how long the auction will last.
14. Further, the Bureau proposes to retain the discretion to
exercise any of the following options during Auction 86: (1) Use a
modified version of the simultaneous stopping rule. The modified
stopping rule would close the auction for all licenses after the first
round in which no bidder applies a waiver, withdraws a provisionally
winning bid, or places any new bids on any license for which it is not
the provisionally winning bidder. Thus, absent any other bidding
activity, a bidder placing a new bid on a license for which it is the
provisionally winning bidder would not keep the auction open under this
modified stopping rule; (2) declare that the auction will end after a
specified number of additional rounds (special stopping rule). If the
Bureau invokes this special stopping rule, it will accept bids in the
specified final round(s) after which the auction will close; and (3)
keep the auction open even if no bidder submits any new bids, applies a
waiver, or withdraws any provisionally winning bids. In this event, the
effect will be the same as if a bidder had applied a waiver. The
activity rule, therefore, will apply as usual and a bidder with
insufficient activity will either lose bidding eligibility or use a
waiver.
15. The Bureau proposed to exercise these options only in certain
circumstances, for example, where the auction is proceeding unusually
slowly or quickly, there is minimal overall bidding activity, or it
appears likely that the auction will not close within a reasonable
period of time or will close
[[Page 22168]]
prematurely. Before exercising certain of these options, the Bureau is
likely to attempt to change the pace of the auction by, for example,
changing the number of bidding rounds per day and/or changing minimum
acceptable bids. The Bureau proposes to retain the discretion to
exercise any of these options with or without prior announcement during
the auction. The Bureau seeks comment on these proposals.
v. Information Relating to Auction Delay, Suspension, or Cancellation
16. For Auction 86, the Bureau proposes that, by public notice or
by announcement during the auction, the Bureau may delay, suspend, or
cancel the auction in the event of natural disaster, technical
obstacle, administrative or weather necessity, evidence of an auction
security breach or unlawful bidding activity, or for any other reason
that affects the fair and efficient conduct of competitive bidding. The
Bureau seeks comment on this proposal.
B. Auction Procedures
i. Upfront Payments and Bidding Eligibility
17. The Bureau proposes that the amount of the upfront payment
submitted by a bidder will determine the bidder's initial bidding
eligibility in bidding units. The Bureau proposes that each license be
assigned a specific number of bidding units equal to the upfront
payment listed in Attachment A of the Auction 86 Comment Public Notice.
18. The proposed number of bidding units for each license and
associated upfront payment amounts are listed in Attachment A. The
Bureau seeks comment on these proposals.
ii. Activity Rule
19. In order to ensure that the auction closes within a reasonable
period of time, an activity rule requires bidders to bid actively
throughout the auction, rather than wait until late in the auction
before participating. A bidder's activity in a round will be the sum of
the bidding units associated with any licenses upon which it places
bids during the current round and the bidding units associated with any
licenses for which it holds provisionally winning bids. Bidders are
required to be active on a specific percentage of their current bidding
eligibility during each round of the auction. Failure to maintain the
requisite activity level will result in the use of an activity rule
waiver, if any remain, or a reduction in the bidder's eligibility,
possibly curtailing or eliminating the bidder's ability to place
additional bids in the auction.
20. The Bureau proposes to divide the auction into at least two
stages, each characterized by a different activity requirement. The
auction will start in Stage One. The Bureau proposes to advance the
auction to the next stage by announcement during the auction. In
exercising this discretion, the Bureau will consider a variety of
measures of auction activity, including but not limited to the
percentage of licenses (as measured in bidding units) on which there
are new bids, the number of new bids, and the increase in revenue. The
Bureau seeks comment on these proposals.
iii. Activity Rule Waivers and Reducing Eligibility
21. Use of an activity rule waiver preserves the bidder's
eligibility despite the bidder's activity in the current round being
below the required minimum level. An activity rule waiver applies to an
entire round of bidding, not to particular licenses. Activity rule
waivers can be either proactive or automatic and are principally a
mechanism for bidders to avoid the loss of bidding eligibility in the
event that exigent circumstances prevent them from bidding in a
particular round.
22. The Bureau proposes that each bidder in Auction 86 be provided
with three activity rule waivers that may be used as set forth above at
the bidder's discretion during the course of the auction. The Bureau
seeks comment on this proposal.
iv. Reserve Price or Minimum Opening Bids
23. The Bureau proposes to establish minimum opening bid amounts
for Auction 86. The Bureau believes a minimum opening bid amount, which
has been used in other auctions, is an effective bidding tool for
accelerating the competitive bidding process. The Bureau does not
propose a separate reserve price for the licenses to be offered in
Auction 86. Specifically, for Auction 86, the Bureau proposes to
calculate minimum opening bid amounts on a license-by-license basis
using a formula based on bandwidth and license area population. The
Bureau seeks comment on this approach, and, whether, consistent with
Section 309(j), the public interest would be served by having no
minimum opening bid amount or reserve price.
v. Bid Amounts
24. The Bureau proposes that, in each round, eligible bidders be
able to place a bid on a given license using one or more pre-defined
bid amounts. Under this proposal, the FCC Auction System interface will
list the acceptable bid amounts for each license.
a. Minimum Acceptable Bids
25. The first of the acceptable bid amounts is called the minimum
acceptable bid amount. The minimum acceptable bid amount for a license
will be equal to its minimum opening bid amount until there is a
provisionally winning bid on the license. After there is a
provisionally winning bid for a license, the minimum acceptable bid
amount for that license will be equal to the amount of the
provisionally winning bid plus a percentage of that bid amount. In
general, the percentage will be higher for a license receiving many
bids than for a license receiving few bids. In the case of a license
for which the provisionally winning bid has been withdrawn, the minimum
acceptable bid amount will equal the second highest bid received for
the license.
26. The percentage of the provisionally winning bid used to
establish the minimum acceptable bid amount (the additional percentage)
is calculated at the end of each round, based on an activity index. The
activity index is a weighted average of (a) the number of distinct
bidders placing a bid on the license, and (b) the activity index from
the prior round. Specifically, the activity index is equal to a
weighting factor times the number of bidders placing a bid covering the
license in the most recent bidding round plus one minus the weighting
factor times the activity index from the prior round. The additional
percentage is determined as one plus the activity index times a minimum
percentage amount, with the result not to exceed a given maximum. The
additional percentage is then multiplied by the provisionally winning
bid amount to obtain the minimum acceptable bid for the next round. The
Bureau proposes initially to set the weighting factor at 0.5, the
minimum percentage at 0.1 (10%), and the maximum percentage at 0.3
(30%). Hence, at these initial settings, the minimum acceptable bid for
a license will be between ten percent and thirty percent higher than
the provisionally winning bid, depending upon the bidding activity for
the license.
b. Additional Bid Amounts
27. Any additional bid amounts are calculated using the minimum
[[Page 22169]]
acceptable bid amount and a bid increment percentage--more
specifically, by multiplying the minimum acceptable bid by one plus
successively higher multiples of the bid increment percentage. If, for
example, the bid increment percentage is ten percent, the calculation
of the first additional acceptable bid amount is (minimum acceptable
bid amount) * (1 + 0.05), or (minimum acceptable bid amount) * 1.05;
the second additional acceptable bid amount equals the minimum
acceptable bid amount times one plus two times the bid increment
percentage, or (minimum acceptable bid amount) * 1.1, etc. The Bureau
will round the results of these calculations and the minimum acceptable
bid calculations using the Bureau's standard rounding procedures. The
Bureau proposes to set the bid increment percentage at 0.05.
28. The Bureau seeks comment on whether to start with eight
additional bid amounts (for a total of nine bid amounts) or with fewer
or no additional bid amounts for Auction 86. In particular, commenters
should address the issue of additional bid amounts in light of
particular circumstances of Auction 86, including the nature of the
license inventory. The Bureau retains the discretion to change the
minimum acceptable bid amounts, the additional bid amounts, the number
of acceptable bid amounts, and the parameters of the formulas used to
calculate minimum acceptable bid amounts and additional bid amounts if
it determines that circumstances so dictate. Further, the Bureau
retains the discretion to do so on a license-by-license basis.
29. The Bureau also retains the discretion to limit (a) the amount
by which a minimum acceptable bid for a license may increase compared
with the corresponding provisionally winning bid, and (b) the amount by
which an additional bid amount may increase compared with the
immediately preceding acceptable bid amount. The Bureau seeks comment
on the circumstances under which it should employ such a limit, factors
it should consider when determining the dollar amount of the limit, and
the tradeoffs in setting such a limit or changing parameters of the
activity-based formula, such as changing the minimum percentage. If the
Bureau exercises this discretion, it will alert bidders by announcement
in the FCC Auction System. The Bureau seeks comment on the above
proposals.
vi. Provisionally Winning Bids
30. Provisionally winning bids are bids that would become final
winning bids if the auction were to close in that given round. At the
end of a bidding round, a provisionally winning bid for each license
will be determined based on the highest bid amount received for the
license. In the event of identical high bid amounts being submitted on
a license in a given round (i.e., tied bids), we will use a random
number generator to select a single provisionally winning bid from
among the tied bids. (Each bid is assigned a random number, and the
tied bid with the highest random number wins the tiebreaker.) The
remaining bidders, as well as the provisionally winning bidder, can
submit higher bids in subsequent rounds. However, if the auction were
to end with no other bids being placed, the winning bidder would be the
one that placed the provisionally winning bid. If any bids are received
on the license in a subsequent round, the provisionally winning bid
again will be determined by the highest bid amount received for the
license.
31. A provisionally winning bid will remain the provisionally
winning bid until there is a higher bid on the license at the close of
a subsequent round, unless the provisionally winning bid is withdrawn.
Bidders are reminded that provisionally winning bids count toward
activity for purposes of the activity rule.
vii. Bid Removal
32. For Auction 86, the Bureau proposes and seeks comment on the
following bid removal procedures. Before the close of a bidding round,
a bidder has the option of removing any bid placed in that round. By
removing selected bids in the FCC Auction System, a bidder may
effectively undo any of its bids placed within that round.
viii. Bid Withdrawal
33. A bidder may withdraw its provisionally winning bids using the
withdraw bids function in the FCC Auction System. A bidder that
withdraws its provisionally winning bid(s) is subject to the bid
withdrawal payment provisions of the Commission rules.
34. For Auction 86, the Bureau proposes to limit each bidder to
withdrawing provisionally winning bids in only one round during the
course of the auction. To permit a bidder to withdraw bids in more than
one round may encourage insincere bidding or the use of withdrawals for
anti-competitive purposes. The round in which withdrawals may be used
will be at the bidder's discretion, and there is no limit on the number
of provisionally winning bids that may be withdrawn during that round.
Withdrawals must be in accordance with the Commission's rules,
including the bid withdrawal payment provisions specified in 47 CFR
1.2104(g). The Bureau seeks comment on these bid withdrawal procedures.
C. Post-Auction Procedures
i. Establishing the Interim Withdrawal Payment Percentage
35. The Bureau seeks comment on the appropriate percentage of a
withdrawn bid that should be assessed as an interim withdrawal payment
in the event that a final withdrawal payment cannot be determined at
the close of the auction. Balancing the potential need for bidders to
use withdrawals to avoid winning incomplete combinations of licenses
with our interest in deterring abuses of our bidding procedures, the
Bureau proposes an interim bid withdrawal payment level of fifteen
percent for Auction 86.
36. In general, the Commission's rules provide that a bidder that
withdraws a bid during an auction is subject to a withdrawal payment
equal to the difference between the amount of the withdrawn bid and the
amount of the winning bid in the same or subsequent auction(s). If a
bid is withdrawn and no subsequent higher bid is placed and/or the
license is not won in the same auction, the final withdrawal payment
cannot be calculated until after the close of a subsequent auction in
which a higher bid for the license (or the equivalent to the license)
is placed or the license is won. When that final payment cannot yet be
calculated, the bidder responsible for the withdrawn bid is assessed an
interim bid withdrawal payment, which will be applied toward any final
bid withdrawal payment that is ultimately assessed. 47 CFR 1.2104(g)(1)
of the Commission rules requires that the percentage of the withdrawn
bid to be assessed as an interim bid withdrawal payment be between
three percent and twenty percent and that it be set in advance of the
auction.
37. The Commission has determined that the level of the interim
withdrawal payment in a particular auction will be based on the nature
of the service and the inventory of the licenses being offered. The
Commission has noted that it may impose a higher interim withdrawal
payment percentage to deter the anti-competitive use of withdrawals
when, for example, bidders likely will not need to aggregate the
licenses being offered in the auction, such as when few licenses are
offered that are on adjacent frequencies or in adjacent areas, or
[[Page 22170]]
when there are few synergies to be captured by combining licenses.
38. For Auction 86, it is not possible to combine licenses across
multiple frequency blocks in a given geographic area, and opportunities
for combining licenses in adjacent areas are somewhat limited, so there
is likely to be little need to use withdrawals to protect against
incomplete aggregations. Therefore, the Bureau proposes to establish
the percentage of the withdrawn bid to be assessed as an interim bid
withdrawal payment at fifteen percent for this auction. The Bureau
seeks comment on this proposal.
ii. Establishing the Additional Default Payment Percentage
39. Any winning bidder that, after the close of an auction,
defaults--by, for example, failing to remit the required down payment
within the prescribed period of time, to submit a timely long-form
application, or to make full payment--or is otherwise disqualified is
liable for a default payment under 47 CFR 1.2104(g)(2). This payment
consists of a deficiency payment, equal to the difference between the
amount of the bidder's bid and the amount of the winning bid the next
time a license covering the same spectrum is won in an auction, plus an
additional payment equal to a percentage of the defaulter's bid or of
the subsequent winning bid, whichever is less.
40. As previously noted by the Commission, defaults weaken the
integrity of the auctions process and impede the deployment of service
to the public. Given the nature of the service and the inventory of the
licenses being offered in Auction 86, the Bureau believes that an
additional default payment percentage of fifteen percent will provide a
sufficient deterrent to defaults. Accordingly, the Bureau proposes an
additional default payment of fifteen percent of the relevant bid for
Auction 86 and seeks comment on this proposal.
III. Commission ex parte Rules
41. 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 47 CFR 1.1206(b).
Federal Communications Commission.
Gary D. Michaels,
Deputy Chief, Auctions and Spectrum Access Division, WTB.
[FR Doc. E9-11076 Filed 5-11-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P
